These factors place stress on the grass and decrease its ability to recuperate from damage. To determine if your soil is compacted, use a soil probe to take a few plugs of soil. The probe should easily penetrate the top 4 to 6 inches of soil. Use a smaller diameter rod to push the plug of soil out of the pipe. Examine the plugs for the fine white roots.
Grasses growing in compacted soil tend to be shallow-rooted.
The roots may not extend further than 1 inch into the soil when they should extend 6 or more inches. A process known as core aeration or aerification will help alleviate soil compaction and improve growing conditions for the grass. This process involves physically removing cores of soil from the lawn, and for some lawns should be repeated annually. For more information about aerating lawns, you can request HGIC 1200, Aerating Lawns . As both of these areas are already prone to moss problems, excess moisture just adds to the problem.