Restoring a lawn

[Leif]

My lawn is awful, irregular with large dips, loads of couch grass, loads of moss and weeds, half of it has almost no grass such is the density of moss, loads of Bird's Foot Trefoil. There are thick (4mm) long dark brown roots in the turf that go deep into the 'soil' which I assume are Trefoil. I get some interesting fungi, such as Wood Blewits, and a coral fungus that grows on unimproved grassland. Below the turf, the 'soil' is rock hard and very stony. Digging with a fork is near impossible. There are a few worms in the top layer of turf, and none in the soil beneath.

So ... how do I restore the turf?

Returfing surely won't work, drainage is poor, the soil is too hard. When it rains, the grass becomes a swimming pool. Stripping the turf would be a nightmare, and skips cost a fortune.

So, I thought I'd kill the existing turf, apply 1" of sharp sand, apply some compost, dig the lot, with a rotovator (I cannot dig so much by hand, I have a life) tread down and then reseed in the autumn. This strikes me as the cheapest and most effective approach.

I will use the devil's own substance i.e. glyphosate -- eek, chemicals, eek - and I was wondering if it is best to spray or water it on. Spraying seems to risk glyphosate drifting in the air, whereas a watering can creates large drops over a larger area, it is quicker to apply, and less likely to drift in the air.

I dug the 17m by 4m strip at the end, after filling in a septic tank, and reseeded, and it looks okay. The grass is a bit thin in places, and I think it needs sand and compost applying. But I was dead chuffed at the result. Bloody hard work though weeding and digging it all by hand over several months, including some time unemployed.

Thoughts?

[Hazel at the Hill]

Hmm - this is a tricky one. In an ideal world you'd get the best results by digging it over, but I understand that in this instance that you are reconciled to the fact that this cannot realistically happen.

Before you write off the existing lawn, would spiking then brushing on sand to improve drainage do the trick? Then lawn feed and some broadcast sowing to beef up what you already have? You'd have to net the area to stop the birds eating the grass seed.

If it is too solid to spike, though, and you want to rotovate, would you have trouble getting the rotovator to do it's job? I've not used one so I don't know how robust they are.

With regard to glysophate, remember that it will only work on growing plants, so if you are going to use it you have to wait until the growing season (finally!) gets here. And I would water in and not spray for the reasons you outline above.

[Leif]

I tried aerating, then spreading a weed and feed, but it did little good. The bottom 1/3 is almost all moss. A problem is that after I cut it, within a few weeks it is tussucky due to weed grasses.

[Two_Sheds]

My lawn is awful, ... how do I restore the turf?
I tried aerating, then spreading a weed and feed, but it did little good. The bottom 1/3 is almost all moss. ... within a few weeks it is tussucky due to weed grasses.

Obviously, the area just isn't suitable for the grass you want. You're either going to have an ongoing battle to try and establish an unsuitable species (lawn grass), or think laterally and plant something else.

Have you considered a green "non-grass" lawn?

Or not having a lawn at all?

[rustylady]

Whereabouts are you Leif? This might have a bearing on why your soil is so bad.

You say it's hard - any ground that has been under lawn and therefore walked on for a few years will be hard and compacted - but it sounds as if you have a drainage problem too.

If you want a super lawn you will have to sort out these issues. It's no good just putting sand and compost on top.

[zazen999]

We have the same at our community garden. All the turf has been removed by hand, it will be raked over and resown in the next fortnight. The lawn is about 30ft diameter so quite large. If you want good results sometimes you have to put the effort in.

[Hazel at the Hill]

On a back-of-a-fag-packet calculation, that 250sq m of lawn that you can barely get your fork into is going to take months of back breaking work with a fork to dig over and start again with - so I can see why Leif is looking for something a bit less manual! There's putting the effort, and putting the effort in!

If it's that bad, I'm not sure that a rotorvator will do it - hire of a heavy duty one looks to be a hundred quid or so - it might be as cheap to hire a mini digger, which I think come in at not much more than that for a week.

I think that you are going to think about how much you want a nice lawn!

[Madasafish]

My next door neighbour's front lawn approx 60 x 40 meters was dreadful when they moved in.

They removed all the turf, inserted land drains, layer of sand for drainage, layer of topsil - all carefully levelled before this of course, then laid turf.

DIY with hired diggers etc. Took 3 months due to interruption for rain.

Then they had to sow any bare patches. And mow regularly. Husband fell ill and I cut lawn for the next two years!.

Now looks lovely but he spends approx 10 hours a week in winter treating it. (Fully recovered).

If you are not prepared to do it properly, waste of time and money.

Mine is full of moss and moles at present :-(

[Leif]

Thanks for the helpful replies. I am near Alton, Hants, and the soil is ~20+ feet deep, and primarily clay, with flints and some chalk pieces. It is quite nice and fertile once enough organic matter works its way in.

The idea is to add 1" sharp sand to help drainage, and rotovate in dead turf to get some organic matter in. Then each year with luck a layer of compost will help feed and improve it. I don't want an exhibition lawn, but I don't like the coarse clumps of grass and moss I now have.

I'm not sure what green alternatives there are, apart from moss. I'm not that bothered by moss to be honest, or a few minor 'weeds', just not the current mess. I think the real problem is that it was pretty much ignored for 40 years after the lawn was laid.

[Madasafish]

Chamomile makes a nice lawn - so I am told. Susceptible to fungus.

[Leif]

There is a cricket pitch an hours drive from me, which has a small scented feathery leaved plant which I cannot identify along with grass, very nice. And in the late Autumn it is carpeted, literally, with Wax Caps:

[bearded bloke]

Do you have a local golf course Leif ? If so have a "chat" with the green keepers,they will be aware of all the problems associated with local grass & should be able to recommend a grass type that will perform well for your area & the work needed to establish it.
They will also have all the equipment needed to maintain grass it's amazing what can be borrowed at quite times for a few beer tokens

[rustylady]

I am near Alton, Hants, and the soil is ~20+ feet deep, and primarily clay, with flints and some chalk pieces. It is quite nice and fertile once enough organic matter works its way in.

Could you add your location to your profile please? Then it will show up on your posts and save us having to keep asking.

Do you really need to use weedkiller, couldn't you just rotavate the whole lot as it is?

[Creemteez]

We created lawns both at our place and at the back of Mum and Dads place. We did all the preparatory work- stripping, digging over, soil improving and leveling before sowing with a tough, shade tolerant lawn seed. Both the lawns have areas where they are in quite deep shade and in these places the grass has never done well, with moss taking over. After years of annual raking out dead moss, feeding, weeding, seeding bare patches and general teeth gnashing, we have finally accepted that the lawn is NEVER going to EVER be that good and are learning to live with it.

[Snadger]

Try forming an 'upside down' or 'Ausie' lawn by skimming the turf off, digging the area over and puting the lawn in the bottom of the trench.................some people call them vegetable plots!