Newly topsoiled and seeded paddock

alder9

Hi, looking for advice on dealing with possible soil compaction, apologies if wrong forum thread. We had to dig a lot of fill out when building our house in County Galway. It was quite a stoney/gravelly type fill and instead of removing it off site we stripped the topsoil off a 1/2 acre paddock beside the house, spread out the fill over the stripped area and then put the topsoil back over this. I then reseeded the grass last July. The paddock has not being draining well at all since this and it is impossible to let even sheep graze on it. The soil is like soup on the surface. Could it be compacted by the 15 tonne excavator used to spread the fill and topsoil? Or would this poor drainage be normal in a newly reseeded grassland and just needs time to settle and eatablish? Thanks for any advice.

Say my name

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058339159/newly-topsoiled-and-seeded-paddock

You may just give it time to settle itself. All those little drainage channels in soil are from soil aggregating together with soil life (bacteria) at it's core. Then worms come into the mix and provide further drainage. Leave it and let nature work it from now. You may need the summer to work it's magic on it (dry out and settle). Really just time now. Could lime it in the autumn if when it does settle too.

alder9

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121858757#Comment_121858757

Thanks for this. Interesting you should mention worms. I don’t see many when I dig and I never see birds looking for them in my paddock, like they do in adjacent fields. Would buying worms to add to the soil perhaps help?

PoorFarmer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121859678#Comment_121859678

Doubtful if they would make a difference. What are required for drainage are earthworms, they tunnel down through the soil helping with aeration. Most, if not all of the worms you can buy are composting worms and live in the top part of the soil to help with the breakdown of dead matter.

"Both of these worms are often confused with one another because of their similar appearance. Unlike compost worms, the worm that you find in the dirt is not ideal for your compost bin. Earthworms consume organic matter and are beneficial to soil as they eat decaying organic matter, which produces rich fertilizer in the form of castings, while also improving the moisture and drainage qualities of the soil. Compost worms on the other hand, are simply scavengers that feast on decaying plant material."

alder9

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121859703#Comment_121859703

Good point. I did find Lugworms for sale from an Irish site. I believe these a true “earthworms” and not the composting variety.

Lime Tree Farm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121861981#Comment_121861981

Lugworms or known as Sand worms, used as fishing bait

alder9

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121862342#Comment_121862342

Perhaps not the right worm type for clay soil so? Where would you find regular earthworms for sale?

Water John

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121862850#Comment_121862850

They'd come for free in well rotted farmyard manure, which would be the best top dressing to give it, when the weather dries out.

9935452

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058339159/newly-topsoiled-and-seeded-paddock

To be fair as well, its rained nearly constant since last july..

We always found reseeded ground would be very brittle with bad weather . It would take a while for the root system to get going properly and solid up a bit

Who2

To be honest I’d say you could fill the field with all the worms in Ireland and it still wouldn’t cure it. Any ground that has been dug and back filled will stay wet for a very long time. I’ve a field here I filled a hollow in with clay from a job I was doing in the yard and levelled topsoil over and it’s still like soup three years later. I intend to pull shallow drains drop in 4” pipe and fill to the top with stone, hopefully that will cure mine anyway.

I was out in a field where a neighbour had done the same when he was building and I asked him was there a spring in one spot and he said no that he had used the spoil of his site to fill it when he was building and it never dried and his house is up 20 years at least.

alder9

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121863029#Comment_121863029

Yes, this is what I was hoping was the main reason it hasn’t solid upped a bit more. When the weather allows it to dry up a bit I plan to test pH and see if it needs lime. I’ll aim to spread yard manure then as has been recommended here, and see what shape it’ll by end of this year.

Water John

Reseeding with mixed species sward might help. Some of those plants have really deep roots. When they die off, they open up airways into the soil.

alder9

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121863061#Comment_121863061

Yes, this is my worst case fear. But I dug a few holes and the soil/fill about 6 inch down is loose and draining ok. It just seems the water is stuck in the top 3 or 4 inches of soil. Also I seeded a lawn on top of the same fill, and it did well.. grew thick and drains reasonably ok.

White Clover

Farmyard manure/Dung is your friend here. Put a bit of structure and life to the top 6 inches.

alder9

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121864529#Comment_121864529

Thanks for this advice. Maybe a stupid question but how would you go about spreading this farmyard manure over a 1 acre paddock? Cover the entire area completely or fork a bit here and there over the entire area?

White Clover

Wait until it dries and spread an even covering over the whole area. After that concentrate on the poorest areas.

A dung spreader would be the best machine for the job.

Odelay

BIG TRACTOR OR HOVERCRAFT #AnswerAsAPercent 1452 (youtube.com)

Skip to 10 minutes (I think some of it may not apply to your acre), does it look that type of ground?

alder9

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121867556#Comment_121867556

This is what it currently looks like having “dried” a bit over last 3 days with less rain. I wouldn’t be surprised if it did look like your video example when the summer comes.