The following 2 formulas applied with a foliar method will aerate your soil and cause grass roots to be thicker and more in number. Very little goes a long way. Frequency of treatments is more important than over-applying product that will wash away. This works for sandy and clay soils.
The Soil Conditioner (soap/yucca) allows the water to be absorbed both through the plant and sinking deeper into compact soil. The soap causes temporary liquid aeration allowing the water to pass deeper into the ground. This in turn causes grass roots to grow deeper following the water. This will help grass become drought resistant because water stays in soil longer (deeper, hidden from evaporation) and the roots have access to more water. Yucca allows the lawn to more readily absorb water and the kelp/humic organics. Don’t ever use anti-microbial soaps as they will harm the microbes driving the healthy organic process of changing your soil. You can test your soil compaction by gently pushing down a 6″ screwdriver to see how much effort it takes. It should take little effort to push down in healthy soil.
The Kelp/Humic mix does not add much fertilizer, but by spraying onto the yard (hose end sprayer or backpack sprayer), will change the soil. Humic acid allows for existing nutrients in the soil to readily unlock for the roots to absorb. Kelp causes grass to create more and higher volume roots. With deeper, thicker grass roots that slough off more frequently, you will be adding organic material to the soil that retains nutrients long-term.
Applying these mixes twice a month when you are starting out will dramatically improve the health of your lawn, especially during dry seasons. After a few seasons, your dirt should resemble dark topsoil now that nutrients are organically being trapped and more readily absorbed in the top 6″ of dirt. Once you achieve the level of soil health you’re looking for, you can apply these mixes typically every 4-6 weeks to maintain.
With the grass getting better access to soil nutrients and roots that follow deeper irrigation water, you will fertilize and water less. Lawns will be thicker and crowd out weed seeds more readily.
Results of Treatment
Here is an example of samples taken from the same lawn. It was treated with Humic and Soil Conditioner only for 6 months from January to July. The 2 cores on the right were taken from an untreated area. You can clearly see the deeper color of healthier soil extending down.
Soil Conditioner
80oz SLS (soap)
8oz Yucca Extract (liquid)
40oz water
=
128 oz
Kelp/Humic Mix
4oz Kelp (soluble powder)
8oz Humic (soluble powder)
2gal water
=
256 oz
Apply both at 2oz per 1,000 sq/ft
Substitute Yucca extract powder for liquid: 0.5 teaspoons per 1,000 sq/ft. In 128oz formula, that is 10.6 tablespoons (64,000 sq/ft)
Example Usage
Mixes based on 18,500 sq/ft lawn size:
18.5 sq/ft * 2oz product = 37oz per 18,500 sq/ft
Soil Conditioner: 128oz
128oz / 37oz = 3.45 applications per mix
- 80oz SLS soap / 3.45 applications = 23.2oz soap
- 0.5 teaspoons yucca extract powder * 18.5 lawn = 9.25 teaspoons (3.1 tablespoons)
Kelp/Humic: 256oz
256oz / 37oz = 6.92 applications per mix
4oz kelp / 6.92 applications = 0.58oz (2 shallow tablespoons)
8oz humic / 6.92 applications = 1.16oz (4 shallow tablespoons)
Typical Cost
- Kelp – 1 lb (16 oz) – $30
- Humic Acid – 1 lb (16 oz) – $25
- Soap – 22.5oz – $1.25 (Dollar Store)
- Yucca (dry) – 1 lb (16 oz) – $30
So based on needs the 18,500 sq/ft lawn, that works out to be about $1.75 humic acid + $1 kelp + $1.25 soap + $2.15 yucca (dry) = $6.15 per application.
If you purchased these products pre-made/diluted from Amazon/eBay to cover a 18,500 sq/ft lawn, for each application the Kelp/Humic mix would be about $15 and the Soil Conditioner would be about $18. That totals about $33 per application!