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clay doctor title

Clay Soil Treatment

Clay Doctor is a cutting edge soil science application that converts high clay content soils into a more usable loam soil form.

Convert your horrible clay soil into usable garden loam.
Treats heavy clay right under your lawn !

 

What can Clay Doctor do for you ?
it can fix your ugly clay soil problems under your lawn or in your garden.

Bumpy Lawn ? - Are dew worm pellets making your lawn rough and bumpy, if so Clay Doctor can breakdown and disperese those lumps in a matter of days.

Clay Soil Treatment

clay

Clay Doctor's Soil Conditioning Process converts heavy, or high clay content soils (minimum clay content of 16 percent) into a more usable form.


From This...

clay loogie

.....To This.

Improves soil water storage
and drainage.

Improves soil aeration.

Fixes old dry lawns with clay soil

Removes dew worm lumps


Compacted soil stunts grass root growth and does not hold water

soil diagram

Once a Clay Doctor treatment is applied,
the clay soil becomes looser and aerated promoting better root growth, water penetration and water retention for your lawn. This process will fix a lot of other problems in a lawn as well as trees.


Clay soil can make lawn care and gardening absolute hell.

If you need your clay based soil treated for planting grass whether in a
new yard or an old yard, We can turn that hard, lumpy concrete like soil into a softer loam using our state-of-the-art clay soil treatment.

Clay Doctor Fixes compacted clay soil right under your old ratty lawn with one application. The soil under the lawn is softer and holds more water immediately.

New sod lawns can be treated AFTER the sod is installed.

Clay Doctor Soil Modifier is the ideal way to fix older exhausted lawns with poor soil. Soil Fertility is increased almost immediately without addition of chemical fertilizers due to electrical (cation exchange) unlocking action that occurs during the Clay Doctor process. Both the lawn and all the trees in the yard will benefit from the changes.
 

WHY IS CLAY SOIL SO BAD?

First a quick explanation if what clay is and why it is such a problem for lawns and gardens read the information below.

The bottom line is that here in Alberta we are stuck with clay soils due to our geologic past. Much of south and central Alberta is an ancient sea bed.

The sea floor was made up of fine silt, sediments and of course a lot of sea salt. Over time this dried up sea floor sediment became clay. Clay is made up
from super fine particles of silt that are formed like platelets
(tiny smooth disk shaped pieces of aluminum silicate)
this fine material is ideal for making a concrete like soil matrix.

These microscopic platelets are held together with an electrical charge from the highly charged sodium chloride ions in the salt. The fine particles are held together tightly by this charge and when water is added it increases the binding effect.
The water is held in a tight layer between the platelets and act as a lubricant
which make it both slimy slick and sticky at the same time.

In order to make the clay less sticky when wet and hard as concrete when dry,
the electrical structure within the clay must be altered before it will loosen up
it's binding action.

There are many factors at play here, but in order to simplify the explanation, we'll focus on the salt in the soil. The salt (sodium chloride) must be broken down and the electrical charge dispersed before the clay can loosen. Our Clay Doctor process involves the use of a very strongly charged chemical ion compound dissolved in water. This compound has the exact opposite electrical charge as the sodium compound holding the clay together.

The strongly charged ion is introduced into the soil in a solution that immediately attacks the sodium molecules and break it apart. This action causes the clay platelets to relax or fall away from each other.

Many elements and molecules, including fertilizer components like NH4, K+, Ca++ and Mg++ are readily bound to the clay platelet. This makes them unavailable to plants. The molecules are held to the platelet by forces weaker than forces associated with ionization.

After the clay modification process is complete, both air and water can penetrate the soil. Soil Nutrients and minerals become more "bioavailable" so the plants can use them and thrive.

Older mature trees benefit greatly from this soil treatment.
Many sick trees are a result of soil problems. The release of soil
nutrients and ph balance by the ionic exchange in the soil is extremely helpful for
many struggling trees. Great for birch trees and large Spruce trees

Fertilizers & Clay Soil - A major no no

The use of chemical fertilizers on clay based soils for many years causes serious problems in lawns, the two things do NOT mix. Once the chemical nitrogen salts have built up and altered the clay soil, the lawn will rapidly go into decline, getting weaker and get weedier by the year as essential nutrients and minerals become bound up.

Chemical fertilizers also destroy beneficial soil microorganisms. In addition, chemical fertilizers use salt to deliver the nutrients and minerals to the root zone. This salt builds up over time increasing the clay's binding action. If you have problems with soil percolation or compacted soil, then it becomes difficult to rid the soil of these salts.

Clay Doctor will eliminate the salts left behind on your lawn from years of chemical fertilizer use. If not eliminated, these salts can burn the roots of plants and cause stress.  Clay Doctor's ionization process will strip away the built up salts, release the bound nutrients and minerals as well as neutralize the soil PH factors.


Improved Drainage

Also ideal for problem drainage areas, septic fields and areas prone to flooding
due to poor drainage. This stuff will fix your ailing septic field as well. The process improves soil percolation dramatically in clay based septic drain fields.

For more information how we can fix or restore failed septic drain field
In Alberta's heavy clay soil visit our web site here www.drainfieldmedic.com

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Clay Doctor Soil Modifier - Cutting Edge Soil Science

This process requires specialized knowledge and costly, complex application equipment, it is NOT a product in a bag or bottle a homeowner can apply themselves.There are soil treatment products like gypsum that a homeowner can apply themselves, but they take 2 to 3 years to work and only treat the surface area. If you want results quickly a Clay Doctor treatment is the best option and works with a few days after application.

We can do treatments to residential lawns & gardens, commercial lawns, parks and rec areas as well as specialized sports playing fields and golf courses. In some cases we can also do agricultural plots, orchards and pastures.

Commercial lawns and Parks often have degraded lawns due to soil compaction, this is a huge problem when clay soils are used for the substrate of these lawns. After years of people walking on these lawns the soil becomes compacted to consistency of concrete. Once this happens, the grass will no longer thrive and go rapidly into decline. The water holding capacity of this soil is extremely poor, with most rainfall and irrigation simply running off. When hot weather hits, the soil dries out within a day or so and the lawn goes dormant. After treatment with soil modifier, the compaction is almost instantly relieved and the absorption potential of the soil increases to the point where it can hold onto moisture for weeks instead of days.

Due to its composition, Our liquid Clay Doctor Soil Treatment possesses an immense potential for an ion exchange (ionization). Small amounts of Liquid Clay Doctor Soil Modifier, when mixed with water, activates water molecules to H+, OH-, and H30+ ions, causing the water to become a highly ionized solution.

The result creates a vigorous exchange of electrical charges in the soil/clay particles, effectively neutralizing the ability of the platelet to attract and bind water, elements, and molecules. The clay soils then behave more like a loamy soil after the treatment.

There are many forms of treatments for clay like gypsum and calcium compounds, the problem is that these compounds are often not very water soluble and require "geological time" to work, meaning many years of application and a lot of patience. Clay Doctor Soil Modifier works within days and to a greater depth without mechanical mixing/tilling into the soil required by dry compounds.

Results


The ion exchange occurs immediately and is carried into the soil as deep as the water penetrates. Soil conditioning utilizing the injection method of application will enable a deeper penetration of the product into the soil. The resulting soil conditions accelerate the natural aerobic bacterial growth and allow natural soil conditions to take place rapidly and more efficiently than before treatment.

The structure of heavy clay soils will improve and promote granulation. Soil drainage increases, enabling plant roots to grow more extensively, increasing the decomposition of organic matter, decreasing particulate water retention, and encouraging desirable micro-organisms while suppressing harmful soil bacteria.

Aerobic organisms encouraged in treated soils often become a natural defense against infection and disease. More elements and minerals will be made available, which results in improved, stronger plant growth.

 

Clay Doctor Soil Modifier Product.

Flash Point – Non-Flammable
Environmentally safe!
pH=0.9 at the concentrated form.

 

Treating Lawns with Clay Doctor Soil Modifier

Clay Doctor Soil Modifier for lawns
bad lawn

Lawn Before Clay Doctor

This is a typical exhausted lawn found in most Alberta cities. It has bald patches, dry soil and is filled with ants and weeds. This lawn will not hold water and dries out within a few days

The soil is compacted, hard and practically devoid of organic matter and microbial life.

Until now the only way to fix a lawn like this was to dig it up and replace the soil and reseed or resod .
A very costly operation.

A single Clay Doctor treatment is about a third or less of the cost of replacement.

Lawn after Clay Doctor

Here is the same lawn, less than a month after being treated with Clay Doctor
and a mild organic fertilizer.

The soil now holds more water and air as it has changed to a soft more porous loam.

The grass roots can now penetrate deeper into the lawn and find more water and nutrients.

Clay Doctor Soil Modifier fixes and changes the soil permanently after one application.

 

The ROOT of your Lawn's problem

After 15 to 20 years most lawns planted in Alberta's clay based soils are either totally exhausted or struggling to survive.

There is no easy way to fix this when all the soil available is sticky, hard pan clay based soil.

Screened loam sold in Alberta is generally , simply screened clay substrate with a small amount of black top soil mixed in.

Most of it comes form those huge piles scraped off new developments. The problem is that the equipment used to clear the the "top soil" off scrapes about 6 to 12 inches of the underlying clay found under our thin Alberta top soil.

it is highly likely your lawn has heavy clay based soil under it.


The good news is that Clay Doctor Soil Modifier works fast and can be applied to almost any yard or acreage.

The application is in a liquid form, it is fairly quick to apply using our specialized equipment. The process requires that we soak the entire lawn area with a lot of the water based product. It's squishy after we leave, however the yard is ready to use again within a day.

There are no toxic chemicals used. The process uses a harmless highly charged ionic solution with water. it is totally child and pet safe. The Clay Doctor starts changing the soil chemistry immediately.


The cost is moderate, in fact,  it seems to be low when you compare the cost of totally replacing an old lawn by having it dug up, the old sod and dirt hauled away, new soil brought in and prepared and then replacing the grass with sod or seed all over again.

The problem with digging out the old lawn is that there is more than a good chance you will be repeating the exact same mistake, namely using clay soil in combination with blue grass sod. These two things do not work well together, so history will repeat itself. Blue Grass sod does NOT do well in clay soil.

Each application is different, some lawns require more than just the clay soil treatment as the soil is exhausted and strip mined of all nutrients. In that case we can add other nutrient and soil conditioning materials at the same time which saves you further visits and the associated costs of a return service call later to fertilize.

Most lawns in Calgary, Edmonton, Red Deer and their surrounding communities have huge problems with poor quality clay soils. Lawns always look good the first year when put in, but then rapidly degrade after the first winter.

Certain communities have it a lot worst than others having not only heavy clay, but also alkali, sodic and salty hard pan clay problems. Places like Langdon, Airdrie, Okotoks, High River, Cochrane, Olds, Dewinton, Innisfail and Carstairs have terrible alkali and hard pan clays in many neighborhoods.

Red Deer and area are also dry hard pan soil areas, as are places like Stoney Plain, Spruce Grove, St Albert, Ponoka, Lacombe, Leduc and Beaumont. Camrose has terrible alkali clay soils in some areas.

I can honestly say that most lawn problems are soil related. This product not only removes the binding action of the clay, but also neutralizes the carbonates and other alkali at the same time through the ionization process. It will fix
soil that has been toxified and the PH altered negatively by over use of chemical nitrogen fertilizers by stripping away those harmful compounds through the ion exchange process.

Many clay soils actually do have decent nutritional and mineral value BUT the minerals are not available to the plant life because the electrical charge in the clay binds the minerals into a form that plants can't absorb. Much like pasteurization binds up much of the Calcium up in milk so that our bodies can't absorb it like untreated milk. Clay Doctor Soil Modifier releases and changes these binding charges and quickly make these minerals and nutrients "bioavailable". Your lawn will immediately be able to access these nutrients and thrive better.

In the before and after pictures on this web page, you will notice that the lawns before treatment are dry looking, the grass is almost in the dormant phase. Once the clay soil has been treated, there is an almost immediate release of nutritional elements from the soil that were not bioavailable before. This triggers a burst of growth and the hence the lawns look greener and lusher within a matter of weeks.

The other factor that helps from the clay treatment is that the fine soil particles that were tightly bound together before are now loose. Our soil conditioner contains a naturally occurring isotope that forces water molecules to bind with the soil particles. As the particles absorb water they expand and when the water evaporates they contract. This expansion and contraction allows air channels to form, allowing water to penetrate deep into the soil.

As these particles absorb fresh water, they release oxygen and hydrogen simultaneously, thus allowing your soil to neutralize the pH. Now that we have built oxygen channels, we finish the job by filling them with live amino acid chains that build good bacteria to stabilize the soil and keep these channels open.This allows both air and water to penetrate into the soil reviving the grasses roots. The soil looses it's compaction and hardness as well making it softer. In flower beds and gardens the soil is much easier to dig and break up. Ever try cleaning clay off of carrots or potatoes, after treating with Clay Doctor, that will never be a problem again.

Before treatment the clay soil was likely so hard and compact that it repelled water. When the soil is that "tight" the water just can't soak in. When it rains or it is watered, the top layer absorbs a little bit of water and then forms a seal that prevents more water from soaking into it. This is why you see water running off of so many lawns within 15 to 20 minutes of watering. The moisture only penetrates about 2 to 3 inches and then is dry beneath that layer.

In time of hot or dry weather the lawn runs out of moisture with a few days and this stresses the lawn drastically. Once the soil is permeable again after the Clay Doctor treatment, it can absorb a lot more water into the spaces between the soil particles. This means that the water can now penetrate down to 2 to 3 feet or more instead of a few inches.

Trying to aerate or relieve compaction in hard clay soil with a core aerator is basically a waste of time in Alberta. Each year homeowners spend hundreds of dollars getting their lawn mechanically "aerated" and "power raked" in an attempt to help their lawns. These processes really don't work for tight clay soils, the holes just allow air into he bottom of the holes and no further.

Power raking robs the lawn of important organic mass. If the lawn and soil is healthy, natural soil organisms will constantly decompose the thatch and grass clippings into the soil and thereby provide vital nutrients for microbes and to help provide more water holding capacity in the soil.

If thatch and grass clippings don't degrade naturally and build up into an ugly layer, it's a sure sigh that your soil is basically empty of natural decomposing microbes.

Overall, treating the clay soil will resolve a lot of problems in your lawn. most often it's a one time thing, the treatment permanently changes the clay into loamy soil. Older severely degraded or exhausted soil may need some additional nutrients added at the time of the treatment.

Older mature trees benefit greatly from this treatment. Many sick trees are a result of soil problems. The release of soil nutrients and ph balance by the ionic exchange in the soil is extremely helpful for many struggling trees.

It is also a good time to do a complete lawn rejuvenation at this time as well as the two processes can be combined with the same equipment and manpower to facilitate a savings in the cost for both processes done separately.

A complete rejuvenation includes adding nutrition, soil amendments and grass reseeding for a high quality, hardy fescue blend low maintenance lawn.

COST for Clay Doctor Soil Modifier Treatment.

Most city lawns can be treated with Clay Doctor Soil Modifier for a cost range of $700 to $1200 depending on the size of the yard. Most standard city yards fall in the lower range. The higher end of the range is for older larger lot homes over 1500 square feet of lawn. Prices vary due to conditions and size. Call us today for a closer estimate.

 


Clay Soil & Dew Worms - A marriage made in hell !

worm

Is your lawn covered in hard lumps of clay for dew worms ? .......If so we can fix that.

The ugly lumps on your lawn are caused when dew worms surface at night and deposit castings made up from clay particles ingested from deeper under the surface of your lawn.

Dew worms rise to the surface when the soil is saturated and the nights are warm. They will also venture to the surface to feed on the lawns thatch layer if the soil is low in organic material they ingest for food.

After a rainfall or lawn watering, the worms surface to avoid drowning.
The dew worms excrete small, uneven mounds of clay that can make lawns unsafe to walk upon and more difficult to mow. These lumps solidify in the dry air and form hard nodules that do not break down easily.

So, the worms are not really the problem. trying to kill them is not that answer. The worms are just doing what they do best, aerating the law's soil and increasing the fertility by carrying vital organic material deep into the soil layer under the lawn.



dew worm lumps

Worm castings full of clay make bumpy lawns

 

When your lawn has this many lumps and bumps, it requires drastic action.

 


A single application of Clay Doctor Soil Modifier can completely breakdown these lumps into a loose particles that reabsorb quickly into the lawns surface.

It also fixes the soil UNDERNEATH the lawn as well to prevent future clay lumps from reappearing later.

The process involves the application of the Clay Soil Modifier product by specially trained staff using injection, boom sprays, irrigation equipment, sprinklers, or similar methods.

The Clay Soil modifier, when applied via the injection process, is effective for deep soil conditioning needs related to bioswales and construction sites.

The Clay Soil Modifier may also be sprayed on soil, lawns, trees, shrubs, or flower beds and will not harm or burn living plants or organics found at surface level.

The Soil Conditioning Process requires water to be active and permeate the soil.

Its reaction with the soil is downwards following water channels deep into the soil with very little lateral movement.

Therefore, it is important to saturate the soil to the depth required to be treated. We use specialized equipment to facilitate this process, it is NOT a do it yourself product.

We do offer other solutions for clay soil treatment such as liquid Gypsum and Terrform soil conditioner. These products are effective but not as effective in single rapid treatment as Clay Doctor Soil Modifier.

 



The real problem is the clay lumps, not the worms

Does it not make sense to find a way to deal with the lumps !.
worm casting

To hear the passion with which people seek a "control" for earthworms you could believe that worms are the worst pests on earth (or more appropriately, in earth). Of course, earthworms are beneficial and valuable to the overall health and tilth of the lawn. Their activity improves the growing environment by increasing air and water movement.

The presence of earthworms in the lawn is an indicator of healthy or reasonably healthy soil, it is when they make their presence known that they become a problem. Most of the time worms are unseen, conditioning the soil and living their lives deep in the root zone.

During the spring and fall, or other periods of extreme moisture, earthworms tend to migrate to the surface and leave their castings on the lawn. Worm castings are small mounds or bumps on the lawn which are basically worm excrement. The excretions are nutrient packed remains of digested plant matter and soil which is extremely beneficial to the lawn. The problem in some areas is that the castings also contain clay, which turn hard when dry.

Earthworms help in breaking down thatch, increasing decomposition and creating usable nitrogen in the soil. In fact, five or more earthworms per square foot of soil provides the lawn with 25% of its seasonal nitrogen requirements. The worms' movement through the soil profile acts as natural aeration, helping air and water move from the surface throughout the root zone.

Clay Doctor soil Modifier can be used to treat these lumps and break them down to a finer grained loam like texture easily absorbed back into the lawn.

A full soil modification treatment on a lawn will result in breaking down the surface lumps but it also goes deep into the lawn to treat the soil deep down so that in the future when the worms return to the surface, the lumps are no longer clay and breakdown quickly after watering or rainfall.

We have other compounds such as our Liquid Gypsum and Terraform Soil Treatment that can be applied by the homeowner when and if required to insure with any new lumps the soil stays soft and friable (softer and loose).

After a clay soil modification treatment has been done, there are many other benefits beside getting rid of the lumps. The lawn now has soil that water can penetrate deep into during rainfall and watering. The lawns roots grow deeper providing a stronger turf.

The soil is once again allowing air and moisture to remain for longer which aids the beneficial soil microbes to thrive.

Your lawn will stay greener, maintain it's lushness longer and require less water and fertilizer than it did before the treatment.

Early spring, June and late fall are ideal times for a treatment.
There are advantages to doing the treatment when the soil is very moist or wet as the process penetrates deeper. However we can do this process at any time during the summer, spring and fall.

Call us for details.

Toll Free 1-877-894-9378 - Direct Dial 1-403-638-8090
Email : ecograss@mac.com

 

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Clay Soil Problems & Treatments

Dirt and Soil Services.

Top Dressing

Hydroseeding, No Till Drill & Mechanical Grass Seeding.

Lawn & Sports Field Renovations / Restorations

Horse Pasture Renovations / Restorations

Algae Control for Ponds, lakes and Industry

Liquid soil matrix application - grow grass on bald clay soil, sand and gravel without trucking in top soil !

 

 

Toll Free 1-877-894-9378 - Direct Dial 1-403-638-8090
Email : ecograss@mac.com