Grass growing problem against patio

Hi all,

We're having trouble getting grass to grow in this one patch along the edge of our patio. The patio was laid last year and what we weren't aware of at the time is that there is a concrete slope under the grass supporting the edge of the patio for about a foot and so this only leaves about 2 inches of growing depth for the grass closest to the patio. We think this was because there is a slight slope going down to the grass but we can't be sure why it was done like this to be honest.

Image attached (hopefully)

Can anyone suggest what we could do to either get the grass to grow or come up with another solution so we don't just have this dead corner of grass?

Many thanks!!

 

Hi and Welcome to the Forum,

There should be a "haunch" of sloping concrete to hold those edging bricks in place, though it sounds like the builders might have made it quiet wide giving you that shallow area.

Two things that can be causing your problem, first the shallow soil is drying out and the grass is dying off in this hot weather, and / or there is something burning the grass like a cleaning product used on the paving (?) or some lime or similar substance leaching out of the concrete.

Think we would dig out that area and replace the soil with new and the existing grass should slowly grow into it, or for quicker results either sow some grass seed or lay some turf and water that area regularly.

It might be possible to reduce the Haunch, but that needs properly assessing by exposing all the concrete and considering the load its retaining.

 

Nothing much, including the grass is going to grow in that area with concrete underneath and as rickyq01 says, the haunching to keep the edging stones in place was correctly done. I would try to make a feature of it so you could try some sedums in the curved area. Otherwise you could cover it with some pebbles or cobbles.
Do you continually walk onto the grass from the patio at that point?

 

Thank you for your replies. That makes sense. We were just confused why we only have this problem in this one corner and not the whole way round the patio but clearly the concrete is wider there or something. I think we'll try clearing it out and starting again and then get into a good watering regime! If that doesn't work I like the sedum idea!

Many thanks, I really appreciate it!

 

Just get something long, thin, strong and sharp like an old knife and do some depth tests around the grass edges and see how thick and deep the haunch is a various points.

If the patio and lawn are faily flat they might just have made that part of the haunch thicker to use up all of that mix of concrete. If so it probably could be cut down to a simiar size to the rest.

 

Have you considered removing more of the grass to create a decent sized border @GardenJoy? You wouldn't notice the shallow problem area as the foliage of plants nearby will spread outwards to cover it. You could also cover the border with bark to complete it. That's what I've done alongside my patio area. Having a border also makes trimming the edge of the lawn easier.