New lawn

mvpr

Hi there...

Its time to sort out my back garden - been putting it off for years! At present theres an old lawn thats been overgrown with weeds and most of the grass has died off. The garden itself is very shaded - it gets virtually no direct sunlight during the winter thanks to high walls/buildings in the surrounds.

Is there any way to combat this? Would i be wasting my time laying a new lawn?

Any advice would be much appreciated!

positron

Sorry to piggyback on your thread, mvpr, but I am on the boat here - overgrown, uneven and worst of all, very soggy - almost really wet clay like consistency.

I am thinking of things like drainage pits, drainage pipes, removing a layer, rotovate, new topsoil, gardeners sand (?), seeding new lawn etc. I have read a bit about this and that, but don't have a clear picture on what to do and/or if its DIYable...

Any thoughts much appreciated!

magicbastarder

get this stuff

http://www.bakker-irl.com/Catalog/Productdetail.aspx?Ntt=juniper&Ntk=NL&Ntx=mode+matchallany&Nty=1&N=0&productid=2627&D=juniper&R=2627-012

TheDriver

try getting some weed and feed instead as it usually kills the weeds and promotes the remaining grass to come on and cover the patches. depends on how far gone the whole thing is though

artieanna

If there are weeds growing theres no reason why grass won't!;)

You must either hoe out all the weeds or cover with old cartpet or black plastic..(weedkiller as last resort)

Once cleared rake over the area to produce nice crumbly surface to sow your grass seed (select a grass seed for your conditions as many types are available).

Then mantain your lawn by regular trimming and feeding (don't cut it bare as it will encourage moss and weed growth)

If drainage is an issue dig some long narrow drains (about a ft wide) and fill them with gravel, cover these with a 1-2ft of soil, this should resolve water logging.

some hard work, but hopefully lovely green lawn in reward
good luck

rockdrummer

I've got same problem - waterlogged, moss, weeds. The garden is a complete mess after the winter. The soil gets so waterlogged that when you walk on it it destroys the grass, then moss / weeds grow here !!

You say drains - how deep should these be? I was going to dig a couple of these strategically in the garden - about 1 foot wide and probably 1.5 to 2 feet deep. What would be the best to fill with? Small stones (about 1 - 2cm accross), or large stones (about 5 - 10cm accorss) or sand / gravel, or something else?? Then about 1 - 2 inches of topsoil, then sow grass here !!

artieanna

The drains need to be around 3-4ft deep (as deep as you can to take the water away from the surface). Small to medium stones (gravel) are adequate. Then apply 1/2-1ft of soil on top and yep sow your grass....

positron

Thanks for the comments, I think I will start with digging up the drain.

Would better drainage alone would sort out the really soggy, clay-like soil, or is there anything else that I can use, like spreading some sand may be?

thanks!

bmaxi

positron wrote:

Thanks for the comments, I think I will start with digging up the drain.

Would better drainage alone would sort out the really soggy, clay-like soil, or is there anything else that I can use, like spreading some sand may be?

thanks!

Drainage alone will not solve the problem of clay soil. This can only be done by improving the structure of the soil. Adding organic matter like manure or garden compost is the best way to do this, as much as you can get, you can also add grit or sharp sand but not fine sand or builders sand as this will only make it worse.