Track marks on the lawn

Hello,

A few days ago I had the builders in to help lay a garden path. However after they left I was "gifted" with a nice pair of track marks that their excavator left behind, plus the damage to the grass... so, how do I repair them?

Cheers Nicholas
Spilimbergo, Italy

 

I'm no lawn expert but it depends how deep/wide and long they are only then can you be suggested ways to repair. Pictures would help

 

Surely the builders are insured in which case complain and make them do the repairs.


Alternatively. Much depending upon the 'tracks'. Cut and lift the affected turf and place to one side. Now infill the the damaged area, firming the soil and when done, replace the turves. Gently firm the tures and finish by top-dressing the area. Leave for at least a week, gently rake the area prior to mowing.

 

post a picture if possible please.
It may just need dressing depending on the depth or weight of the machine used or its a case of removing turf and then adding top soil and seeding with a grass type that matches your grass.
All depends on the amount of damage.

 

Thank you very much for the reply. Please find a photo of the disaster. Any suggestions will be appreciated. I tried raking the tracks using a scarifying rake but to no avail - the soil (in part due to its composition) is as hard as a brick.

 

Once more, thank you for posting. I have added a picture to my previous message.

 

Hello Nicholas , welcome to GC ,
The builders laid a path across the lawn . So they need access for their machinery . Lawn damage is going to happen , it's pretty much unavoidable at this time of year . From you photos , I think it should recover , possible a light reseed in April.
I am sure our lawn gurus can advise on this

 

"A picture says a thousand words"

I'd leave it for a while until the grass gets growing again and things gree up a bit. Probably a loght scarifying and tip dressing will soon have things back to normal.

 

I had simular 2 years ago when i had the a few feet of my garden concreted and a wide garden path made all down to the yard and then had the yard slabbed
They made a mess of the lawn and it took months to fetch stones out of the lawn but dont underestimate grass it will grow, and by the look of your photo it is not all bad so leave it , i didnt put grass seed down but you can later if you think it needs it.
I did mow it a few months later ,infact its better then it was 5 years ago

 

Thanks for the photo.
I’m looking at the pic and can see the soil is pretty hard and as others have said just wait and if need be dress and seed.
I take it it’s always suffered with grass growth due to the soil.

 

It is avoidable.

Simply ask them to include for protecting access across the lawn with something like 8 x 4' sheets of sterling board before they even start trampling all over it with full wheelbarrows, let alone tracked excavators.

If you don't ask, you don't get with many/most contractors.

 

In my case it was a case of too little, too late... my mother was out and I was busy in the laundry room. I only heard the excavator thunder by... by then it was too late...

 

We had the whole front of the house dug up because we had to lay a new underground drainage system to try and counter rising damp inside the house (my house is located in the bottom of a wide river valley, thus ground humidity is an issue). When everything was ready we ordered new soil to go in...however Italy is not the UK where (I suppose) one can buy nicely sifted soil ready to drop down. What we were supplied with was essentially excavation soil, brought from another building site - a mix of sand, clay and small stones, a kind of soil which according to our neighbours is what predominates all across the region. We however did insist with our supplier that we wanted soil only from the 1st 10cm of excavation as experience has shown that this is the best kind - fine and reasonably stone free. After we spread it I seeded it and for a bit it looked as if it was going to be OK - until Summer arrived (this was late in last Autumn). Temperatures went through the roof and what grass had sprouted wilted because of lack of water (we didn't have an irrigator then). And to compound things the soil turned into baked brick... now I'm planning to rent a scarifier to try and open the soil up (and also to get rid of some of the infestants which have cropped up) and give it a second try.

Cheers Nicholas