I have an area of clay at my place and rototilled the area, added sand plus soil amendments just to plant grass. Over the course of about 8 years I noticed the grass got less and less and the weeds slowly taking over because weeds have a shallow root system. I tested the soil and it was naturally compacted from the clay working its way to the surface and then hardening from irrigation. I tried a number of core aerators and none of them would penetrate past about 2-3 inches.
I ended up rototilling the entire area, watering it to get the weeds to grow, and then hitting it with two courses of RoundUp. The next spring I rototilled the area again, raked out the roots, regraded and planted new grass seed.
Now comes the nuts part...I decided I never wanted to spend that much time on getting grass to grow again as it took nearly 6 months of work (in total) on weekends. So...I purchased an 84-inch wide Aerway aerator..and I aerate the grass once in the spring and once in the fall. $5600 to spend about 1 hour a year aerating grass. But, it's worth every penny when compared to the time I had to dedicate to redoing the area.
I also use "Soil Doctor" from Outside Pride that includes a liquid aerator. Between the physical aeration and the liquid treatment I have thick, grass with no weeds and the soil is slowly becoming more porous as the Soil Doctor contains microbes that breakdown the thatch and naturally compost it.
I do this to a 1/2 acre area.....I can't imagine treating the same types of problems caused by compaction on hundreds or thousands of acres.
I ended up rototilling the entire area, watering it to get the weeds to grow, and then hitting it with two courses of RoundUp. The next spring I rototilled the area again, raked out the roots, regraded and planted new grass seed.
Now comes the nuts part...I decided I never wanted to spend that much time on getting grass to grow again as it took nearly 6 months of work (in total) on weekends. So...I purchased an 84-inch wide Aerway aerator..and I aerate the grass once in the spring and once in the fall. $5600 to spend about 1 hour a year aerating grass. But, it's worth every penny when compared to the time I had to dedicate to redoing the area.
I also use "Soil Doctor" from Outside Pride that includes a liquid aerator. Between the physical aeration and the liquid treatment I have thick, grass with no weeds and the soil is slowly becoming more porous as the Soil Doctor contains microbes that breakdown the thatch and naturally compost it.
I do this to a 1/2 acre area.....I can't imagine treating the same types of problems caused by compaction on hundreds or thousands of acres.
