New Lawn Advice (with photos)

southernsun

Good morning,

I am after some advice on how to create a new lawn in our back garden we are renovating to make into a nice family area. The area was previously covered by decking and is approx 60m2. We removed the decking and broke up the soil with forks and raked the area removing about 30 rubble sacks of stones back in October but the cold weather put a stop to us doing anymore. Now spring is slowly arriving we want to finish the job. We raked the area again at the weekend removing another 12 rubble sacks of stones and below are photos showing how the garden was when we bought the house, what we have done so far and the current state of the soil.







In the photo of the soil the top section is how it looks after the weekend raking and the bottom section was quickly raking the area again to show how it would look if we raked it again.

I think the lower section shows the best we are going to be able to get the soil but I am not sure if this will be too stoney to successfully create the lawn on.

Ideally we would like to seed the area when the frosty mornings go away but if turf would be a better option then we would consider it. Would either work with the soil in this condition?

Our current plan is to rake it one last time to remove more stones and get it as level as possible and then seed it and cover with netting until its ready to use. Is there any benefit in adding a thin layer of top soil before seeding and to get it level? We don't want to raise the height of the area by much as the rest of the garden is working off of how it is at the moment (patio, stepping stones etc).

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Leif

Late last Autumn I reseeded the bottom of my garden, about 15m by 4m, which I'd previously dug and weeded. It looks okay now, a bit thin, and the heavily shaded areas are not growing, which is not a surprise. Where I put down some new soil, the grass has grown a bit better, and I had an issue with birds eating seed, but not too bad. Maybe you could put down ~1/2" of soil, and rake the seeds into it, providing food and protection.

What is you soil like? Mine is mainly clay, so I intend to mix in lots of sand when I redo the rest of the lawn, to improve drainage.

southernsun

Thanks for your reply, was thinking a bit of top soil might be a good idea but was not sure if it would provide any benefit if only 1/2" or so deep. If it would then it would also make leveling the area a bit easier. I think 2 tons would give me around 2cm over the 60m2 area so not too bad cost wise and would not raise the overall height too much.

I am a bit of a novice when it comes to this sort of thing so not sure what soil type is like but over the winter during the really wet weather there were a few areas which held a bit of surface water but that generally drained away within hours of the ran stopping.

Leif

There are simple tests for soil type, you can find them in most gardening books, or online. For example, if you can make a ball from some soil, and it stays together, it is clay rich. Holding surface water suggests clay.

kevelesopnic

Whether you are seeding or laying turf, it is important to give the roots somewhere to grow so as long as the surface of the soil is well broken up, than additional topsoil would not be necessary. I cannot see the pics but as you seem to have broken the soil up and given it a good raking, it sounds like you are good to go. No need to go too mad with removing stones, they actually help with drainage, as long as they aren't brick size!.Turf tends to be a bit dearer than seed but you do get instant results, just make sure all of the turf is in contact with the soil underneath (use planks to bed down the turf), squeeze some soil between any gaps and keep it moist and try and avoid too much walking on it until the roots have established - probably 2 - 4 weeks dependent on weather. I see you have previously had a drainage issue so try and get get some deep fork holes, particularly in those areas that have standing water in the past and then try and work some sharp sand into the holes to keep them open, sharp sand will help with leveling also. finally, if you do decide to turf, plan to lay it on the day it arrives or the day after at the latest. Cut turf drys out fast so you really need to get it down and watered asap.

EKEA

Um, pictures don't show for me.

whiterabbit_2

southernsun wrote: »

Ideally we would like to seed the area when the frosty mornings go away but if turf would be a better option then we would consider it. Would either work with the soil in this condition?

Hi southernsun,

We're trying to get our garden in order at the minute too - I'm a complete novice and it's much harder than I thought!

If you're still considering turf then I would highly recommend Hallstone Direct (hallstonedirect.co.uk). We laid our lawn which sounds to be roughly the same size as yours last month and we're really pleased with it; it was the best price we found - we're on a tight budget so I think I tried everywhere! We got some topsoil from them at the same time and the OH said it was good stuff. I emailed them for advice on when to order/lay it and they were really helpful, so they could probably advise you on your soil issue.

I'll try and post a pic this weekend, but you'll have to ignore the dead plants in the borders...we haven't got round to that bit yet! :rotfl:

Good luck x

p.s. if you need help finding plants too I've found rightplants4me.co.uk to be really useful.

whiterabbit_2

I can't seem to add photographs, but if you want me to email them to you feel free to PM me.

southernsun

Thanks for the replies, not sure why the photos disappeared.

We ended up putting grass seed down 2 weekends ago and after the nice weekend weather there are areas of green showing already so fingers crossed it will work. Will put some photos up later if it all turns out well.