[Norbert P]

  I'll be ripping up and planting a new fescue lawn this Spring and will be amending the silty/clayey soil with Turface MVP.  I'd never heard of this stuff before I started doing research but it sounds like a real cure-all for poor drainage (except for the fact that it's expensive.  It doesn't really take care of soil saturation problems if drainage is bad but says it will allow more air space to reach the roots.  

  Here's a website with its marketing slant...
 http://www.protimelawnseed.com/turface_mvp.htm  
 
  It also has a picture of the stuff and explains it much better than I did.

 Anyway, has anybody ever used this stuff or heard of it being used on greens or aprons for topdressing?  

[Norbert P]

 In my search, I found this product "Profile", which is smaller and more appropriate for golf soils and topdressing and green construction - apparently the same process of manufacturing but with a smaller grain size.

  http://www.profileproducts.com/golf/index.html

  Same curiosity applies to whether it is really used in the industry.  It sounds very convincing.

[Steve Curry]

Slag,

Is your yard a swamp??

I was just going to add the post about profile, but you found it for yourself.  If you do decide to go with one of these and you are going to use a lot, you can often get it in bulk.  I have been using it for divot mix, keeps the mix dry till it wets and then vice versa.  As well I apply it directly when aerating tees and dry spots in fairways.

Regards,
Steve

[RJ_Daley]

Norby, I had the same wow reaction to discovering calcine clay soil ammendments and what they can potentially do for clayey greasy soils.  The first time I saw the stuff was at the 1992 Las Vegas GCSAA convention, and the stuff was already on the market a while.  Speaking of (or to) Slag.  There is a slag-waste material from some sort of mining operation (mollibdinum?) that they use in New Mexico at I think the University course, that has similar calcified claylike properties.  The stuff is black and give an odd look to the soil and migrates into bunkers, if memory underserves me right...

Quit worrying about your lawn and go play golf will ya?  Rent an BlueBird aerator, punch some holes, and have a truck dump off some mason sand and spead it, a lot cheaper than calcine silica gobbledegook...

[Michael Dugger]

Slag lives in the NW, it's been raining for like a week straight.  All of our lawns are swamps!  

[ChipRoyce]

Wow - this seems really cool.

I'm here in Texas, St. Augustine lawn... wondering if this could be used as a light top dressing?

If successfully integrated into the soil, would seem to help save water and have more imact than using soil to top dress?

[Steve Lang]

 

I'd second RJ_D's recommendation to go with sand.  

Big League Ball parks have very special needs far beyond what you're doing..    I was on the Astro's outfield grass at Minute Maid Park once and it was almost like a green..  Are you going to have it super manicured?

[Mike Benham]

Here is another product called Axis (and its sister product for baseball/softball fields - Play Ball) and is basically diatomaceous earth.

http://www.axisplayball.com/golf_courses.htm

I can be applied as a top dressing, in the mid-90's they were promoting it as a mix to the sand when plugging greens, or during construction.

Axis claims that it does not break down over a period of time ...

Mike

[ChipRoyce]

Slag;

Thanks for the advice.

As for the get out and play golf instead... I certainly do, looking for ways to have a healthier lawn without having to spend time on it.

As for punching holes, wish I could. However, here in Texas, most lawns (including mine) are about 4-5" of topsoil layered  on top of solid granite. As a result, my sprinkler system is not deep enough to avoid the tongs of a core aerator leaving me to seek alternatives.

[Norbert P]

  Thanks for all the replies and ideas.  
  One odd and interesting thing about this porous granulated material (Turface) is that it does not have to be layered into soil but is recommended to mix into the top several inches of the soil with a tiller and the recommended ratio is not that high for effectiveness.  Fortunately, I have a small front lawn and much of the lawn area will be displaced by new shrubs and landscaping bling (I'm considering a lifesize fountain statue of Daisy Fuentes).  
   Dick, like Chip alluded to, one of the reasons I'm choosing fine fescues is the lower amount of water and maintenance so that I can go golfing and poker playing more.

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