Author Topic: help from those with lawns on clay plse  (Read 3023 times)

Ceri

  • Hectare
  • *****
  • Posts: 680
  • I love Allotments 4 All
help from those with lawns on clay plse
« on: February 06, 2004, 21:26:50 »
my little back garden lawn is a sorry boggy mess - looks like a badly maintained council football pitch - its been down about a year (not done by me I might add!).  Dug a 2 1/2 ft mini-pit yesterday morning, filled with water - its still over half full, and we've had sun and wind to help it evaporate!!  Doesn't seem to be more than a couple of inches at best of topsoil before solid clay.  I can't afford (time or money) to do land drain type things and want to keep a lawn if possible - I've started slitting the lawn with a lawn edger and trickling sand in - anyone got any ideas? Garden slopes towards house so the boggiest bit is right where you step from deck to lawn - with 3 yr old you can imagine the mess.
« Last Edit: January 01, 1970, 01:00:00 by 1077926400 »

Mrs Ava

  • Hectare
  • *****
  • Posts: 11,743
Re: help from those with lawns on clay plse
« Reply #1 on: February 09, 2004, 15:16:15 »
I sympathise Ceri.  Ours is waterlogged all winter through.  If you stand on our path, you can hear the water trickling through it!  :o  Drains are a no go for us also, same reasons.  My Gramps advised using one of those tools which makes little holes a few inches deep, or using a fork, pushing it is, wiggling it then pulling it out to reveal holes, and then brushing in sharp sand to improve drainage.  I don't know if it would do the trick and we have a lot of lawn so haven't yet been able to justify it.  We just try to keep off it as much as possible.  Not a good answer, sorry.  Come on lawn experts out there, help!  :-/
« Last Edit: January 01, 1970, 01:00:00 by 1077926400 »

Ceri

  • Hectare
  • *****
  • Posts: 680
  • I love Allotments 4 All
Re: help from those with lawns on clay plse
« Reply #2 on: February 09, 2004, 19:49:23 »
Thanks EJ, I tried dong the poking  fork in the lawn trick - so wet and clayey they instantly closed up again.  Yesterday I went round with pot of sand and the lawn edge - cut lots of slices and trickled sand in as best I could - I must have looked extremely silly!, I then scattered a thin layer of sand over all the lawn and vaguely brushed it round - I think this may be the start of a long recovery process!  I'll let you know if I see any signs of improvement over the weeks/months(!) to come.
« Last Edit: January 01, 1970, 01:00:00 by 1077926400 »

Doris_Pinks

  • Hectare
  • *****
  • Posts: 5,430
Re: help from those with lawns on clay plse
« Reply #3 on: February 10, 2004, 00:23:28 »
Ceri I have the same prob! Kids play area too! Last year when it dried off a bit I did the EJ thing, and it has definately helped with the drainage, don't bother with the machine that does it for you, the tines (sp?) just don't seem to go deep enough, and you can't wiggle it to make bigger holes, like you can with the fork! A word of advice, make sure your sand and grass are fairly dry before you do it, and get that fork in as deep as poss and wiggle!! Dottie P.
« Last Edit: January 01, 1970, 01:00:00 by 1077926400 »
We don't inherit the earth, we only borrow it from our children.
Blog: http://www.nonsuchgardening.blogspot.com/

 

anything
SimplePortal 2.3.5 © 2008-2012, SimplePortal