Help!
tiaragal
Posts: 1
Hiya. Two years ago we moved into a new house with a very small garden. The lawn area measures 25ft long by 30 ft wide. There is a 25ft Acer and 20ft Ceanothus in a shady bed to the left of the garden, and five mature conifers at the end of the garden.The soil is heavy clay. We noticed that the grass was very fine and patchy at first, and this gave way to a bare mud patch as winter progressed. During the summer we splashed out and laid a new lawn using Rolawn medallion, which I was very pleased with. However, you can see from my photo that it is beginning to turn into a waterlogged and squelchy muddy patch. It is very slippery. As it is such a small area anyway, it is impossible to avoid walking on. I'd be grateful for your ideas. Thank you.
Posts
Tiara, I have a large well established lawn that never normally struggles in the winter but these year sems to have been so moist it is just like yours.The dog has worn a muddy track into it!
The best thing we can do is limit walking on the grass until things can settle down and recover (which I'm sure it'll do). If you need to access certain areas (I.e. is that an Igloo for hens we can see?) The green mesh plastic matting (you often see it at outdoor events held in fields) is good or paving slabs of course!
Clari's right - at this time of year avoid walking on it. In spring or early summer when it's dried out a bit - you can aerate the ground and brush grit into the holes to help drainage. Re seed with a harder wearing variety of grass seed which will also help if the area gets lots of wear and tear. The shrubs will mean a bit more shade than grass likes, so you could try a seed that's suitable for shade as well. Keep a good regime of mowing and aerating etc over the spring and summer too
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Looks like mine including the eglu
a scaffolding plank to walk on will help
Next year I will move my eglu next to the patio
We are on clay here and even though I've worked on drainage for the last 40 years our lawn is like walking on blancmange. Each time the dog goes out he comes in with 3 inches of black boots. As he's only a Jack Russell it's not his weight that makes him sink into the lawn. Border edges are full of water as well, so I guess I will have lost several plants from drowning.
Mind you, I'm complaining, but shouldn't really, as I have the greatest of sympathy for our northern gardeners who have lost their homes as well. I should be thankful.
My garden's almost exactly the same size; the previous owners had done a Groundforce on it: sleepers that prevented drainage, little areas of 'lawn' that were no good for anything, and only one plant worth saving.
How badly do you need a lawn? It looks to me as though it's fatally challenged by shade, clay and too much traffic.