Soil Quality Restoration Strategies for Des Moines Homes

Lawn health begins with the soil. As a property owner, it’s critical to know if your soil contains organic matter because without it, you’ll never achieve the lush, green grass you desire. Soil with organic matter thrives because it provides readily available nutrients and water to plants, acting as a sponge storing them until needed. That’s why turf grown in healthy soil can shine without or very little fertilizer and better withstand droughts.

The lawns of many homes and businesses are never given a chance to reach their full potential. From the beginning, they’re set up for failure due to lack of topsoil remaining once construction is complete. It’s standard practice to grade the land, strip it of topsoil, and not replace that topsoil before seeding or sodding. Unfortunately, what’s left behind is subsoil that’s been compacted by heavy machinery.

As you can imagine, compacted soil with a high clay content doesn’t yield the healthiest grass. It makes it difficult for the grass to retrieve nutrients, resulting in the need for more fertilizers and pesticides. Since the soil is so compacted, these chemicals are not fully absorbed and pose a dangerous threat to local creeks and streams in the form of runoff. If this sounds all too familiar, we have a solution: soil quality restoration.

Capital Landscaping can help bring the luster back to your lawn and restore soil health. We’ll aerate your current soil, boosting its ability to retain water, and add organic matter to increase nutrients and carbon levels. That way, your lawn will have the elements it needs to grow thicker and stronger.

Soil Restoration Strategies

The strategies we use differ depending on if your home is a new-build or if it’s an existing home. One thing remains the same, though, no fertilizers or chemicals are involved in any of our soil restoration strategies

Existing Lawns

1. Aerate the lawn to a depth of 4”. Existing lawns don’t need the same level of de-compacting as new builds.
2. Seed with appropriate seed
3. Spread a ¼ to ½-inch layer of compost across the lawn.

After the soil restoration project is complete, you’ll notice greener grass along with the reduction of standing water.

Yard maintenance will also be reduced since a healthy lawn doesn’t need watered or fertilized near as often as a struggling lawn. These benefits won’t take long to show — and will be evident for years to come. Give us a call at 515-244-2724 and we’ll get your soil restoration scheduled.

If soil quality restoration doesn’t fit the bill, check out our full list of lawn services. Here’s to a better-looking lawn!