New Lawn help

I have moved into a house in an area where the soil is very thick with clay. The back garden was just turned over topsoil and I have since turfed it. I tried my best to level and rake it, but the ground was 'boggy' and now that the turf has 'taken', I do have nice lush green grass, but about half of the garden is quite 'spongy'. I am not sure whether I should lift the turf in these areas, apply sand and relay or if I could get away with applying sand on top of the grass to 'firm things up'. Only starting in gardening so any advice would be appreciated.

 

I would use a fork to aerate adding sharp sand to the holes, rather than lifting the turf first. Stick the fork in,full depth of the tines at six inch gaps, and gently lever to leave the tine holes, then sweep in sharp sand (not builders sand)

 

Hi Fran,

I have just tried this minutes before I got your reply, on a small area 0.5 mtr sq, and it appears to work pretty well. Only problem is the lawn is approx 170 sq mtrs. I think you are right to use the fork all the way in but very hard going over such an area. I have looked at aerators, but unless you go for the big industrial models, they don't seem to go quite as deep. I'll try and schedule around the weather and give this a go. Thanks for the advice. Mike

 

Hi Mike
Have you thought of contacting hire shops to see if you could hire a bigger model?

 

Hi Mike,

How long since the turf was laid? If it's fairly new, you might consider giving it a bit longer to let the roots go deeper before you do anything. Established turf has an amazing capacity to firm soft ground, and once the roots develop further, you'll find that surplus water is removed much better, both through improved drainage and because the grass plants are using more water.

On a similar note, you ought to be careful about using a mechanical aerator on new turf. If the roots haven't yet taken a firm hold in the native soil, the turf will pull up easily, especially with a mechanical aerator, where the tines are designed to exit at an angle to give maximum heave.

One other comment - sand can sometimes be more of a hinderance than a help, especially if the particles are angular - this causes them to bind tightly together and effectively "cap" the surface. I don't know if it's OK to name manufacturers on here, but the people who grow Medallion ( ) turf supply their own rootzone / top dressing material. It's more expensive, but well worth the money in my opinion.