Can my lawn be restored after tractor tire damage?

Tim76 · 07-08-2024 9:47am #1

Hi all. I recently had the trees/hedges that surround my property cut by a tractor with hedge cutting attachment. The perimeter consists mainly of leylandii/Lawson cypress and it had grown quite wild over the past couple of years.

Anyway, long story short, the guy who carried out the job had his work cut out, so there was a lot of over and back on the lawn in a hefty looking John Deere. This has resulted in some nice looking hedges but a completely destroyed lawn. The ground itself was reasonably dry when the work was carried out (well, as dry as can be expected for an Irish summer!) so I was surprised by the level of damage.

I have been told by 3 different people (one of them the tractor driver) to leave the lawn alone and that it will "bonce back" during the Winter but given the level of damage, I have my doubts. Any advice on how best to proceed? Is there anything I can do now to assist the Winter bouncebackability??

allybhoy · 07-08-2024 9:56am

Im not an expert, but if it was my lawn, id be adding topsoil with compost to the affected areas, rake the and then reseed. Would probably be worth aerating with a fork prior to dressing aswell.

893bet · 07-08-2024 12:43pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058363275/can-my-lawn-be-restored-after-tractor-tire-damage

you have been told by three people to leave it alone…..keep going till you get a different answer?

It will be fine. Leave it and forget about it.

Alternatively waste time and money on grass seed, compost and tools to achieve the same result.

wildwillow · 07-08-2024 12:46pm

Fill in the worst parts with some compost or topsoil so its easier to mow. Otherwise it will repair itself.

phormium · 07-08-2024 12:49pm

I dunno, I think it matters too what you cut your lawn with, maybe if you have ride on mower it won't matter that the base is uneven. I had similar with the strip along the side of the path outside my house, probably about 4/5 ft wide and I cut it as is the custom in estates. Anyway tractor rolled up on a part of it doing what I don't know but it had similar marks, I ignored them as it's not my strip really and the grass did grow again but when I was cutting, I have a small mower, it was definitely harder to cut as all ridgy and bumpy, anyway eventually this year I had some topsoil left over from another project and I levelled it off as best I could and put down grass seed over the affected area. It is much easier to cut now that it is level again.

looksee · 07-08-2024 3:02pm

It will grow grass again, but I think I would rake/scrape the worst of the ridges out of it, or put a bit of soil or compost on it just to get a level surface, it doesn't have to be bowling green, but mowing will be better and easier if its a bit more level.

standardg60 · 07-08-2024 6:21pm

I wouldn't use compost to level it, just plain old topsoil and reseed.

Tim76 · 08-08-2024 9:21am

Thanks for all the feedback guys - much appreciated.

OscarMIlde · 15-08-2024 7:49am

If there is grass there are a good lawn feed can work amazingly well. We had really persistent bare patches and used Doff lawn feed and within a few weeks it looked better than the rest of the garden. It worked well on my mother's garden as well. They stock it in the Range for under 4 euro so worth trying if you want to feel you're doing something while also leaving it alone.

daheff · 24-08-2024 8:23pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122475700#Comment_122475700

Don't use compost. Compost soaks up and holds more water than topsoil.

You would have a very spongy surface there if you used compost.

Can my lawn be restored after tractor tire damage?

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