If you took a piece of damp clay soil and squeezed it, you would find that it behaves much like a piece of play dough. Damp clay soil is sticky, slippery and prone to holding its shape. Grass that is grown in clay soil has trouble finding oxygen for its roots and often develops a heavy carpet of thatch. However, you can amend clay soil right on top of your lawn with a healthy dose of compost.
Instructions
1. Aerate the soil by running a soil aerator over the lawn in sections. A soil aerator operates much like a lawnmower and removes plugs of dirt to allow oxygen to get down into the soil well past your layer of grass. You can set your soil aerator for the depth of the plugs that you want to remove, as well as the spacing of the plugs.
2. Top-dress your lawn with compost by spreading the soil amendment to a depth of 4 inches over the top of your lawn with a shovel.
3. Work this compost into your grass by combing your lawn lightly with a leaf rake.
4. Water your lawn deeply with a sprinkler hooked up to a garden hose. The water from the sprinkler will carry the compost and nutrients into the aeration cores so that it can work more deeply into the soil. When the standing water on your grass is an inch deep, turn off your sprinkler and allow the water to soak into your lawn.
5. Repeat this process every spring before the grass begins to grow. Over time you will notice that the characteristics of your soil will change from clay to loam.
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