Bare clay soil sticks together more than planted clay soil. Thick, strong roots can penetrate clay blocks and help with aeration, and dead roots and plant material will help add organic material, which improves porosity. Clay soil can also crack during the winter as water within the soil freezes and expands. When the weather warms up and the ground thaws, the clay particles will settle and bind to each other, and then pull away from each other as the weather gets hot and the water evaporates.
Texture is the classification of how small the soil particles are in a given area as a result of weather patterns, parent material, and erosion. You can improve clay soil by increasing porosity but the only way to improve porosity is by adding organic matter on a consistent basis. The goal of adding organic matter is to increase porosity, but some homeowners try to achieve the same end result by mixing sand into their clay soil. If you add sand to clay and add water, you get concrete.
You may have noticed that during the heat of the day the plant is wilted, but come morning it has perked back up. This is because the plant was able to replenish the water back into the foliage.
Cracking soil During these quick climate transitions you may have noticed cracks suddenly in the soil. Almost overnight soil cracks appeared in my lawn and garden. The cracks in the soil are directly related to soil moisture and the materials that make up our soils. Local soils tend to have very-high clay content. Clay is a soil component that goes from one extreme to the other.
During periods of heavy rain, clay holds a large amount of water in its small pore space between particles. Saturated clay soils hold so much water the oxygen is excluded. We often say the plant drowned out from all the rain. But in reality the plant suffocated from lack of oxygen to the roots.
During dry weather clay particles shrink and pull more tightly to each other. This shrinking is what leads to the cracks in the ground. First, however, you should aerate it to loosen it up. When soil is dehydrated, it shrinks to become more compacted. Aeration loosens the compacted soil by scoring it with hundreds or thousands of small holes, each of which is a few inches deep.
There are several ways to aerate your lawn, one of which is to wear aerating shoes while walking over it. Walk-behind aerators contain a rolling mechanism that scores the soil as you push it.
After aerating your lawn, set up a sprinkler to water it. Most lawns require about 1 to 2 inches of water per week. The Woodsman Company offers tree planting , tree pruning and shrub trimming , tree removal and stump grinding as well as a tree wellness program.
If we can help with any of your tree care needs give us a call at or or. Would adding peat to our clay soil help prevent the cracking?
If not, is there something we could work into the soil to help with this problem. Hi Bonnie. Thanks for reading. Peat actually holds moisture so I do not recommend that. What I would suggest is to top your entire lawn with about 1 inch of good quality sandy loam.
What kind of land can I use to replace the one that is gone and have the same level as the beginning thanks. Hi Francisco. Hi , we are having huge crack that are spanning across the whole lawn. They can get pretty deel and some wide. Since the house is on a slab the cracks near the foundation cause any problems with foundation. My husband removed some soil from foundation when it rains will the hole ruin the foundation and below slab. We have large cracks around our fence line, in our lawn and under our house.
When you soak the lawn and fence line the cracks dont fill with water to a level where you cann see it. The dirt around the hole caves in and wash away down the cracks and they become very much larger. Lost at what to do. Actually in Texas what we do for a perfect lawn with all this clay soil is lay a lot of sand onto the yard.
The sand separates the clay and mixes in, stabilizes it and helps keeps the yard soft and workable. I have a crack in my lawn soil. I live in Maryland. I think this a very good page of resources. We recently noticed pretty large holes around our foundation, is correcting this issue with the suggestions above pretty expensive? I have researched this and it is a sign of a sinkhole beginning to form, please be careful and keep an eye on them. I have cracks in my back yard.
I live in Elgin Texas. Should I sod cut the area because the grass has turned brown and cracks are forming?
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