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Bad newbuild lawn

mark.s.price76mark.s.price76 Posts: 3
edited May 2022 in Problem solving
Hi all,

I moved into a newbuild property in 2018. I rotavated part of the garden, removed rubble and laid turf. The lawn became boggy and the grass eventually died.

We were extending the patio and at the same time asked for the remaining lawn to be turfed again. They dug it over, added topsoil and laid turf. (This was April last year).

Now the lawn look dreadful. It's not been boggy but it's patchy to say the least! I've noticed a lot of worms and the soil on the surface seems crumbly.

Have added some photos, but any advice would be appreciated.

Posts

  • AnniDAnniD Posts: 12,585
    Worms are usually a good sign (apart from the casts that they leave behind,  but easy to sweep away when they're dry).
    I thought your general view photo didn't look too bad, most lawns look a bit like that after the winter, but that corner section by the path seems the worst bit. Is there any particular reason for that, do you know ?
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    It looks very dry to me.
    What care did it have after being laid?
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • mark.s.price76mark.s.price76 Posts: 3
    I watered it regularly after, it went downhill pretty quickly though
  • mark.s.price76mark.s.price76 Posts: 3
    AnniD said:
    Worms are usually a good sign (apart from the casts that they leave behind,  but easy to sweep away when they're dry).
    I thought your general view photo didn't look too bad, most lawns look a bit like that after the winter, but that corner section by the path seems the worst bit. Is there any particular reason for that, do you know ?

    I'm not sure. It did use to be really boggy in that area but we haven't had the same issue this year
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    A new lawn at that time of year would have needed a good hour of watering a day in dry weather. If that needed to be done in sections - due to a sprinkler or similar, each area would have needed around that, about every couple of days. 
    It can never replace rain, but if you consider how much rain would fall in around an hour of nice steady stuff, that's what new grass needs consistently, until established, to get it looking green.  :)

    If the subsoil is poor though, that can also affect the growth.
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    edited May 2022
    That corner area, do people step on it to cut across the corner? Or is the drainage poor there, or is there rubble or some such thing under that area? Whatever, the grass isn't happy there and I think it's just asking to be a quadrant-shaped bed to match the one at the other side and "encourage" people to stay on the path.
    The rest of the grass doesn't look too bad - keep mowing it little and often, never taking too much off at once. The dry April we've had won't have helped and is perhaps why there's a bit of yellowing.
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
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