Few things are more important to your lawn than proper soil texture and drainage. Turfgrasses simply won’t grow well in boggy, soggy conditions – the roots will rot, the grass will yellow and you’ll be disappointed with the results. Your grass won’t grow well in dense hardpan or clay soil either – you’ll wind up with thin, scraggly, patchy growth at best.

Lawns are especially prone to having dense soil because they’re left in place for many years and their natural organic components decay and wash away, leaving only mineral components behind. Soil that’s too dense will fail to absorb water and may be prone to runoff during heavy rains. Soil that’s too loose will have the opposite problem: Water will flow right through, leaving the lawn with too little water and fewer nutrients.

If you’re planning to install a new lawn, that’s a great time to test your soil’s drainage conditions. You should actually perform this test in several different spots in your yard, since you’ll likely get differing results. (High-traffic areas, for example, will have more compacted soil than the rest of the yard, and areas near trees may be clogged from surface roots.)

This basic drainage test is called a percolation test, and it works just the way it sounds: You test to see how long it takes a quantity of water to percolate, or seep, into the ground, then drain away. The test couldn’t be easier.

Plan to withhold water from your lawn for several days, then check its percolation rate by performing the simple test shown in the pictures and described in the captions.

Whether your soil is claylike or sandy, supplementing with compost or organic amendments is a must, since both conditions deprive a lawn of nutrients. If the holes from your percolation test drain quickly, you’ve got sandy soil, and important nutrients are being washed away from the plant’s roots. Your lawn, then, will be subject to drought. With claylike soil, nutrients can’t adequately reach roots and your grass’ growth will be stunted.

If your soil is compacted, which is more common in lawn areas where organic matter has slowly decomposed, you may want to mix some fine peat moss with 1 or 2 parts playground sand and apply the mix to your lawn area. Once your soil is properly amended, you’ll be ready to plant your new lawn.

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Photo Credit: ©2000 Dolezal Publishing/Reed Estabrook

Step 1 Set aside your turf and dig a hole 1-2 feet wide and 2 feet deep in an area of your lawn. (If your lawn area is large, dig several holes in different areas with varying foot traffic and light exposure.)