Garden Lawn Waterlogging advice

Hello

I have a (fairly) large flat lawn which becomes very heavily water laden after rain (which we get a lot of in scotland!)

I'd like to try and improve drainage-was thinking of hiring a powered lawn aerator from HSS and removing solid cores before sweeping sharp sand into the lawn

Will this be effective or should I be thinking of soakaways?

depends what soil is. if its clay then water has no where to go, so you will need drainage, if its just old and compacted then aerating will help

I agree with breezer but wonder if a machine will go deep enough? Ive used a garden folk previously. Pressed in as far as it will go and waggle it backwards and forwards to open up a 'funnel'. Do this all over the lawn at about 4 inch intervals, Spread sharp sand over surface and sweep away until it all disappears down the holes. If you're on clay Id mix a bit of peat with the sand try try to get some humus into the clay to help break it up a bit. I dont think this will be a one hit wonder, It might take a number of repeats to get the right conditions. Bit of a job but if needs must!!

A scarifier should help too by removing the thick thatch at the base of the grass which can act a sponge.

Thanks for the feedback-the powered aerator looks like quite a professional jobby-the sort used on golf courses and the like so I'd hope the tines would be at least as long and wide as those on a fork.
I s'pose I am just a lazy beggar wanting to use a power tool rather than hand do it


I am actually wondering whether I should rip the lawn up and get some semi decent drainage put down. I have scarified and the lawn is not that great so have been contemplating a re-turf.

I guess that may cost a tidy sum though?

It all depends, The simplest drainage system is a not so deep trench filled with pea gravel capped with soil.

You would need to view the lawn surface and envisage where the water is going to run away. eg if the lawn is sloping north to south then lay trenches from west to east.

Connect the trenches together with another trench and feed into a large sump hole.

Difficult to say how far apart the trenches should be but I would guess every 1.5m maybe.

Trenches would only need to be about a spade depth but could be narrow. trench out using a post spade which is about 100mm wide.

Thanks again


One further question-I am also looking to try and "flatten" out a large piece of "flat" lawn

There are a few bumps and small valleys on the lawn

Am I right in thinking that I could:

A) Hollow Core the lawn
B) Apply a top dressing of sharp sand and top-soil 50:50 making sure that I "build up" the hollows
C) Re-seed the entire area


Is there anything else I should be doing??

Hmmm. Hollow core the lawn and top dress. Sweep the top dressing into the cores. That will start to get something decent below ground. and improve drainage.

Every spring rake the lawn with a tyne to remove all the dead grass and moss at the base of the grass. That will get air to circulate and keep the grass healthy.

You can fill up depressions by putting a layer of say John Innes number 2 about an inch deep, letting the grass grow through and when long enough repeat until depression has been levelled. Dont be tempted to put down too deep a layer or you might kill the grass.

This Autumn look to reseed bare areas and if desired give a generally sprinkling of seed over the whole area.

This season I would start a feeding programme. Clay is generally a fertile medium but its in the wrong condition for the plants to access Thats why veg men dig in plenty of organic compost to help alter the structure. Your Lawn may be in need of a good feed.

I use a liquid prodcut called Lawn Magic its sold in 5 litres which should do about 600sq.m. for about £20 delivered. I apply it with a superspray hose end sprayer (£10) every two / three weeks I like liquid feeds because unlike pelleted feeds you dont have to bother about it raining soon after. If it doesnt rain when using pellets the lawn can brown off. Its quicker and easier to get an even feed over a large area. you can use the sprayer to wash the car with too. visit www.superspray.co.uk for both products. If you call them a human being will answer and they are very friendly. Good luck.

Thanks very much again!

Re grass seed-my aim (!) is to try and get more of a "show lawn"-I have invested in a top quality cylinder mower and also scarify at the start of the season

With respect to re-seeding , is it possible to re seed using a better lawn seed for the show lawn effect or should I be thinking about ripping the turf up in its entirety and then re seeding

Also, do you know of reputable (and reasonably priced) grass seed merchants ?

For more of a show type lawn you may need a finer leaf grass mixture though they are not as hard wearing as the 'utiliy' type which have more broader leaf in the mixture. If we assume you have a typical garden lawn then it will be the broader leaf harder wearing and would be best to take it up and start again. otherwise adding a different mix will give differing shades and performance. taking it up will allow you to get rid of any of the deep rooted perennial weeds too.

You have plenty of time to prepare as the best time to put down grass is late september. It will establish itself through the winter putting down good roots and generally you wll not get sleepless nights about watering and hosepipe bans etc.

Have a look at www.thegrassroute.co.uk which will give you information about various mixtures for different performances. This is part of www.BritishSeedHouses.com for all things grass from retail to proffessional. It will give a list of specialist stockist too.

Brilliant advice and recommendations

Finally, part of the lawn is shaded by large beech and birches

Is it feasible to use a specific shaded seed for this part of the lawn or is mixing differnet seed types not really recommended?

You can buy specific blends of grass for shady areas but doubt that it would match the grass in the unshaded part.

My experience shows that for an area to need a special shade blend it would need to be a large and very shady area like under a huge Beech etc. I think these grasses are more droubt resistant than liking a shady patch. The trees pull out huge amounts of water.

If your grass is particulaly bare in your shady area the hollow coring will add more moisture retention.

The grass route would advise better than I on this one.

The Lawn Magic product I mentioned early gives grass certain droubt resistant properties.