AboutC. J. Brown Expertise I can answer questions on cool and warm season grasses, soil problems, irrigation, insect,
grub, weed and crabgrass control. I can also help with cultural practices such as mowing,
aeration, dethatching, and leaf management.
Experience Co-Founder and owner of Teed & Brown, Inc. www.teedandbrown.com.
Lawn Care Columnist as "The Lawn Coach" www.thelawncoach.com
Organizations PLANET
Publications Danbury News Times "HomeStyle" Magazine
Tinytown Gazette, MA
The Picket News, MD
Manchester Press, IA
Macomb Observer, MI
Metro Observer, MI
Bottom Line Personal
www.TheLawnCoach.com
Education/Credentials Penn State University - B.S. in Turfgrass Science
Question QUESTION: Is the black dirt that is taken from a pond, good dirt for starting a new lawn?
ANSWER: Typically no.
Whenever soil stays under water for long periods of time Iron can reduce to ferrous oxide and cause problems with growing plants. The black color is from the activity of anaerobic (non-oxygen breathing) bacteria.
Neither condition contributes to good plant growth. I'd imagine there's a good supplier for topsoil somewhere in your area. Good topsoil will be soil that has been growing plants and building organic matter content in an oxygenated environment. You won't find that at the bottom of a pond.
Let me know if you have any other questions. Thanks for writing in!
-C.J. Brown
www.TheLawnCoach.com
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: I was told the dirt in my lawn came from a pond. The problem I am having is standing water. The ground all around this area is sand. Water just sucks down in. Mine it seems stands on and not soak in, forming pools in the yard for days.
Answer Okay, this sounds to me like a soil layering problem then, assuming somebody laid this pond soil on top of the native sand. Whenever you have a medium change like that, the water won't go through. It's known as the "sponge effect."
Think about this experiment. If you were to take a sponge and soak it with water, then put it on top of a cooling rack (so, it is essentially suspended in air), the sponge will hold on to the majority of the water. This is what's probably happening. The heavier pond soil on top of the coarse sand is acting like the sponge on the cooling rack. To check to see if I'm correct, just dig a few holes in the yard to see if you can see a distinct layer difference where the pond soil meets the coarse sand.
Now, if you were to put five or six wet sponges on top of each other, you'll see that the top few will drain into the lower ones very quickly. This is because the "sponge" medium is the same all the way down. You need to keep the soil texture essentially the same, or at least a very gradual transition.
If this is the problem, you'll need to either remove the pond soil, or till it deep into the sand. When it's thoroughly tilled in, the overall texture will be the same (a sort of 1/2 muck and 1/2 sand blend) and drainage should no longer be an issue.
