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Very Soil Conditions:
Toxicity (poisoning) of soil is most likely to occur where subsurface drainage is so poor that the ground lies wet for long periods. This is especially likely to happen in winter and early spring. As a result of the wetness soil bacteria, necessary for the proper development of grasses, do not prosper and cannot play their part in creating favorable soil conditions. Spiking with an aerating tool or machine helps drainage to some extent but if conditions are extreme an installed drainage system is the only answer.The chief advantages claimed are that they stabilize and make longer lasting the desirable granular structure of the soil. Clearly, they are not needed on sandy and similar soils. Synthetic soil conditioners are not inexpensive nor are they miracle workers that make organic matter, lime, fertilizer and work unnecessary. When conditions are favorable to their use they are certainly worth considering. They may help, for example, in stopping surface soil from washing off steep slopes before the grass seedlings take hold, but investigate by small-scale trial on your own ground before investing in them heavily. If you decide to use a synthetic soil conditioner follow the manufacturer's directions. It should be very soil conditions thoroughly mixed with the upper few inches of soil.
Except for very soil conditions special purposes (making a putting green for example) it is always better to sow a grass seed mixture than just one kind. In a way it is insurance. Different grasses, even different varieties of the same kind, prefer different soil conditions and often these preferences are for minor variations not easy to recognize by simple soil tests. If you sow several kinds in mixture those best adapted to your soil nourish; the others expire or become minor elements in the turf. It often happens that soil and other environmental conditions, such as shade and moisture, vary from place to place in the same lawn. By sowing a mixture of grasses the varying needs of these different situations are provided for.
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