How can I speed up the process of loosing my hard pan soil?

Question

I have an existing lawn and the dirt is really hard.The water just drains off it when watering. I DON'T want to rotor-till it and want the soil to get soft enough to where the water penetrates to the roots. I have read that Gypsum will do the trick, but it will take about 3 years to see results??!!!!! I don't want to wait that long. What can I do to get quicker results???

Answer 1

peat moss and vermeculite. till that into the earth.

Answer 2

Put peat moss on it.

Answer 3

drown it in water! and roots? well it is just grass... and yeah so just stab the dirt and fill it up with water or.....get the longest tube in ur life and stick it in the soil until 2 inches r visible then u put water in the hole...hehe my mom is a gardener but this idea of mine is nuts!

Answer 4

Aerating your lawn is essential for ensuring that it has plenty of room to grow and thrive. Aerating is the process of removing little plugs of soil, giving benefits to the lawn.  

Although hand aerators are available, most aeration is done mechanically with a machine having hollow tines or spoons mounted on a disk or drum. Known as a core aerator, it extracts 1/2 to 3/4 inch diameter cores of soil and deposits them on your lawn. Aeration holes are typically 1-6 inches deep and 2-6 inches apart. Other types of aerators push solid spikes or tines into the soil without removing a plug (spiking). These are not as effective because they can contribute to compaction. Core aeration is a recommended lawn care practice on compacted, heavily used turf and to control thatch buildup.

Core aeration can benefit your lawn by:

    * Increasing the activity of soil microorganisms that decompose thatch.

    * Increasing water, nutrient and oxygen movement into the soil.

    * Improving rooting.

    * Enhancing infiltration of rainfall or irrigation.

    * Helping prevent fertilizer and pesticide run-off from overly compacted areas.

Hope you find this helpfull.  Good luck.

Answer 5

Gypsum will take effect alot faster than you think. I use it all the time in adobe clay soil ans see results in weeks not months.

Go get alot of gypsum and make it look liked it snowed on your lawn and water it in good. Have you ariated it lately also. Doing both right now with the gypsum will work very fast.

Answer 6

Amendments and roto-tilling.

http://www.ext.colostate.edu/Pubs/Garden...