Can I place sand under grass?

[fex10]

My garden is really unlevel, and it's bare ground. When the garage foundations were dug the left over soil was used to level the garden so it no longer sloped from left to right (a retaining wall was built on one side to enable this). The soil has now settled and left uneven areas, varying by plus/minus 3 inches all over the place. I am weary of trying to level it by moving the soil around because it takes time for it to settle and that means another 12 months of baron garden.

We have about three tons of sand left over and I was wondering if the sand could be used to level the garden because it doesn't compress or need much time to settle.

But will grass grow on sand?

Then which is a more economical solution, do I put on top soil on the sand and then plant grass (again top soil settles and causes unevenness), or can I lay the grass that comes on rolls? The latter means I don't need to distribute top soil, don't have to worrying about the top soil settling or being evenly distributed etc.

Will the grass that comes on rolls be ok to lay on sand? We're talking sharp sand.

The current soil is top soil but it is quite clayey, partly because that's how it is in this area but also because when the soil was dig up some of the clay underneath got mixed in.

Many thanks for the advice!

 

[Halitosis]

I feel your pain as I'm trying to level my garden and willing grass seed to grow...
In my experience sand (specifically sharp sand) is no bad thing - in fact its great for clayey soil. Ideally you need to mix the two as best you can, but rotivating it will set you back again on your levelling efforts! Top-dressing with it is possible, but only do so a little at a time (maybe half an inch) so that the lawn can grow through it. Mixing in some compost and granular fertiliser to the sand would encourage growth.
When levelling (before planting seed or laying turf) you can drag a pallet or ladder around (with some weight loaded on it). Then pidgeon step up and down to compact it and do another drag.
September is the best time of year to sow seed, so get your skates on!

 

[gregers]

to lose your sand into your grass will require you to do the same as golf courses do on the greens.
hollow tine.
millions of holes into the grass and then the sand,which also has grass seed added to it,is then spread all over the lawn.bear in mind the method used on golf courses is industrial so they have rather large machines to do it.
im not a gardener but maybe you can hire out a hollow machine and a spreader??
if not then your backs goner hurt big styli.

 

[blightymam]

I agree, you need to mix it in well. Sand is good in some soils, but doesn't hold water or nutrients so unless mixed in well, grass won't grow healthily and your lawn will dry out very quick.

 

[r896neo]

If your sand is building sand then its no use. Only consider using it if its coarse grit sand/ sharp sand.

You can either buy in some screened top soil and use that to level the dips or you can always rotovate lightly? You can set the teeth of a rotovater to different depths so you could just set it very high to just disturb the top few inches.

Sharp sand is very good for laying turf on, i always lay turf on an inch of sharp sand as grass roots well into it and its better for final levelling.

Grass will not grow well at all if the soil is too compacted so you have to strike a balance between settlement and good soil structure for growth.

My opinion is that small low spots can be top dressed in 2 years but you get never improve the soil structure after its turfed. (hollow tine aerating can help a bit)

There will be no settlement if you simply rotovate the top 3-4 inches and then level and compress it with a heavy garden roller. You really only get settlement when you have deep disturbance or fills Its not an issue at depth under 6 inches as long as you firm it back in with heels or a roller.

 

[fex10]

Sharp sand is very good for laying turf on, i always lay turf on an inch of sharp sand as grass roots well into it and its better for final levelling.

Thanks for all the advice. It is sharp sand. This does seem the quickest/easiest solution, to put turf on it.

I agree, you need to mix it in well. Sand is good in some soils, but doesn't hold water or nutrients so unless mixed in well, grass won't grow healthily and your lawn will dry out very quick.

Blightymam, does this also apply if there's turf on top of the sand? If it does then I'll have to try to mix it up though that's a lot more work and negates the desired "no settlement" plan.

 

[seneca]

Interesting thread and I have a few lawn questions that have been on my mind all summer, so hopefully you wise chaps can throw some advice my way:

I have a heavy waterlogged/clay lawn with a high water table. It never fully dries out, even in full sun and is always covered in moss and dead thatch (I remove some of this after each cut, but it keeps returning within a few weeks.)

1)I have 5 bags of silver sand left over from pointing my new patio and path, and was wondering if I could use it on the lawn, in preparation for winter? Is it any of use for improving the lawn/drainage ?

2) I have tried hollow tining, but with a manual step on kind with 4 tines - it's very labour intensive, not to mention knackering on the knees. Worse than digging! After a couple of hours you get a metre done. I can't do the whole lawn like this, so is it worth hiring a petrol machine? The popular rental chain do one, but not sure if it will work on my heavy, soggy lawn - will it just dig the thing up? I'm considering taking a risk and getting one for a weekend - anyone have any experience of these? Don't want to throw a £100 there way and end up with a turned over cabbage patch.

Any advice is welcome - particularly whilst I still have the weather on my side. My optimistic plan was - cut awn, rake, iron sulphate the moss - wait 2 weeks, rake again. Hollow tine machine and then spread my silver sand into holes. Give it a week then throw lawn seed on the bare patches. How does this sound!

 

[Halitosis]

I'm not sure silver sand would do much good as it's so fine (like building sand)? Sharp/grit sand is beneficial because it drains well.
Lawncare companies such as greenthumb can quote you just for a hollow tining treatment - we once had it done. Or perhaps a friendly local golf course head greenkeeper To do the job properly a machine needs to pull plugs out of the soil rather than just poke holes in it.

 

[seneca]

It says on the bags of Hansons silver sand that it can be used to top dress lawns. Does top dressing have nothing to do with drainage? I thought it meant just spreading it on top. What does silver sand do for lawns? Must have some use.

 

[r896neo]

Fex 10 just to be clear i am not advocating simply throwing sand on top to bring up low spots. Sand should be mixed in well.

You can also as i said use a layer of sharp sand to lay the turf on but it shouldnt be thicker than about 30mm, 50mm absolute max.

filling low spots with sand and ending up with deep 75mm + of sand in places will be bad for the grass.

 

[blightymam]

Blightymam, does this also apply if there's turf on top of the sand? If it does then I'll have to try to mix it up though that's a lot more work and negates the desired "no settlement" plan.

Yes it does apply, you need to mix the sand with soil before you lay turf. If you think about it, the roots from the grass in your newly laid turf need to get to water and nutrients. They are not going to get that if you've put a pure layer of sand underneath and the grass will be weak and possibly die in the summer heat.