Has anyone used this lawn product, to loosen clay soil?

Question

https://ssl.cgicafe.com/clients/natureslawnxcart/aerify.php

its a spray on aerifier?

rather than the plug way.

thank!

Answer 1

To answer your question it is a spray or soil drench.I have hear good reports about this product.Now the real question, is this for a lawn treatment? If so it could be beneficial....if for planting areas like flower beds ect. I would recommend just using good soil mixes to replace the clay soil before planting ..if the beds already exist then drenching with Aerify could be beneficial.The product is not a fertilizer I dont see any fertilizer in it. Its soap true..but soap is a wetting agent. What area of the country do you live? When all is said and done "Aerating" is the way to go.

Answer 2

Lawn planted in clay soil really benefits from being plug aerated.  Just do it.

As far as trying to amend clay soil, I don't bother.  Real life is that the clay is many feet deep, and there is nothing that I can dig in that will be distributed deep enough to matter.  Top dressing or tilling in 6 inches does nothing more that make you feel better.  Your plant roots tend to stay up where the soil is fabulous, creating plants with shallow roots that will never be drought tolerant.

You can simply spray your lawn and planting areas with a 20-gallon hose end sprayer filled with this mixture:



Mix together in a pitcher

a 12 oz can each of coke and beer,  

a cup of liquid lemon Joy for dishes,  

one cup of ammonia,

a cup of apple juice and

a cup of all-purpose plant food (such as Miracle Grow).  

Mix up ingredients, pour into the spray bottle, turn hose on full blast, and wet down your yard to the run-off point.  Repeat every 3 weeks during the growing season.  Always do this in the early morning hours.

The soap is a surfactant that makes water wetter.  The water penetrates the soil better, taking oxygen and nutrients with it, too.  My yard is beautiful, even during hot and dry weather, because my plants and lawn are very dought resistant as their roots have been able to drive deeper into the soil.

Soap is the basic ingredient in products like you found, and others, such as Revive.

So you can spend a pile of money on products that do the same thing as typical household products that cost just a few dollars per use.  Your results will be identical.

Answer 3

I have never used that product, and just glancing at the lable I would be a little hesitant to use it.  Gypsum would be a better choice.  Also Peat moss to add some organic matter.  

First off I would pick up a soil test kit from your cooperative extension service.  That will tell you your soil pH and may neven give you a recomendation for gypsum as a soil amendment. If your pH is off that can lead to a lot of other problems. Second, I would go ahead and aerate the soil- that will let water down to the roots and loosen the soil.  When you do that if your grass is a little thin that is a good time to overseed.  Depending on how bad your soil is, you might want to investigate a product called Turface- it is used to improve drainage in clay soils especially on athletic fields.  After plug aerating you can rake that product into the holes the plugs create.  If you have been bagging your grass clippings stop- the organic matter will be good for the soil.  

Answer 4

I know you are looking for someone who has used this product but I feel I should share my experience  in the hopes that you discover you can have success gardening in clay soil.

I have nothing but clay soil.  As an avid gardener, I have a lot of experience working with and growing in clay soil.  I make a conserted effort to pick plants that thrive in clay.  

When that is not an option, I loosen clay soil by amending it with organic plant matter and manure.  With my way, you'd have to use a shovel or a tiller, however.  

Depending on what I'm planting/growing I'll use different additives to break up the soil.  If I'm planting/transplanting perennials, I'll mix a Miracle Grow potting soil with the clay (with higher concentration of Miracle Grow soil around the plant's roots.  For lavendar plants I add organic material and lime since my soil is alkaline and they like a more acid soil.  For all other uses I amend the clay with compose, horse manure (because my 3 horses make lots) and leaves.  

If you don't have or want to use organic material of this type, you can add gympsum.  It helps recondition clay and hardpan type soils.  Don't add sand as it hardens.  Don't add sawdust or bark because eventually those will leach nitrogen from the soil as they decompose.

Good luck!

Answer 5

No!  In looking at the label and MSDS, the active ingredient is Ammonium (Laureth) Sulphate.  Basically, it's low-quality fertilizer and a joke!  

The only thing that breaks up and loosens heavy clay soils is Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate).  Cheap stuff too!  Apply it judiciously throughout your gardens, lawns and etc. to de-floculate (disperse) tightly help soils.  This is a great practice for the fall and winter, when rains will do the important work of watering in the gypsum and allowing the chemical reactions to take place.

Scientifically, Calcium ions in the soil will replace accumulated Sodium ions tightly adhered to clay particles.   The result will be a drastic improvement of soil structure (infiltration and drainage)- resulting in improved root growth as well.

That stuff is what they term as "snake oil" in the garden industry. I'd return it.  It's going to make your lawn look better (it's fertilizer), but it's not going to do anything about a "locked-up" clay soil problem (sodic soil)

Good Luck