My lawn was converted to organic last winter. So far I've spread Bioform Dry, corn meal, and dry molasses. I have read lots about the soil microbes and the organic "feed the microbes/feed the lawn" method. My home, and presumably the top soil around it, was laid in 1977. Currently with all the rain in North Texas, the soil looks okay. I've found plenty of slugs, and worms in the compost pile. However, once it stops raining, the soil will dry out and become almost rock hard, and clumpy. The lawn FAQ recommends letting it dry to help thin out the weeds. But how are the soil microbes going to live in dry, rock like soil? Will the microbes move deeper where the soil is still moist while the top layers dry out? Or are the microbes able to sustain themselves in the hard dry clay?

My understanding is that there are microbes of some kind or species, on every square foot of this planet! However some microbes love heat better than others, some like moisture better than others, etc.

The beneficial aerobic bacteria, fungi, actinomycetes, protozoa, etc. have the ability to either live and breed in "perfect" conditions, or in the case of fungi, just go dormant for a while until conditions get better.

Using constant composting, mulching, or cover cropping, regardless of weather or climate conditions, always guarantees an abundant collection of various beneficial soil organisms in all soil types.

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The entire Kingdom of God can be totally explained as an Organic Garden (Mark 4:26)
William Cureton

I guess that makes sense, Compost. After all, I passed seventh grade science. Although, if there are microbes in hot dry clay chunks, are they so small as to make, the aeration they do insignificant to a relatively huge saint augustine root system?

If you're rock hard and clumpy, you need to work on getting more microbes in the soil. Compost is the solution for that. You might need a little every 6 months to get things going. Keep up the organic fertilizer at the same time.

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David Hall
Moderator
Dirt Doctor Lawns Forum

I'll do that. The biggest challenge is making enough compost! I use it everywhere, and refuse to buy it. I wish I had a wood chipper to grind up limbs. The organic fertilizers seem to doing their job. Wells Bros had 50# CGM for 23.95 today. I bought 100# for Sept. That price beats Calloways 40#/$30.

Captain Compost has a great way of making compost. He has an arrangement with a horse hospital to haul away their piles of manure. He mixes that with leaves and presto, compost. Needless to say he makes tons of compost per year.

Do you have a stable nearby?

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David Hall
Moderator
Dirt Doctor Lawns Forum

Honestly horse stables and the like are fairly common around here, but count me as one who is waaay too lazy to follow up on collecting the local horse dung. That is almost as bad as paying my hard earned $ for compost.
I compost my grass clippings, leaves, vegetation, and kitchen scraps. I even found a Starbucks giving away their spent coffee grounds, and gladly took them. Eventually, that will be enough. Right now, its not because I'm still in the early stages of the organic program.