So I am contemplating a new lawn instead of the loose stone that is there. Currently it has like I said loose stone over a membrane and then obviously soil, which is more than likely clay soil. I have been thinking about how to do it and my idea is to remove stone temporarily, take of membrane, turn over soil and level get new membrane, put loose stone back on and then get some new top soil, level and finally put turf on, my only hesitation is would an inch of topsoil above the loose stone work for the turf or would I need more?.
New lawn
- Thread starter koontz
- Start date
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You want to remove the stone altogether. Turf needs soil to bed in not stones
Would the stones not he good for drainage though, I know the neighbours have both had problems with flooding on there lawns.
S
sodthisforfun
Why would you put membrane under turf? There is no benefit to that at all that I can see.
Grass roots grow quite deep, 15cms plus in good soil. The deeper the root, the more strong and healthy the lawn should be and withstand hot summers etc. If your ground is covered in membrane and then stones, where are the roots supposed to, well, take root? You'll probably end up with a weak lawn, one that needs feeding regularly and in the summer, watering often to stop it dying - if it doesn't die anyway.
To do your lawn well, you need to dig down a foot give or take, take out all the stones that are much bigger than a matchbox. If you've drainage issues because of clay soil, you can improve the soil by digging in something like compost/manure and leave it over winter to break down before laying a lawn next year. Not advised to lay turf on fresh compost or manure because it will rot down unevenly, leaving your lawn with bumps. Some people say add sand, but I find that too much and it sets hard, esp in clay and again stops a healthy lawn because sand doesn't hold water/nutrients. The organic matter route is better imo.
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as above - keep it simple:
-remove stones
-remove membrane
-add some organic matter (soil improver, mushroom compost, bulk compost, leaf mould - whatever is cheap and easy)
-dig and level
-sow or turf
-remove stones
-remove membrane
-add some organic matter (soil improver, mushroom compost, bulk compost, leaf mould - whatever is cheap and easy)
-dig and level
-sow or turf
Any photos?
Ok have removed over 2 tons of loose stones, that was very hard graft, don't know what i'm going to do with said stones but have put advert on freecycle, anyway I have noticed that one of the previous owners has dug like a v shaped trench and filled that with these stones im guessing for drainage, don't know if that was prior to the loose stones been put down or not anyway here are some pictures of the very clayey soil.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/bvJW8NmStYMXJnqy6
https://photos.app.goo.gl/bvJW8NmStYMXJnqy6
That's not a v it's a y 
Did that water appear in the hole after you had dug it?
If so then that is the water table level. I think you may have to dig down much lower and look into how to create good drainage for clay soil.
There is no shortcut if you want a good, strong healthy lawn.
Have a look at this site for info.
https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profi... of bulky,cracking and help conserve moisture
If so then that is the water table level. I think you may have to dig down much lower and look into how to create good drainage for clay soil.
There is no shortcut if you want a good, strong healthy lawn.
Have a look at this site for info.
https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profi... of bulky,cracking and help conserve moisture
No I dug the hole and filled it with water to see how fast it would drain, spoiler there is still water in the hole 9 hours later but it has gone down.
So I have to wait 1 or 2 years to lay lawn?, What do I do in mean time with bog for garden?.
I've read that gypsum can break down clay soil, so I might get some and see if that make the soil more manageable, I also have 2 tons of stones could I not dig out say 1 foot of soil put the stones in the soil over top, would help with drainage and get rid of stones.
S
sodthisforfun
Did it flood/be boggy with your loose stone before you removed them?
You could take the stones to the skip? That's what we had to do. We had around 200 bags of rubble when we did our lawn - which was a bit smaller than yours. Got rid of a 150 in a small skip and took the rest to the council dump over a few weekends.
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