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Another day another problem
sarah.b2601
Posts: 4
Hi all,
I’m back once again with another gardening fluff up. Me and my partner decided to dig out 6ft deep of concrete where an old garage used to be in our garden and cover it with turf last summer. We filled the hole using wonderfully expensive soil and then turfed it. Great, it looked great. And then it rained and we realised we’d made a mistake as it was a swamp within minutes. The lovely man at the garden centre tells me we should have done a mix of soil and sand and that’s why it isn’t draining. Obviously it’s too late now but is there a way I can make this situation any better?
A friend had told me to stab the area with a fork and then pour sand in and then hope for the best.
Can anyone help with which type of sand I should be using? When to do this activity? How much I should be using?
I’m back once again with another gardening fluff up. Me and my partner decided to dig out 6ft deep of concrete where an old garage used to be in our garden and cover it with turf last summer. We filled the hole using wonderfully expensive soil and then turfed it. Great, it looked great. And then it rained and we realised we’d made a mistake as it was a swamp within minutes. The lovely man at the garden centre tells me we should have done a mix of soil and sand and that’s why it isn’t draining. Obviously it’s too late now but is there a way I can make this situation any better?
A friend had told me to stab the area with a fork and then pour sand in and then hope for the best.
Can anyone help with which type of sand I should be using? When to do this activity? How much I should be using?
Any advice would be hugely appreciated!
0
Posts
I guess it's start again time. Cut and stack the turfs, don't leave them covered for long, keep them moist.
Dig it all out. Fill bottom 2-3 ft clean hard core ( the old concrete should be OK), next 1 ft gravel, then your soil mixed with enough clean sand and grit to make it free-draining. End up at least 6 in above the old level.
Use horticultural "sharp" sand, not builders. Use horticultural grit.
Simples, but hard work.
If still unsure, try YouTube.
"Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
If you've got nice soil there, could you have a flower bed instead with some shrubs and things that will tolerate a bit more wet than grass does?
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
It must have cost a bomb for all that soil! Grass is massively resilient though, so don't worry too much about teething problems. You can always overseed or patch up little bits if necessary too.