Any one done DIY Tennis Court in your backyard?

stuart45

sujsuj said:

stuart45 said:

Has it got couch grass mixed in with it?

should be mixing it or should not..?

You don't want couch grass. It's the wild grass you get in fields and is tough and grows in clumps. It does get better if it's cut every week.

DB1904

sujsuj said:

DB1904 said:

ashe said:

A roller on its own will compress the soil, you'll need to add topsoil and level it where it had dips. 

You'll need the right grass seed going down and it'll need mowing to the right length - Wimbledon is 25mm for example. You'll need to get the thatch and dead grass out - looks to me like lot of unevenness there in grass lengths 

Agreed, think the OP would be better to start again. Kill off the grass, bring in enough topsoil to level it and reseed. As it stands there's too much weed grass to get a decent playing surface. 

I thought top-up will do where ever I added more topsoil I added new seed as well.
In the pic  my court looks worst than actually it is..

You've cut it too short for starters, the grass will die under the topsoil and the levels will drop again. You won't get the fine finish you want with the weed grass and cutting it with a ride on rotary mower.

DB1904

Have a look at these two.

https://youtube.com/c/DanielHibbertLawnExpert


https://youtube.com/c/PremierlawnsniCoUk

twopenny

My thoughts are that the roller will compact the soil with adverse affect to the grass but there's still the roller at our courts - now all artificial turf!

I wonder if there was also spiking or feeding.

Not sure if there's anyone left there that knows but I'll make enquiries if I can.

Eldi_Dos

Get a couple of big builders bags of top dressing delivered and get a lawn lute and gradually work on getting level, not sure if roller is helping until you get surface level.
Lawn lutes seem to be bucking the trend in that British manufactured ones are better priced.

sujsuj

V3 of tennis court looks much better on one side that i worked. Still scope for improvement but really happy with results as you can see in the pics. real difference with the other side which I am going to improve now. Comparing with old pics its great improvements

see the first picture of this thread to see how this side was a month ago  

Eldi_Dos

Ace, I think you are going to find it compelling looking after and improving court, what a difference in a few short weeks.

Section62

sujsuj said:

Still scope for improvement but really happy with results as you can see in the pics. real difference with the other side which I am going to improve now. Comparing with old pics its great improvements

If you are aiming for a playable surface you'll also need to do some scarifying, aeration and then invest in a heavy cylinder mower....
https://www.atco.co.uk/roller-lawnmowers/cylinder-mower.html

Don't start using the cylinder mower until you've removed the rough stuff and de-stoned the whole area.

A rotary mower will always leave a spongy surface with very little 'bounce'.

Woolsery

If you didn't kill off everything to start with there will be native grasses in there which may continually outgrow the stuff you seeded with. Even when a lawn is created from grass and weed-free soil, it only takes about 5 years before it's significantly invaded by couch, annual meadow grass, buttercup etc, so I imagine pro tennis courts are re-surfaced quite frequently with turf.

It may not matter too much if all you want is a decent surface for casual games. I find my regularly mown grass areas are acceptably level and only need occasional intervention at the end of summer where something really vigorous takes hold

sujsuj

Eldi_Dos said:

Ace, I think you are going to find it compelling looking after and improving court, what a difference in a few short weeks.

Yes, time well spent. This gives me inspiration to do the same to improve lawn other than court as well. Thanks