Problem with cracking soil

10 years ago

Even with the torrential rain fall we've had in Texas and the DFW area in particular, certain areas of my lawn still crack after drying out. It's gotten worse now that the rain has pretty much ended and it's gotten hotter. These areas are primarily located near small oak trees. It'd normally be easy to say the areas aren't getting enough sun but they get plenty as the trees are no more than 10-12' tall. Also, the cracked areas extend several feet beyond the areas where shade from the trees extend. I can understand bare spots will dry out very quickly in general but these areas seem excessively dry.

I thought maybe a disease was possible but these areas are pretty much in the same general area every year and obviously don't get keep enough moisture for fungus to grow.

The below photo shows such a crack. I know the potential for this to happen increases in very thin areas, which this is, but is there something I could apply to these areas while waiting for the Bermuda to fill in?

I got a soil test this year and Morpheus was kind enough to put together a schedule, which does seem to be working nicely. Mowing is regular (every 2-3 days) and I am now beginning to water 1" at a time every 5-7 days. These areas are improved over past years but still cracking like crazy.

Is shampoo an option? What else could improve this? Some way to help these areas retain water?

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Comments (9)

User
10 years ago
Try the shampoo. And let me go take another look at your soil test...
User
10 years ago
...which I can't find. Can you point me there?
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coreman73
Original Author
10 years ago
Sure, the link with my soil test is at:

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/discussions/3041980/logan-labs-test-results-could-use-some-assistance-reading-results
User
10 years ago
Wonderful, thanks!

What I was looking at was the magnesium amounts, which are actually low. High ones would tend to lead to cracking soil.

In this case, the lower OM at 2.6% isn't helping. Higher OM would tend to decrease the tendency to crack.

You do have a denser than average soil with a higher EC, so that's some of it. High amounts of silt will crack far more easily than sand--although sand still can crack!

For now, I'd try the shampoo--and try to add organic matter if possible.
coreman73
Original Author
10 years ago
Thanks Morpheus. I'll try the shampoo and see what other organic matter I can continue adding to the soil.
dchall_san_antonio
10 years ago
I had at least some temporary luck with a soaker hose at my niece's house. Hers was so bad the fence poles fell over and might have even fell in. I let the soaker run during my entire visit and after a week the poles stood up by themselves.
coreman73
Original Author
10 years ago
I may try the soaker hose too. As another example, here's a link showing cracked ground around the base of a crepe myrtle in my back yard earlier this year. I helped that out by adding topsoil. It seems to have helped and the tree has grown more this summer so far than the past 3 years. Would adding topsoil be an option for these regular cracked areas in my lawn as well?

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/discussions/3063193/crepe-myrtle-with-loose-trunk
User
10 years ago
I don't often recommend addition of topsoil to cracks because the soil, at some points, is not cracked. Which means its mass is sufficient to hold it together (most of the time).

My soil used to crack a lot, but adding OM stopped it. If you wanted to add compost or peat moss to those cracks? Have at. It's great, late-stage stuff that won't interfere overmuch with the soil structure overall.
dchall_san_antonio
10 years ago
The soaker does not need to be flowing hard. I always put it on at a slow trickle out of the faucet and let it run 24/7. I took this picture many years ago to illustrate a slow trickle.

I measured the rate to be 1 cup per minute. That's about 800 gallons per week if you leave it on all the time. Spread that out over 75 feet of soaker hose and it's pretty slow delivery. Combine this with shampoo and a little organic fertilizer and that should really help swell the soil to close the cracks.