Repair or turf damaged/compacted lawn

Hi ,

I'm new to the forum and gardening so please be easy with me. I also know that there have been some similar questions in the recent past, I apologise.

Following a house extension last summer my back garden lawn has been heavily damaged. The area is approximately 85m2 . North West facing garden and quite sandy (as realised when digging the foundations. last weekend I applied moss killer solution and I am about to use a scarifier to work the soil and potentially remove a lot of the damaged grass/moss/weed.

I am in 2 minds whether to reseed or turf the garden.

Also I am not sure whether I need top soil with either or anything else , as there are a lot of different opinions on the internet.

I will attempt to attach a picture of the garden.

Any advice will be much appreciated.

Thank you.

 

Yes, lots of opinions and methods out there, but from your picture I would look at removing /digging the existing remains and re-seeding or re-turfing.

My concern is the sand thats visible, its most likely 'building' sand used in the brickworks mortar and that has a high lime content which can burn the existing grass or any seedlings.

I would try and remove as much as realistically possible to avoid possible problems with either new seed or turf.

A lawn scarifier is intended to remove the dead thatch for an existing lawn , so cannot see any point in using it to scratch the muddy surfaces, unless you intend to then reseed.

As you say its north west facing and have a fair bit of shade from those shrubs and trees , moss is always going to be a problem , so do look at seed or turf best suited to such shady conditions.


To throw your thoughts open a bit more, you do not mention the main function of the garden, eg kids, football etc or something more mature ?
Partic if the latter, what about thinking of paths and boarders first then adding smaller areas of grass if needed later ?

 

Agree with ricky.

First things first.

How long do you intend to stay in the house? Have you a long term plan of how you want the garden to look?
Are you just looking to keep it tidy?
As I see it, the lawn should be the last consideration, plan out beds features etc., what's left I'd turf, but the ground needs preparing first.
I've applied moss killer to my lawn, but won't even think of scarifying it until the weather picks up and the lawn is dry. My scarifier would just drag the grass out in clumps at the moment.

 

Hiya Orange madness
Well, I enjoy the process of making a new lawn....made several of them
I would dig in that turf....skim the top off and place face down 20 cm or so deep.......add top soil or compost and thoroughly prepare the soil for turf or re seeding. Time spent levelling and firming is time well spent.
Your choice.....turf is expensive and immediate. Seeding is far cheaper and you can select the type of seed you want. It doesn’t take much longer......sown in April seed germinates in 2 to 3 weeks...and I think it is far more satisfying .

 

Goodmorning all and thank you for your valuable comments.

To answer some of your questions , we have 2 girls so the glass does not get heavily damaged(e.g. football) however it does get used.

We are looking into staying here for a bit. I always that that by keeping the lawn lovely makes the garden look great. I would like to address the flower beds etc as well, however I thought that the lawn was more of a priority.

Also thank you for picking up the builders sand etc, which is true! I will remove it.

After reading this thread I am more likely to go for seeding than turfing to keep the cost down and invest in the top soil and fertiliser.

Also thanks for the consistent advice on the scarifier. It does make sense to dig a bit deeper.

Thanks again. I will post again once I have some results to present!

 

Hi again,

I forgot to ask how do I calculate how much top soil I need to lay on top of the existing soil to lay the seeds?

Many thanks,

 

Welcome Orange madness.

 

It really depends on how much time and effort you can or want to put into a new lawn.

As @Verdun says you can dig the whole plot over, adding any new soil you need, then you need to let it settle, even roller or heal down and rake until flat and even; a lot of hard work, though the results should be good.

You might be able to get away by using a non persistent weedkiller like glyphosphate on the remaining grass and weeds or skim them off with a spade, then loosen the surface by raking etc and using some extra soil to fill in any dips etc before seeding.

Whatever you do, I would say do not add any fertilizers it will be way too strong for any new seed shoots.
Typically you do not need any until the lawn is really growing and thick, but you must check the products labels as some cannot be used on lawns less than 6 moths old etc. though doubt I would use any this year at all.

The problem with seeding the area you show and a young family is can you keep them off all the new lawn for most of this summer, as the new shoots will take a good few months to create a lawn strong enough.