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Lawns are harder than I realised
thezealleys7wq9IJP-
Posts: 13
Hello friendly gardening experts! I'm looking for some advice on (re)creating a lawn.
(Sorry this is rather lengthy - I didn't want to omit anything that might be important. It is in fact apparently so lengthy I'm going to have to break it into parts...)
A bit of background: we've recently built a sizeable rear extension to our home, and in the process basically destroyed what was previously a somewhat rough but well-covering lawn. The plot was moderately sloped and, in the hope of ending up with something much flatter, our last phase of groundworks included bringing in quite a few tonnes of extra soil to equalise the ground level across the whole back garden - the lads actually did an excellent job of that, even by my eye (and I'm pretty picky about straight lines), and had finished by around the end of March.
Their cheerful claim that it'd be easy to convert said flat expanse of dirt into a "banging lawn", ready for our little girls to play on this summer, has proven less accurate
Their suggested method was to "give it a really good scratching up" before sowing seed using a hand-held spreader (I got this one), lightly raking to mix the seeds in, flattening the earth back down and then watering a couple of times a day. That actually gelled pretty well with the instructions on the grass seed I purchased - Westland Gro-Sure Smart Lawn Seed; the kind with the aqua-gel coating - working on the assumption that the initial preparation step of digging over the ground to a depth of 20-25cm was unnecessary (since it was almost all newly-added soil anyway), so I went ahead.
I should note that - with a 5-year-old and a 1-year-old, as well as a very full-time job and a lot of other commitments - I don't have oodles of free time (or indeed money - we've got a lot of debt to pay off post-build), but working on it a section at a time with the few hours I could secure each weekend from mid April I have so far managed to get about 2/3 of the total area processed. Could probably have got a bit further last weekend, but my wife had surgery and I've been even more overwhelmed with childcare than usual as a result (also, while I'm a stubborn git and really wanted this to be done by summer, I'm forced to concede that my current strategy just doesn't seem to be working).
There's one other constraint; the other final bit of groundworks involved constructing blockwork steps up to the garden from the (rather narrow; 1m wide) side passage which provides the sole access. I recognise I'm going to need to bring more volume in and out, and can do so by laying a plank down the steps to protect them as far as possible from barrows running over, but I'd definitely like to minimise that (so in particular, digging the whole thing out and replacing it with entirely fresh soil is a non-starter).
The first photo attached shows what our "lawn" looks like as of today. The grass is definitely growing, and in places even quite thickly, but it's very patchy. The first section, to the right of the photo - up to a line drawn from the pile of rocks to the fence - has a week's head start on the second section, which runs up to the first plank and includes the greener bit right of said plank; that in turn has a week's head start on the third section, left of the plank and up to the rear fence, which was done 1.5 weeks ago and is just starting to come up.
I've spent a fair bit of time reading threads on this forum and have come up with a bunch of possible reasons for this, as well as an entirely new plan (in which I give up on the "by summer" element). What I'd be really grateful for is some expert advice on that plan, in the hope that "round two" of this process can hopefully be a bit more successful.
(Sorry this is rather lengthy - I didn't want to omit anything that might be important. It is in fact apparently so lengthy I'm going to have to break it into parts...)
A bit of background: we've recently built a sizeable rear extension to our home, and in the process basically destroyed what was previously a somewhat rough but well-covering lawn. The plot was moderately sloped and, in the hope of ending up with something much flatter, our last phase of groundworks included bringing in quite a few tonnes of extra soil to equalise the ground level across the whole back garden - the lads actually did an excellent job of that, even by my eye (and I'm pretty picky about straight lines), and had finished by around the end of March.
Their cheerful claim that it'd be easy to convert said flat expanse of dirt into a "banging lawn", ready for our little girls to play on this summer, has proven less accurate
Their suggested method was to "give it a really good scratching up" before sowing seed using a hand-held spreader (I got this one), lightly raking to mix the seeds in, flattening the earth back down and then watering a couple of times a day. That actually gelled pretty well with the instructions on the grass seed I purchased - Westland Gro-Sure Smart Lawn Seed; the kind with the aqua-gel coating - working on the assumption that the initial preparation step of digging over the ground to a depth of 20-25cm was unnecessary (since it was almost all newly-added soil anyway), so I went ahead.
I should note that - with a 5-year-old and a 1-year-old, as well as a very full-time job and a lot of other commitments - I don't have oodles of free time (or indeed money - we've got a lot of debt to pay off post-build), but working on it a section at a time with the few hours I could secure each weekend from mid April I have so far managed to get about 2/3 of the total area processed. Could probably have got a bit further last weekend, but my wife had surgery and I've been even more overwhelmed with childcare than usual as a result (also, while I'm a stubborn git and really wanted this to be done by summer, I'm forced to concede that my current strategy just doesn't seem to be working).
There's one other constraint; the other final bit of groundworks involved constructing blockwork steps up to the garden from the (rather narrow; 1m wide) side passage which provides the sole access. I recognise I'm going to need to bring more volume in and out, and can do so by laying a plank down the steps to protect them as far as possible from barrows running over, but I'd definitely like to minimise that (so in particular, digging the whole thing out and replacing it with entirely fresh soil is a non-starter).
The first photo attached shows what our "lawn" looks like as of today. The grass is definitely growing, and in places even quite thickly, but it's very patchy. The first section, to the right of the photo - up to a line drawn from the pile of rocks to the fence - has a week's head start on the second section, which runs up to the first plank and includes the greener bit right of said plank; that in turn has a week's head start on the third section, left of the plank and up to the rear fence, which was done 1.5 weeks ago and is just starting to come up.I've spent a fair bit of time reading threads on this forum and have come up with a bunch of possible reasons for this, as well as an entirely new plan (in which I give up on the "by summer" element). What I'd be really grateful for is some expert advice on that plan, in the hope that "round two" of this process can hopefully be a bit more successful.
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1) There's a significant amount of clay in the soil (although the newly-added stuff is not as bad as the original ground was). The second attached picture, taken about a month ago and just before the second section was sown, shows how much of a pool forms in moderately heavy rain (n.b. it's flooding over from the untouched and very compacted side, it didn't accumulate quite so badly on the area I'd worked).
2) Possibly related to the clay content, the surface becomes very solid once pressed back down after sowing seed (I've been doing said pressing by laying a plank along the ground and walking lightly along it).
3) It also seems to go bone dry after only an hour or two in the sun, even with fairly heavy twice-daily watering, which I suspect doesn't bode well for the survival of the grass once the weather gets properly hot.
4) There's a lot of stones in there; I tried raking them out, particularly in the first section (that's the pile off to the left in the first photo), but the first significant rain revealed how unsuccessful I'd been at that. This actually surprised me quite a bit as the soil the lads brought in didn't look like it was particularly stony, but they did mix the new earth in with the old over a lot of the area in the process of leveling it out so the "mineral content" may be partly from that.
5) I did my best to get the weeds out before I started and removed what seemed like the great majority of them, but they're coming back in some force. In particular there's a lot of what I naively thought was just "original grass coming back" but which, from reading posts on here, I suspect is actually couch grass.
6) Possibly or possibly not related to any of the above, the distribution of where the grass is growing is oddly "patterned". I've attached a third photo showing what I mean; the relatively thicker growth seems to follow quite long straight lines with nearly bare zones in between. I'm wondering if this is a consequence of either over-enthusiastic "raking to integrate" the seed into the soil before pressing it down; or failing that, if perhaps my attempt at gentle watering (with the fan setting on a hozelock head, aimed not directly at the ground) is still too rough.
From everything I've read so far on here, I think that I need to do some or all of the following:
1) Spray more or less everything with glyphosate to robustly kill the couch and other weeds (which is going to make me
2) Dig up and sieve all of the soil, probably with a rotary riddle, to remove as many stones (and remaining large chunks of clay/chalk, of which there are a fair few in the zone not yet tackled at all, which also had the least new soil added) as possible, going down to the working depth of an electric tiller;
3) Bring in some sharp sand and quite a lot of compost, and till that in thoroughly across the whole garden;
4) If 2 and 3 go unexpectedly quickly, wait at least several weeks post-glyphosate for it to degrade in the soil;
5) Water regularly and heavily to try to build up as much moisture as possible in advance of sowing;
6) Re-rake in autumn to till the top few inches, sow new seed;
7) "Integrate" the seed using tiny circular motions with a fan rake, instead of light sweeps with a soil rake as I've been doing to date, to try to avoid it growing in lines with patches between them;
8) Flatten down with the walk-along-a-plank method again;
9) Water using an even gentler method (the mist setting on the hozelock head), and hopefully less frequently (if I've been able to build up some moisture in the soil beforehand), again in the hope of avoiding disturbing the seed distribution.
Does that seem like a sufficiently thorough method? Are any parts of it still daft?
If I can provide any further info/pictures to help clarify things, just ask!
Also, if anyone has advice on how to work out any of the following, that'd be ace...
a) how much sand to add
b) how much compost to add
c) what volume of the existing soil (including stones) I will need to remove, given I'm adding X cubic feet of sand/compost, to avoid changing the final ground level (which would cause a whole bunch of other problems...)
Many posters do the lazy laisser faire thing and call it the wild look that I call scruffy.
When I have read your post, I may reply in stages. Giving your essay some sub-headings might help.
PS. Stones are good. Not too big and not, obviously, on the surface.
"Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
I'd be glad to add subheadings but I don't seem to have the ability to edit my post, unless I'm missing something - possibly because I'm such a new member?
I'm not so optimistic (of my available time and resources) to think I can perfect it - I'm not hoping for the Wimbledon look. Just an even green coverage that the girls can play on, and that looks nice through the windows...
As for "not too big" - thank you for this - what riddle mesh would you say is ideal?
Clay is harder to deal with if you don't amend it first to make it freer draining. Any stones bigger than about 10mm are a bit too big, but anything of that size and smaller helps drainage too. You don't really need to have set amounts of sand/compost either, Just mix in as much as you want. Make sure the sand is really gritty stuff if you use it though - not the stuff for making concrete, for obvious reasons
There's no need to worry too much about firming the soil either once you've added all that - just rake and firm it lightly, and let it settle before lightly raking and sowing seed. The seed needs to have good contact with the soil though.
Your climate is also a factor with how well grass does. In wetter parts you rarely have to water, if at all, if seed is sown in spring. In dry areas, that's more difficult and will need decent watering in the first few months, especially if sown in spring going into summer, and it's also better to keep the grass longer if that's the case ,so that you don't have a brown lawn rather than a green one.
Sow more thickly than you think you'll need - do it in both directions too, to ensure a decent coverage. You can resow bits in autumn if there are gaps, and if the soil's not draining too well, you can do the aerating process in spring with a fork or one of the hollow time rakes which remove a plug of soil. You then brush in grit or that coarse sand.
Bear in mind that if you have children playing on it regularly, it's not worth doing too much. They wreck it quite quickly
If you do any weedkilling just now, you'll have to wait a little while before sowing seed, and also - even if you did it soon, it'll be wrecked quite easily if you start using it over summer, so it's probably better to wait until later in the year to start sorting it out.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
I just have gardens, and I've sown 'lawns' several times in the ones I've had. Most gardeners just want a reasonably green space for them, and their families, to use - they don't need a bowling green, or Centre Court, or the 18th hole
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
WHY SOW MORE THICKLY,have you not heard of damping of disease.
CLAY IS MOE DIFFICULT, Cricket and tennis is played on clay.
QUOTE
Bear in mind that if you have children playing on it regularly, it's not worth doing too much. They wreck it quite quickly
Hence what would you do if people wanted to play ruby on it, they are kids.
All my gardens have been on clay, and I live in a wet area so grass is soggy even in summer. That makes a difference to what you do, and people who are working and running a home don't have endless hours to spend messing about either. They just want something reasonable to look at and use. I believe that's what the OP said, because I took the time to read their post.
I also doubt the OP is interested in spending hours trying to make it look like a rugby or football field. Just basic grass for the kids to play on, and I'm not sure two girls of 1 and 5 are going to be playing much rugby....
Analysis paralysis at it's best
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
You gave advice on a problem with a lawn, sow more thickly, and that you have kids, and it is clay. hence I picked up on, your advice is poor with no knowledge, like many other posts on here, just type for the sake of a post, oh hang on I have filled my day supplying dribble on a Forum.
And fairy you really need to read your replies like so many others, and the whole thread where the op gets no advice to the problem what so ever.
A poster asks for advice and they just get dribble, with no one actually answering the problem. if so I must of missed this in one again.
If a member had good knowledge on gardens then it would be answered in one post, most of you boring lot would be redundant talking dribble.