Rescuing a Weedy, Lumpy Pennsylvania Lawn: Soil Probing, Organic Amendments, and the Sugar-Corn Gluten Decision

Hole Diagnosis

• 2-inch holes, no mounds: likely snake holes (TX) or mole/gopher (PA). Cayenne pepper in holes relocates them.
• Hard patches: clay soil or thatch pads. Shovel test: easy = plant; hard = till amendments.

Clay Amendment Recipe (Proven)

1 part peat moss + 1 part humus + 3 parts cedar bark mulch. 3 inches deep, tilled 6 inches. Worked for Charlotte's St. Augustine.

Weed Management

• Don't pull weeds before tilling—no seeds now, they decompose into nutrients.
• Sugar = table sugar (1 lb/250 sq ft, water deep). Anytime.
• Corn gluten: if just nutrients, use. Charlotte prefers alfalfa meal (feed store). Tea for flowers, broadcast on lawn.

Composting

Kitchen vegetable scraps, leaves, seedless weeds → rich topsoil. National Gardening Association (garden.org) has excellent composting guides and reliable seed/plant sales.