Lawn

furyp3OoOxisA4 · 18 February

My sisters new house is a new build and I suspect the back garden was never seeded or new grass rolled out because it looks like it's covered with moss and other weeds. Also it's quite muddy. Attached are a few pictures. Does anyone have any advice on turning the back garden into a dream lawn please?

Fairygirl · 18 February

Hi @furyp3OoOxisA4 - unfortunately, it's a very common problem with new builds, because the ground is compacted, it's often full of rubbish due to the building work, and then nothing is properly prepped - the landscapers [or even just the builders] chuck a bit of soil on top and turf it. It might look fine for a while, and then it looks like your photos because the site/soil isn't great.
There isn't a short cut really, unless your sister removes what's there and improves the whole area, before re turfing or seeding. If it's small space, that's not so bad, but it's a lot of work if it's large. The other alternative is to create a raised area, which can then be filled with suitable soil. Grass generally doesn't need a huge depth of soil to do well.

The aspect of the site is also a factor - a sunnier site is always easier for grass to thrive well, although there are seeds and turf which will work better in shade. Most new builds tend to have little other planting around, which can also affect the health of the grass because of moisture take up, so in dry areas that can be a problem, but other houses and walls/fences etc can create shade, so that all needs to be taken into consideration when trying to improve everything

bédé · 18 February

What's your sister's idea of a "dream"?

Bowling green? Stripes? Play area? Wild flower & wild life haven? Nightmare free? ...

Frequent mowing sorts out many problems. Most other actions require hard work and time.

furyp3OoOxisA4 · 18 February

Fairygirl said:

Hi @furyp3OoOxisA4 - unfortunately, it's a very common problem with new builds, because the ground is compacted, it's often full of rubbish due to the building work, and then nothing is properly prepped - the landscapers [or even just the builders] chuck a bit of soil on top and turf it. It might look fine for a while, and then it looks like your photos because the site/soil isn't great.
There isn't a short cut really, unless your sister removes what's there and improves the whole area, before re turfing or seeding. If it's small space, that's not so bad, but it's a lot of work if it's large. The other alternative is to create a raised area, which can then be filled with suitable soil. Grass generally doesn't need a huge depth of soil to do well.

The aspect of the site is also a factor - a sunnier site is always easier for grass to thrive well, although there are seeds and turf which will work better in shade. Most new builds tend to have little other planting around, which can also affect the health of the grass because of moisture take up, so in dry areas that can be a problem, but other houses and walls/fences etc can create shade, so that all needs to be taken into consideration when trying to improve everything

Thank you. The garden is small so taking the top off a couple of centimetres, then rolling new turf on top should be the best option. The ground will be raised a little which will help when it rains. There's nothing worse than a soggy lawn.

Fairygirl · 18 February

I don't think 2 cm will do anything unfortunately. You'd need to investigate what's further down, otherwise you could just be throwing good money away.
There really needs to be around 3 to 4 inches of decent soil ,so that the turf gets a good chance, and that would also depend on whether the drainage is ok etc. If there's a solid, compacted layer of clay or something, the drainage isn't going to be great, which may limit the use of the lawn.

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