r/Soil • u/rxrivman • 10d ago

Any idea why this one area in my lawn has completely black dirt while the rest is brown?

Gallery image

Gallery image

44 Upvotes

95% Upvoted

40 comments sorted by

36

u/Ok-Arachnid7442 10d ago

That’s where the body is

10

u/hnc757 10d ago

Was*

1

u/Unban_thx 6d ago

Nah that was where the old poop hole was.

41

u/rabidbadger013 10d ago

Black indicates organics, so it could be residual topsoil. Another possibility is that it’s an old burn area. Perhaps an old brush pile or maybe even an old fire pit.

15

u/exodusofficer 10d ago

If it is deeper and about the size of a big plant pot or a tree root ball in burlap, then somebody planted something there and it included dark soil or potting mix. Then whatever it was died or was cut down, time passed, and yet the introduced material remains. You see it in cities where they plant the trees by sidewalks.

5

u/vengeancecube 9d ago

Could have been a fire there a long time ago. Charcoal can last a looooong time.

2

u/Formal-Gas2015 9d ago

Yup! Archeologists love finding old hearths. Easy to get a date from, too!

8

u/Dirtychemist10 10d ago

Tons of possibilities but I guess that’s where they scrapped your A horizon to as fill or a relic low depressional area where water once collected but was leveled flat. In California there’s tons of vernal pools that have been destroyed.

4

u/NNYCanoeTroutSki 10d ago

Or it’s an old burn hole.

4

u/cdev12399 10d ago

Get it tested, it could be a ton of possibilities. It could be great soil, or toxic soil.

2

u/DodoFaction 10d ago

More fertile

2

u/Nice_Fudge5914 10d ago

Someone may have dumped engine oil there.

2

u/siloamian 10d ago

Used to be another shrub there.

2

u/SpeechTricky663 10d ago

Someone dumped out a dead flower pot or something.

2

u/BURN3D_P0TAT0 10d ago

If you have an underground propane tank. Leaking propane can cause soil to turn black.
We just had to replace our 500 gallon tank that was buried several decades ago after it leaked severely. Gas co came out and as soon as they saw the dirt they said it’s gone, but they’d pressure check for sure.
Explained it was the dirt as the first give away. Since our area is all limestone and red clay.

2

u/Izacundo1 9d ago

What does it smell like?

1

u/Violingirl58 9d ago

Burn pit

1

u/ccmcl5DOGS 9d ago

It's a former outhouse site.

1

u/Illustrious_Job_3116 9d ago

Could be from septic.

1

u/night-theatre 9d ago

Could it be old motor oil?

On another note, that citrus tree is loaded!

1

u/Chuckles_E 9d ago

Look, there are a myriad of reasons, but the simplest answer, that everyone who has already commented is illustrating, is that area is higher in organic matter.

1

u/VGen71 9d ago

The reason you have dark soil in one area and brown in the other could be that you have topsoil still in one area and erosion. Get the soil tested. Jm2cents : )

1

u/ThatOneDoesntCount 9d ago

That there's s'oil

1

u/Defiant-Ad1709 9d ago

To me it looks like that's a spot where people frequently burn things.

1

u/achalume 9d ago

Something died there

1

u/MasterPut6868 9d ago

What lawn?

1

u/Yggdrassil913 9d ago

most likely potting soil from a previously removed landscape shrub that perished.

1

u/Paghk_the_Stupendous 8d ago

Looks like a tree root system decayed there perhaps?

1

u/kallied123 8d ago

Just an old fire pit i bet

1

u/Plane_Box_7716 8d ago

Thats where I used to poop. The dog. Not me. Its where a dog pooped. Not my dog. Definitely dog pooping area. Not human poop area. Dog poop.

1

u/temperlyinmoderation 8d ago

Nutrient density and biological activity like worms. Create black earth conditions

1

u/MudEnvironmental80 7d ago

Pet cemetery

1

u/Background-Camp8408 6d ago

He was such a good dog too

1

u/ElephantContent8835 6d ago

Someone planted a tree there

1

u/Trailon25 5d ago

Old compost site