This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.
How to turf on heavy clay soil?
Flowerpower26
Posts: 5
Hello
We've recently moved into our house and having to re-jig the garden to make it more child friendly. We are trying to create a lawned area and we've discovered that we have heavy clay soil. We've used a rotavator to break up clumps. We'd like to lay turf down but I understand that we need to improve soil in order for the turf to flourish. My question is what is the best way to go about this? I've read that adding organic material helps. What should I opt for that would allow me to turf soon, in a few weeks? As there are no plants in the area at all we can easily rotavate to incorporate the organic material. We are complete gardening novices so any advice would be much appreciated.
Thank you
We've recently moved into our house and having to re-jig the garden to make it more child friendly. We are trying to create a lawned area and we've discovered that we have heavy clay soil. We've used a rotavator to break up clumps. We'd like to lay turf down but I understand that we need to improve soil in order for the turf to flourish. My question is what is the best way to go about this? I've read that adding organic material helps. What should I opt for that would allow me to turf soon, in a few weeks? As there are no plants in the area at all we can easily rotavate to incorporate the organic material. We are complete gardening novices so any advice would be much appreciated.
Thank you
0
Posts
Adding organic matter is the best solution, especially well rotted manure which you can get bagged in GCs etc, but it isn't instant. It takes time to improve the soil. Months, not weeks.
You could still lay your turf, but you'll have to keep amending and improving the conditions, by aerating [spiking] the area if it's soggy and not draining well, and adding grit to those holes. Your local climate will obviously affect all that too, and how much you use the area.
Grass gets compacted anyway with children playing on it, which also affects the drainage, so it also depends on how perfect you want it to be. I didn't bother too much when my kids were young
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
I'd consider alternatives.
One option is to raise it - effectively creating a very large raised bed..another is install extensive drainage...all very expensive and messy - and still may not achieve what you'd like.
Apologies if that's not very encouraging but lawns in this situation just don't work IMHO.
One tip is before laying is to ensure you have a level top without dips and if you can make a small fall onto it to disperse water during winter or heavy rains so think where you wish to run off, as you do not want it to flood borders for plants.
I ♥ my garden.
We never used the grass in winter, and it stayed wet well into spring, but as far as the kids were concerned - that didn't really matter when they were little, and you accept that it won't be like Centre Court
If you want perfection though, that's an entirely different thing
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Thank you for taking the time to respond. I appreciate it. There seems to be a gradient of clay soil in the garden. You have to dig deep at the front before you hit the clay but at the back it's only a few inches down. So we're going to take our chances and lay turf after we do some prep, particularly to the back. Also accepted that the turf won't go down as soon as we like. I wouldn't mind Centre Court standard lawn but maybe I'll strive to achieve that once the kids have moved out (son is 3 yrs and daughter is only 3 months). So a long time yet!
It'll be fine, but you may need to give it a bit of attention along the way, depending on your climate. We don't have the problems of the soil cracking and breaking up here, because it doesn't dry out in summer. However, that means it doesn't dry out so quickly for cutting in spring though. If you're in a hotter, drier area, that cracking may well happen, and you may have to add some compost or similar to fill gaps.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
I ♥ my garden.