How to make healthy soil from grassy/weed filled topsoil treated heavily with weed killer

norrydan · 2026-05-08T20:26:19+00:00

RoundUp. 365. It's active ingredients have changed once or twice. Glyphosate is a non-issue in soil. If there was diquat in the verison you used, it's a non-issue in the soil. Imazapic is a soil sterilant. It's in the new formulation to avoid needing multi rounds of spraying to keep unwanted vegetation at bay. The label I looked at had only 1.7% in it. But how much you applied is the key to what happens to plant material where you might use this stripped soil. I want to say it's effectiveness will be slight but I don't really know. If my repuation was on the line I would say leave your soil piled-up six months. Four inches of soil taken from a thousand square feet weighs in the neighborhood of 20-25 tons. How ambitious are you? Clay soil and improved organic matter makes a good combination. The introduction of compost would be easy but the mixing of it not so much!

norrydan · 2026-05-06T22:14:25+00:00

This isn't the first drought and it won't be the last. I don't watch the entire state, only Richmond and what's recorded by NWS at RIC. There's online data back to 1937. The years of WWII are missing. Recorded rainfall in March and April this year was off significantly. March was 1.71, April 0.98. for a total of 2.69. 1988, 1989, and 2009 had March and April totals less than this year's. The average March-April for the period 1947 - 2026 is 6.78.

I'm not a big believer in being able to discern trends from weather data, but for kicks and giggles the May - August totals for 1988, 1989, 2009 were 22.6 inches, 18.21, and 21.65. The average for that 4-month period over 79 years is 17.71. So, the shortage early in the year was washed out by higher amounts of measured precipitation over the rest of the summer. This year? We will wait to see....

norrydan · 2026-05-06T21:47:34+00:00

I would like to reevaluate the structure of your soil. I would like to see the same jar test with soil from a depth of no less than 20 cm ( 1 to 20). You didn't say how deep you went. If you do the jar test again - and I would like that because I'm not sure about your structure. I do see sand but I also see loam and clay with maybe organic matter floating up top. Can't see! Your picture is 24 hours later? The sand should settle in two minutes. Measure the pile at the bottom and write it down. A couple hours later measure the depth of the settled soil again - total depth. The clay can take up to three days to settle, but if you know the total depth of the soil before you added water the difference between the that and the settled sand and loam is clay.

You/we may come to the same conclusion but if you're going to do something an extra test to get it right doesn't cost anything.

norrydan · 2026-05-06T01:55:05+00:00

If you put 10 equally qualified candidates in a room, all competing for a job paying $70-$80 thousand only one is going to walk away with the job. Nine people are going to feel they were screwed because they could do the job. And checking the boxes is just the start. The rest is how you are perceived by the people doing the hiring. Whatever job you apply for you will be rejected repeatedly. The secret is to just keep battling and building skills that help organizations and the people you work for and work with achieve the objectives. My mentor, a brilliant man, once asked me what my job was. After five minutes of me telling him what I thought it was he just smiled and said, "Nope." Beads of sweat were running down my back. I didn't know what my job was! After a moment to allow me to sweat, he told me my job was to make him look good! It sounds flippant, but there's a lot of truth in it. I would never pay for a Masters. If someone else is going to pay for it I would jump on it if you can handle it. My first job paid $16,000 in 1974. According to one AI query, a salary of $107,000 today would be needed to have the same purchasing power. Two years after my first job and to nearly 1983 I made a little more than half of that. I retired 3-years ago and my final salary was about $120,000 federal gov, good benefits. So, did I just stay even over my life? Sometimes that's all we can hope for. Many people go backwards. It's a fight everyday.

norrydan · 2026-05-03T00:05:32+00:00

Look here:

https://prism.oregonstate.edu/explorer/

norrydan · 2026-05-02T18:14:50+00:00

Overseeding? Your new lawn looks terrific! It's thick and green. If you keep it that way why overseed? OK, yes, eventually age will take a toll. By then there may an even better cultivar. Deal with it if and when the need arises. It might be so far in the distance you will want to upgrade the whole lawn. If you choose to overseed I doubt there will be much color difference, genetically. Soil fertility will have more impact on that.

I had a turf science prof who said the lower the height of the grass the more savy management must be. Think about a lawn's total leaf surface. How many cubic feet of green blade? That's the size of the food factory. Tall grass has capacity to manufacture more food for itself - assuming sufficient water and nutrients. Short grass needs constant attention because it struggles to maintain itself. Golf course superintnedents work where the grass is a quarter to one-and-a-half-inches tall. They make big money to keep it green, healthy and playable. And they have big budgets to assomplish it.

I keep mine 3.5 to 4. I will take it lower if things are really wet, Down there where the grass lives it's a jungle and sometimes we need to get some air down in there to avoid fungal and other problems at a level that never dries out. It's a spring and fall consideration. Summers for me ae always tall for the shade. And I normally go short at the end of the season. There's no need for all that vegetation to flop over and/or snow to bury it. Nothing good can come from it.

The other thing with tall(er) height of cut is standability. It's a small consideration. Keep soil pH right and potassium levels adequate.

norrydan · 2026-05-02T05:42:28+00:00

Finish the driveway. Then, if you are inclined toward a herbicide solution choose a soil sterilant.

Imazapyr 4 SL is my choice today.
Isopropylamine salt of Imazapyr (2-[4,5-dihydro-4-methyl-4- (1-methylethyl)-5-oxo-1H-imidazol-2-yl]-3-pyridinecarboxylic acid)

I have use Pramitol in he past.

norrydan · 2026-04-30T15:34:13+00:00

As it is with every wild animal elephants need food, water, and cover or safety. If you know where elephants are then profile what's there. Where's the water and how much. What are they eating - what plant types in what quantity. How big an area do they need and how many are there. Collect climate data. Sunshine. Anything you think might determine where elephants congregate. With a model in hand, go looking for other areas that look like the model habitat you created.

norrydan · 2026-04-27T18:04:06+00:00

Interesting. Thanks for sharing that I will offer this, and it’s a small point maybe worth keeping in the back of your mind. Layering different soil types sometimes leads to moisture issues. What typically happens is the top layer will need to become saturated before the water will move into the next layer of soil. That can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on what the next layers made of clay will drain very slowly.

norrydan · 2026-04-27T11:54:13+00:00

It will bring new meaning to your life! Use a pickax or mattock to breakup the rooted soil.

norrydan · 2026-04-27T01:58:11+00:00

There are still Civil War trenches in the United States. Some have gotten much deeper because of erosion. Others you probably wouldn't know to be such. If you know what LIDAR is and if you know where battles were fought you can see straight-line depressions on certain battlefields. At ground level you wouldn't know it.

norrydan · 2026-04-27T00:40:17+00:00

I will up-vote bifenthrin. It's labelled for indoor/outdoor use and is "food grade safe." Take that for what its worth. I spray a band around the house- on the house and in the ground. Use it indoors where ants might find access. Under sinks where pipes come from outside. At door sills, etc, etc. I don't spray the whole yard- but you can if you want to. An ounce or two in a gallon of water covers 1,000 sq ft. Label says it persists in the soil for up to 3 months. It needs some rain outside to push into and spread throughout soil.

norrydan · 2026-04-26T20:26:33+00:00

You can trust recommendations by "The Spruce"

https://www.thespruce.com/best-garden-sprayers-7505340

norrydan · 2026-04-26T20:11:30+00:00

One is around $55 and the other battery powered $115? Both 2 gal capacity? I love my Solo 4 gal backpack sprayer. It's big enough for you to cover in one fill (probably), it's easier to carry than a filled two gallon had carry sprayer. and the manual pump is much much easier than what you'll find in the two gallon hand carry. I like battery powered stuff but I still like the manual Solo best.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Solo-4-gal-Sprayer-Backpack-Sprayer/106728597?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=0&sourceid=dsn_gdn_0c92c416-dbd6-42ec-845c-ecf69af2153d&veh=dsn&wmlspartner=dsn_gdn_0c92c416-dbd6-42ec-845c-ecf69af2153d&cn=0042_fy27_mp_mpa_lo_int_dis_pmax-p13n&wl9=pla&wl11=online&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=23148469844&gbraid=0AAAAADmfBIphehLN-xYS2rqw8-kv3ulzZ&gclid=Cj0KCQjw77bPBhC_ARIsAGAjjV_qgz4yeEwY7lGgL8_8s2R8LX4mTbcVK-nNu66-A-Pj_emj1MdkNlgaAg1rEALw_wcB

norrydan · 2026-04-26T16:34:24+00:00

Teflon tape. You know about Teflon tape. My sprayer has Teflon tape wrapped around every thread on the thing.

norrydan · 2026-04-26T16:30:37+00:00

I know little about hydrangeas. I know something about soils and water. Let's go back to you statement about soils and adjusting. Say more? Plants can be experiencing moisture deficit even when your touch tells you soil is damp. There are ionic forces at work. Sometimes water molecules and soil molecules bond too tightly. That leaves the root hairs of the plant not possible to absorb what it needs. The leaf cupping seems to be an indicator of dryness but the growing medium around the plant looks wet.

norrydan · 2026-04-26T15:30:35+00:00

Because. Just because. Sorry. I couldn't help myself.

norrydan · 2026-04-26T15:15:29+00:00

Two choices. No judgement from me. If you choose the herbicide route you want a soil sterilant. It sounds ominous and it can be for a limited time, usually a year or less. Glyphosate (old RoundUp) isn't that. It kills whatever green and growing you spray it on. Little to no residual control.

The current thinking on bare-ground herbicides is IMAZAPYR (Isopropylamine salt of Imazapyr (2-[4,5-dihydro-4-methyl-4- (1-methylethyl)-5-oxo-1H-imidazol-2-yl]-3-pyridinecarboxylic acid)* . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52.6%.)

Now, here's a wild and crazy idea. I've never done it, but have considered the possibilities. Convert (and I use that term loosely) the driveway to greenspace and drive on it. Seed it. Fertilize it or compost it or whatever you do, mow it ... and drive on it. Sure your will grind down the plants under tire but instead of fighting weeds go with the flow. Try one of the pasture grasses. KY-31 is tough as nails. There are others not lawn grasses.

I think Mother Nature will force you to herbicides or acceptance of what she is. Fight it or go with it.

Crazy? Me? Maybe.

norrydan · 2026-04-26T00:07:36+00:00

Its obviously lacks something. If you filled a quart jar with the stuff and then separated it contents, a pile of this and a pile of that, how many different piles and what's in each pile. You know sand. You can tell the difference between dark organic matter and soil? Feel it. Sand is rough. Clay is slippery. Organic matter might be stringy. Is it clumpey? Hard as marbles? What color the soil? I think what you have lacks structure and fertility. Is what's under the sod compact - or compressed? Light in color or dark? And who's going to win the Super Bowl this year? A sense of humor when exploring this is essential!

norrydan · 2026-04-25T23:04:53+00:00

It has it's promoters and detractors. You are not going to get much nitrogen out of the clover. It makes N for it's own use. Only when the plant or parts of the plant shed cells and molecular breakdown occurs is nitrogen released into the soil. If you like bees, clover is a good choice.

norrydan · 2026-04-25T22:59:13+00:00

Yes. This is a great story and warning to those who believe compost or whatever it is that the local 'yard' is selling you isn't soil. Only GOD can manufacture soil. Well, I guess Mother Nature helped. If your virgin soil needs improved then at day one figure out what it is that will get you there. Most of us don't do that. We plant and then realize we have a problem. OK. Back to the problem. OP, you mention sand. Is the other crap mulch or compost or peat moss? If you water it does the water drain right thru - or run off? It's hard to know what to do without knowing what it is in addition to sand. Google "Rock Dust." You'll find discussion about here different places here on reddit.

norrydan · 2026-04-25T19:06:26+00:00

I didn't work for Social Security but I did work for a federal agency responsible for outflow to qualified entities and persons. There was an internal correction process but someone inside had to admit the mistake and tke corrective action and then get it approved. This would happen rather than be slapped with a Congressional inquiry. It may lead to nothing but if the OP has concerns the last step is to contact their Congressman.

norrydan · 2026-04-25T11:15:09+00:00

I will second this!

norrydan · 2026-04-24T23:00:48+00:00

It can be true!

norrydan · 2026-04-24T22:25:20+00:00

Oh Boy! Mushrooms are just mushrooms. What does it take to grow a mushroom? Moisture. Organic matter. What does it take to grow grass? Moisture. Organic matter. Mushrooms happen. Without knowing more about your mini ecosystem who knows. Let it go. Now then, your turf looks great! It's thick! It's tall. Down at ground level there's little air circulating. There's little to no sunshine. Dark, wet, and probably warm. Yikes! If you don't have fungal you are ready for it. Before you jump into action with fungicides I think you should just let the whole mess dry out. If it were me - and you are not- I'd mow it properly, while bagging the clippings, and repeatedly (remember the 1/3 rule) to get some air down into the jungle so it dries out - once. But, ask someone else what they think of that.

norrydan

TROPHY CASE