Top Soil Question

[BirminghamAttorney]

A friend of mine has a problem. He has a piece of duck land that he recently had some dirt work done on it. When the dirt work was completed, the company skimmed too much top soil off the top. Now he can't grow anything. Outside of bringing in top soil, what should he do?

He has heard that you can bring in defecation from a chicken house and spread it on his top layer and this will help produce top soil. Has anyone else heard of this?


Thanks

[judge jb]

chicken manure is a high source of nitogen but is not a soil builder.... on the other hand cow manure is a good choice but little nitrogen... depending on location, it may take several hundred years to build 2 in. of topsoil..... my recommendation is to put a ton of ag lime to the acre, sow cool season grasses and 250 lbs of commercial fert. to the acre.....{ sure you can do a soil test, but this will get you started} there is no quick fix to replace top-soil..... the damage is done and you must supply the grasses with their needs to make it grow.... Oct. is the time to do this in the north....

check with your Co. extention service for more info....

judge jb

[blacklab101]

Like the Judge said, check with your County Extension Agent, they are always full of information and very helpful!!

[South Woods]

I would put the chicken litter on it. As the judge said it is a good N source, but it also has other benefits. It will build up the organic matter on a piece of ground. The is alot more than just the crap in it, like wood shavings feathers, bone, chickens, and dirt. It has been my expierence that grass will just about grow on concrete if you put litter on it. If the cost isn't too high, i sure would try it.

[landscaper]

Deffinately check with the county extension agent. Take him some soil samples in zip lock bags. Take them from several areas on the land and take them to him right away. Don't leave them on the dash of the truck, or in the fridge or anything like that. You will get a more accurate report if the samples are in their most natural state. The agent will be able to tell you what to add to the soil and exact quantities. In the mean time you can also plant most anything that is cheap and will grow a little and then disc is under a few times to add some organic matter to the soil. Worry about the weeds this will cause later. After following the extension agent's advice, plant beans (produce their own nitrogen and also add nitr. to the soil), cotton, corn, or anything else that will leave stubble that can be turned into the soil for more added organic matter.

[BirminghamAttorney]

Thanks for all the assistance. I will forward this info to my friend.