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New build – dead lawn

StillLearning1StillLearning1 Posts: 6
in Problem solving

Hi all,

The lawn in my 2-year-old property has died, I think. It started off looking very nice. However, it now looks like this:



I really enjoy gardening, but I'm clearly not very good at it. 

Can anyone help and advise:

1. I assume the entire turf needs replacing - is that correct?

2. Under around 1/2 inch of soil, there is hard clay. If I replace the turf, do I:

a) Remove a few inches of clay and replace with top soil, before adding turf. 

b) Add top soil on top of the clay, if so how much. 

I've had to quotes to fix so far, one is £4.5k for option a, and one is £1.5k for option b. 

Any advice would be much appreciated. 

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Posts

  • madpenguinmadpenguin Posts: 2,543
    I think you have been quoted sky high prices there!
    My lawn though smaller than yours cost around £300 or so.
    They dug up the old lawn and took off a layer of the hard surface clay (much like yours I expect).
    Then they rotovated the area to break up the soil and then put a couple of inches or so of good topsoil on before laying good quality turf.

    “Every day is ordinary, until it isn't.” - Bernard Cornwell-Death of Kings
  • AnniDAnniD Posts: 12,585
    Welcome to the forum :) It looks though they used that turf with the plastic mesh, not the best stuff. I agree that the prices you have been quoted are pretty high @zoherhirji ! It would be far cheaper and more satisfying to do it yourself if you feel like it. You can hire a turf skimmer, but looking at the state of it, l think digging up the turf and the top few inches of clay would be a start. After that, l must be honest, l am not sure. Normally l would suggest rotavating, but as it's clay....the drainage needs improving for sure. There are other lawn experts on here who can advise.
    By the way @madpenguin , nice job !  :)
  • StillLearning1StillLearning1 Posts: 6
    End result is very nice @madpenguin. 

    My garden is 82 sqm, but quotes do seem high to me too. 

    I was thinking about hiring a mini digger and removing a couple of inches of clay, and replacing with top soil, but I have never done anything like that before. 

    Thanks for your replies both. 
  • wild edgeswild edges Posts: 10,497
    The question is do you really want grass that much? £4.5k would go a long way to making a very nice grassless garden out of that space.
    If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
  • Little_allotmentLittle_allotment Posts: 12
    New build seems to always have this problem. I've over sown grass seeds for a few years on my new build but doesn't seem to work. I think the problems under ground, it's probably just rubble and little to no soil 
  • StillLearning1StillLearning1 Posts: 6
    wild edges said:
    The question is do you really want grass that much? £4.5k would go a long way to making a very nice grassless garden out of that space.
    I don't really want to spend 4.5k - and I do like grass. What I would really like to do is have a little decking in the top right corner of second picture of my opening post. That area is on the bottom of the slope, and there is no drainage, so it gets waterlogged. Plus, its nicely in the shade in the afternoon. 
  • StillLearning1StillLearning1 Posts: 6
    Little_allotment said:
    New build seems to always have this problem. I've over sown grass seeds for a few years on my new build but doesn't seem to work. I think the problems under ground, it's probably just rubble and little to no soil 
    Yes I suspect there is all kinds of rubbish beneath the surface. 

    I'm just clueless as to what to do next. I've looked at hiring a mini digger - and thinking about removing a few inches of what is there to then have a blank canvas. 
  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    I would skim off the old grass fairly thinly making sure to get rid of the plastic mesh - less volume of stuff to get rid of - then fork or dig over the rest to break up the clay a bit and take out any rubble or other rubbish that's under there, then level it and see where you are.  If it needs more topsoil I think I would fork it in a bit - if there's a defined change between the clay and the topsoil, the new grass might not root deeply enough (that could be part of the original problem - also last summer wasn't grass-friendly). Then firm it and level it, and it'll be ready for new turf or seed.
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • madpenguinmadpenguin Posts: 2,543
    Little_allotment said:
    New build seems to always have this problem. I've over sown grass seeds for a few years on my new build but doesn't seem to work. I think the problems under ground, it's probably just rubble and little to no soil 
    The firm that did my lawn were also the ones that laid the lawn as a new build.
    They said they basically were told just to lay turf over a levelled surface (all sorts of stuff underneath,stones,strips of plastic,bricks,concrete,plasterboard etc).That is what they were paid to do so they said it was good to be able to come back and do the job properly!
    “Every day is ordinary, until it isn't.” - Bernard Cornwell-Death of Kings
  • StillLearning1StillLearning1 Posts: 6
    JennyJ said:
    I would skim off the old grass fairly thinly making sure to get rid of the plastic mesh - less volume of stuff to get rid of - then fork or dig over the rest to break up the clay a bit and take out any rubble or other rubbish that's under there, then level it and see where you are.  If it needs more topsoil I think I would fork it in a bit - if there's a defined change between the clay and the topsoil, the new grass might not root deeply enough (that could be part of the original problem - also last summer wasn't grass-friendly). Then firm it and level it, and it'll be ready for new turf or seed.

    Unfortunately I can't level it, not completely anyway. If I did, my lawn would then be above the air bricks of my neighbor's property. 

    The clay is pretty rock solid, you cant even get a fork to penetrate it - is that normal? Should I wait for rain / hose it down first to soften it up? 
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