Start repairing your old lawn by fixing the soil problems
In Alberta and the rest of the prarire provinces we all have problematic clay based soil.
I have found in the many years of doing landscape work in both Alberta and Saskatchewan there is literally no area that does not have this clay soil problem.
Clay based soil is lumpy, sticky and does not drain well. It also has another problem less obivous, in that it has a high sodium or salt content. Salt is the compound that makes clay bind and produce lumps. It is also not great for fertility, yet it does contain all the nutrients most plants need, often in abundance.
The problem with clay soils are that the sodium compounds it contains binds (chemically) the other nutrients in a form that is not accessible to the plants, so it appears to be low in nutrient value.
If your lawn and garden are not doing well, it may be because of the high content of clay in your top soil. However this can fixed dramatically with a little effort and expense if you know what to do.
Purewest has a program using fully natural and organic products that can within a day start to condition your soil back to a softer, more porous soil that holds and drains water better and the salt content is reduced. Another plus is that it will release it's nutrient content better due to increased porosity and the reduction of sodium (salt).
Clay Doktor : In my opionion, there is not a lawn or garden in Western Canada that could not benefit from an application of the marvelous product. This product works at the ionic level stripping electrical charges from binding elements in the clay like sodium. Once the Clay Doktor has relases these electrical binding charges the clay basically falls apart and changes into something more like a loamy soil
Now water can penetrate deeper, bound up nutirents not available before in the clay are freed up and avialable to the plants and roots can grow deeper.
Organic Soil Amendment Program
We have a program for both gardens and lawns. Our program is not very expensive
The average city lawn may require $300 to $400 of these products intially and then a less intense followup the following year may be required in some really tough cases.
Simply put, our program starts with the application of the following products:
Clay Doktor - The treatment will reduce the sodium content through a chemical transfer process and the sodium portion will become solvent and wash out. This process will also break down the binding agents in the clay that make it stick and will unbond the nutrients so the plants can absorb them. Overall this is a miracle product for fixing clay soil, the results are very evident in a short time.
Often one treatment will suffice but it can be applied every few years if required.
Soil Softner This will naturally aerate or "flocullate" the soil and reduce the surface tension of the soil particles so water can flow freely and deeper into it. Another important feature of Soil Softner is that it adds enzymes and bio-organisms that keep soil in top condition. without these organisms soil becomes organically "dead" and therefore the plants in it will not thrive.
Consider the metaphor of "active culture" in yogurt, your digestive system uses symbiotic organisms like bacteria to help digest and extract nutrients from food we consume.
Regularly refreshing or adding new heathly cultures of these organisms found in yogurt into your digestive system keeps it functioning well...soil is similar in that with out a heathly population of these microorganisms, soil becomes less and less productive. Soil Softner will revitalize your lawn or garden in this way.
Can be applied yearly or more frequently if desired
Thatch Eliminator This product is wonderful, it will quickly reduce grass thatch, lawn clippings and other organic stuff. It has been effective on pine/spruce needles and leaves as well. This can be applied after each mowing to keep thatch in check . Easy to use by mixing concentrate in a sprayer and applying directly onto the lawn. Economical as one $60.00-32 oz size bottle of concentrate can supply up to 5 or 6 applications on an average sized yard.
Much easier than raking and bagging and it adds organic fertilizer to your lawn each time it's used.
Dog Spot Remover This is a miracle product , it is the only product I have used that works as advertised. Purewest has a complete program to fix dog urine damaged lawns. We can even fix severly damaged lawns that look like they are beyond repair.
The damage is done by salt in the urine and excess nitrogen from ammonia. The salt builds up in spots and cannot be washed away, one the concentration reaches a certain point the soil can no longer support plant life. The excess nitrogen can actually "burn" the grass.
Dog Spot Remover uses a combination of natural minerals that will break down the sodium chloride (salt) and replace it with calcium compounds. The excess nitrogen is absorbed by a mineral compound that will store it and release it a slower rate to prevent burning. The toxic parts can now be washed away with watering and the soil is ready to support grass again.
Grass must be replanted at this stage as it has been killed in the urine spots.
Once we have treated the spots or the entire yard to remove the salt, excess nitogen and other toxins the next step of our our program involves adding the organic soil amendments and laying a new layer of top soil/compost with eco grass seed mixed in.
We can lay this right over the existing damaged grass without digging up the old lawn using our top dressing machine. In about 2-3 weeks your lawn will start to look like a brand new lawn. within a year the old lawn will be replaced by the more aggressive native species based eco grass .
Eco Grass is naturally much more salt tolerant than sod based lawns (blue grass), which means your new lawn will not be as susceptible to dog spots ever again.
To maintain the repaired lawn and prevent the dead spots from returning, you just need to sprinkle a cup or two of some granular Dog Spot Remover regularly over the summer and even winter in the places your dog frequents the most .
Read more about our Dog Damaged Lawn program here
Contact us for more details.
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