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Hard uneven garden
Irfan2
Posts: 2
hi all
this time last year I moved into my new home which was newly built. Obviously the garden was new with freshly laid grass...the garden has been uneven rocky difficult to walk on. I was told by the delevloer it may take a year or so for the soil underneath to fully establish itself and make the garden softer to walk on
my question is what can be done to make the garden softer and more even rather than being lumpy and tough at the moment. TIA!
0
Posts
Normally developers tend to bury a lot of "stuff " under a garden as its cheaper than paying £230 per skip to take it away
It may pay you to ask neighbours of their experiences of trying to "use "their gardens
You can dig up a square of turf near the edge of your garden and have a look down to 18" to see what you have inherited
Normally a lawn should not be "uneven rocky difficult to walk on " as its only soil and grass seed !!
You would not expect to have stones under a newly laid carpet !!
In my garden where the previous owner had a greenhouse and I have dug down 18" to find bricks , half bricks and rubble that they used for a solid base
" I was told by the developer it may take a year or so for the soil underneath to fully establish itself and make the garden softer to walk on "
Soil compacts as you walk on it so in theory it will only get firmer
? What do you want from your garden.
Let us know what you do please
The developer is a stinky liar. Soil isn't like a plant that needs time to establish!
all the houses are new plots...our neighbour was last to move in and have their garden laid down...my wife and I did notice all the rubbish that was in the neighbours garden before they had theirs laid down!
for time being I just want it to be stable and spongy so my 2 year old can play...I'm not sure what I can do. Someone else has suggested to me to trim the grass very short and place compost all over the garden and soak it thoroughly and regularly with water...just unsure what can improve it with digging it up completely
I think the points are
1. How much does it annoy you and your family
2.Do you want to spend money rectifying it
3.Would you could consider digging some area up for a veg patch for the child's education
? How big is the area................you would have to replace about 12 " of the depth with top soil which is expensive..............http://www.topsoilshop.co.uk/topsoil-calculator
I should get the child some knee pads !
Good luck Irfan2
I'm afraid it comes down to how much cash, time and energy you have to put it right ... if, as with many of us, those three things are limited, then it's more of a case of making the best of it until you have more of the necessary commodities.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
New Build Developers
My develop proved to be the source of many non-truths. There is no ombudsman for you to raise complaints with, and subcontractors have warned me that the all-powerful NHBC is absolutely corrupted. Apparently, if you do raise an objection with NHBC, then developers repeatedly rebook second opinions until they receive an advisor who is in their back-pocket. You are then stuffed as home owner because there is an unresolved claim against your plot for future conveyancers to find. There are efforts to have MPs debate this problem in Parliament but so far it has fallen on deaf ears.
Snagging New Build Topsoil
NHBC (2004) stated that developers must provide about 100mm of BS3882 quality topsoil. From a gardeners perspective 4" is a rubbish amount but its something to start from. Mark your garden fork at 4" and insert flags at every spot in your garden where you hit something hard above that level. Send a photo of your lawn covered in flags to the developer. The NHBC requirement is for subsoil seems to vary between sites and I have not yet understood this, but is obviously worth looking into.
Fixing New Build Subsoil
Using your flags as a guide, start pulling up the hard lumps of aggregate but beware you might find demolition materials such as shards of glass and even improperly disposed of carcinogenic brown/blue/grey/white asbestos!! If you find anything nasty, stop digging immediately and seek advice of the council or environment agency.
Fixing New Build Lawn
We had a professional gardener who suggested levelling the developer's dumped aggregates using a roller, and that obviously failed. I now do the gardening myself. When I am happy about the soil quality, my intention is to try mixing sand and topsoil, and to push the mix around the whole lawn with a very wide plastic snow spade to achieve 1-2cm smooth top. Don't know if that will work but is cheap compared to a lawn leveller.
Last edited: 04 June 2017 20:02:46