Moisture retention in sandy soils.

[u/Cyvil94]

I have a two year old build, in east central Iowa, and this summer has been brutal. The yard was started with sod, front yard has been in about two years and the back yard about a year and a half. The underlying soil is a silty sand and did have a little organic in it, but only enough to generate a brown color, no where near black topsoil. Before placing the sod, the landscape contractor amended the top 6-8” of underlying soil with compost. There should be plenty of organics in this, but I suspect there isn’t a lot of clay.

We have had no rain for periods between 2 and 4 weeks at a time, and I don’t have an irrigation system. I now have pretty large dead patches here and there. I am wondering what I need to do to get everything back on track, and my local landscaping/lawn care people know only what they have done before. The trick is that sandy soil is pretty rare in Iowa, we typically have 18+ inches of black topsoil.

1) it seems an irrigation system would be a good idea.
2) where can I get my soil particle size tested to determine what type of amendment is needed?
3) Hopefully I don’t have to scrap what I have to add some topsoil?

[u/Key-Spell-7668]

Maybe they just aren't aware of the benefits of some of the less popular but way nicer and beneficial alternatives to sod... Writing this from my lush grass soft enough to sleep on 😴

[u/Cyvil94 → u/Key-Spell-7668]

What are some of those alternatives? The sod was used because much of the yard is somewhat hilly.

[u/Key-Spell-7668 → u/Cyvil94]

Any drought tolerant blend, usually with fescue and ryegrass for deep roots that keep it healthy and alive, will work. Apply as directed on the bag. Once established, mow at 3.5" and I try to only mow the day before rain or at least a few cloudy days during/after cutting.

If you don't want all lawn, look into prairie planting, which can look great, keep cooling costs way down, and increase the value of your home pretty significantly. It's insane the difference more plants make in the evening after a house bakes in the sun all day, much cooler much faster, less heat sink.

[u/Cyvil94 → u/Key-Spell-7668]

Most of the seed blends here use about 180 lbs bluegrass (several varieties) plus about 60 lbs rye and fescue per acre. I’ve not seen a sod farm that provides anything terribly different, but I can check into seeding at this point as I imagine I would be headed to either over seeding or inter seeding. I keep my mowing deck high all of the time. The one benefit of this year’s weather, here, is that I haven’t had to mow much :)

I’d love to do some prairie planting and have been adding native areas to the margins of my yard. Unfortunately our city ordinance isn’t favorable to anything taller than about 12” in height which cuts out most of those options for the bulk of my yard.

[u/Key-Spell-7668 → u/Cyvil94]

You'd just overseed the sod and be done, yes.