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mudbath/lawn
I've posted before about our atrocious 'lawn' I've aerated it,raked it, really given it a good dig, just got sand (ready for when the torrential rain stops ) I plan to reseed ( with a mix for shadier lawns and some hardwearing mix thrown in too,have 2 small children) in spring as last year I did so in autumn but as it's east facing it doesn't see any sun at all til late March earliest, have I got this right? It's remained patchy all year even when we didn't keep toys/ paddling pool on it and were sooo good at putting them on patio when not in use! don't want a croquet lawn just some good grass with no mud patches!!!
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Oh dear - I think I'd try to keep off it in this awful wet weather - aerate if we get a reasonable spell of weather then leave it alone for the winter. As soon as it's dry enough to walk on it in the spring scarify and try your new lawnseed.
I think most family lawns look awful in the winter - I try not to look
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Rosemummy drainage will be the main issue. I presume you're on clay ( you wouldn't get a mud bath otherwise) and that can be a major task to remedy. I work with some lawns with the same issues and even east facing lawns can be quite lush with the right regime of constantly adding grit to the lawns. One method one of my clients tried was to import several tons of pea shingle and spread it over the lawn. At first I was very dubious as to the result. So I suggested (after he'd spread it without my knowledge) to try rolling it in and sow grass seed directly on top. In the first year it looked very much a mess until the autumn. The seed took so we scarified and resowed more seed aerated and spiked and brushed in more grit and sharp sand.
I was still dubious and feared a further summers work to rectify things but to my surprise by this spring it looked pretty good. It was cut aerated again and fed. Through this summer it's flourished.
I can't say it was my idea and to be honest I never thought it would work but it has.
It's only an idea, unconventional I know and I wouldn't recommend it to everyone but it's something to consider.
A belated thankyou for your replies, yes Dave it's clay, water standing on it at the mo, haven't been out to spread sand yet, think I'll use sand and maybe hrticultural grit? don't fancy pea shingle, littlies like to roll on it and have picnics etc, I'll just keep at it....
DONT USE SAND it'll combine with the clay and make it worse. You'll end up with concrete! Grit yes, its just cheaper using pea shingle.
thanks Dave, just in the nick of time!!!
You're welcome, don't want the little ones playing on concrete!
This is what I have done: in spring when things dry out, use a fork and push it in every 6 inches or so working methodically over the whole wet muddy area. Do this only when it is dry. Then get some sharp sand, not builders sand, and sprinkle it over the whole area, brushing it in with a stiff broom. If it is a large area you will need a lot of sand. You must not cover the grass with it or it will die. The rain will wash the sharp sand into the fork holes, aerating the lawn. You may need to do this more than once. It has worked for me on heavy clay soil but if it is really bad you may need to lay some land drains which is really a lot of work, but there must be somewhere for the water to drain into like a ditch; it helps if you are on a slope.
thanks redwing small garden no slope, will wait til drier now to do anything, funny thing is it feels grainy when i push fork in