Petrol (might be 2t) Spillage

Was installing new fencing. Neighbour had
Huge Russian vine and wanted it disposed.
A Friend doing me a favour used a hedge trimmer
to cut it up into disposable bundles.

Seems he refuelled hedge trimmer and spilled
a lot on my lawn. He said nothing and it was
8 hours before I spotted it. I have tined
the area with garden fork and watered it
extensively but grass seems to have substantially
died in a patch about a metre, on the
side, square

What's best please?
Given that we are nearly in October
A. Leave it and hope it grows back?
B. Dig out and re-turf?
C. Dig out and re-seed?

Thanks and regards

George

 

Hi George,

I wouldn't just leave it, because although it will grow back eventually you'll have a bare area for a while which will be an open invitation to weed seeds etc. I'm guessing also that the hedge trimmer was 2 stroke, which means there would have been oil in the fuel mixture, and this will be more persistent in the soil.

Watering may not have been the ideal thing to do, as it would have spread the oil, but if you dig out a reasonable amount of soil you ought to be fine.

Seeding or turfing will work fine at this time of year, so go for whichever you fancy. If you decide to turf the area, a good tip is to turf an irregular shaped area instead of digging out a square and turfing that, as it is a lot less obvious to the eye.

 

Thank you Will,

Of course you are correct about 2T persistance
in the soil.

Finding the right grade of turf is always a
problem when one has a good lawn to repair.
I looked at turves over the weekend at two
Garden centres and its far too coarse.

I guess it's a dig out add soil and re-seeding
job. Ahh well.

Thanks again

Regards

George

 

Well, you picked the right time of year, although if you're looking at seeding a bent / fescue (fine) mix, you ought to get on with it as soon as possible, as the temperatures are starting to drop.

Over the last few years though, I've been happily seeding as late as December and still had good results, so I'm sure you'll be fine - good luck