soil restoration strategy question please?

Question

Before she died, our female dog would be on a rope in the front yard to urinate. Now that shes gone (sadly), there is a half circle of dead BLEAH in the yard. no grass, a TINY bit of moss, and hard, brittle soil.

Its my understanding that female dog urine is either so acidic or alkaline that it ruins the chemical balance.

My question is what products are available to restore the fertility of the soil, or do i need to re-layer topsoil into the lawn, then seed/sod?

Thanks.

Answer 1

First you will need to loosen up
the soil in area you desribed. then apply pow-
dered or pellitised lime to neutralize the acid.
then rake the area. you may want to put a thin
layer of new loam and lawm seed or sod.
water each day with no rain until roots of either
has developed.

Answer 2

First, sorry about your dog, I just lost one a week ago.

Dog urine burns because of the nitrogen content. It is like pouring fertilizer in one spot. Since nitrogen leaches from the soil so easily, water is the reclamation method. However, you also have the compaction issue. That's why you are seeing moss. Moss grows where oxygen is lacking. Your soil is so compact from her constant movement that the oxygen has been pounded out.

You need to open the soil back up. Rototill it, plow it, hand dig it.......whatever you can do to loosen the soil back up. How deep? I'd like to say as deep as possible, but will settle for 12 inches. You should also incorporate organic matter into the soil such as compost. Reestablish the proper grade and then water it several times to settle the soil. Now you are ready to reseed or sod. Prior to doing either of these I'd use a starter fertilizer especially designed for new lawns. Then apply the seed or sod. Keep moist until whichever you use becomes established.