Grass
- Thread starter baldkev
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NopeDon't you have a tractor and plough yet?!
I did do a search around for a small skidsteer, but nothing local at a good price
an avant loader would be helpful but not at a big costfezman
Established Member
RogerS
Established Member
Get a GALMI ...works every time 
Grit and hardcore is the worst thing to add if you mix it with the soil- too many tv gardeners advise it but it’s not right. It reduces the flow of water through the soil as it has to go round the stones, and the stones don’t hold any water so until you get up to over 70% gravel by volume it makes drainage worse.
Organic matter will increase the moisture capacity of the soil and help with drainage to an extent. If water is pooling then it’s probably a clay sub soil that won’t drain quickly. Solution would be french drains and/or a soak away.
I’d try organic matter first as easier to add and mix through with topsoil than the effort involved with digging in drains.
It sounds like you have clay soil and you may have shifted the soil around leaving more subsoil than top soil on the surface. Subsoil is not a good plant medium. Before you spend too much, you could dig over the ground and, at the same time, dig in some soil improver (from the garden centre) allowing a 3 inches (75mm) layer on top before digging it in. Adding horticultural sand and grit would also help; it would help to break up the soil and improve drainage. Good luck.Hi, i have a grass problem ( garden variety )
About 3 years ago i did some work in our garden moving a bank and levelling. I had a mini digger and power barrow in there.
Once the soil was level, i raked over it and laid turf, watered etc...
It took hold just fine. With last years heat, the majority of it died off, plus it does tend to get waterlogged despite being on a hill. I think i must have comoacted the ground using the machines and now it doesnt drain well. Ive been round with a fork punching holes in the garden at the start of last year, but no change other than the heat finally killing it.
At the moment we have a mud bath, not a garden.... whats best? Do i get a rotavator and churn it up? Then new turf?
Im not green fingered in the slightest, i even manage to kill mint plants each year
Organic matter also retains moisture. Sand improves drainage and, together with grit/stones will help break up clay.
Tris
What am I doing here?
Quick soil test: take a pinch, wet it and rub it between the fingers. If it feels silky with no grittiness you've got pure clay. If it's slightly gritty and smears dark brown it's loam, and if very gritty a sandy soil. Add a few drops of vinegar, if it foams it's chalky soil. There's all sorts of levels in between but that will give you the basics.
There's no point adding gravel/sand. If it worked you'd see farmers doing it, but they put muck on so organic matter is the way to go. It breaks down to form humus, and humic acid binds clay particles, improving soil structure and field holding capacity for water. Lime and magnesium can help open clay soil but it's not advisable to add them at the same time as muck or soil improver as they'll release the nitrogen you want in the soil as ammonia gas.
Double digging (also known as 'barsteward trenching') means digging a trench one spades' depth, putting that soil to one side, turning over the bottom of the trench, then repeat with the next trench across your area. It'll break open the soil to 16 inches or so.
Edit to avoid filter changing meaning
There's no point adding gravel/sand. If it worked you'd see farmers doing it, but they put muck on so organic matter is the way to go. It breaks down to form humus, and humic acid binds clay particles, improving soil structure and field holding capacity for water. Lime and magnesium can help open clay soil but it's not advisable to add them at the same time as muck or soil improver as they'll release the nitrogen you want in the soil as ammonia gas.
Double digging (also known as 'barsteward trenching') means digging a trench one spades' depth, putting that soil to one side, turning over the bottom of the trench, then repeat with the next trench across your area. It'll break open the soil to 16 inches or so.
Edit to avoid filter changing meaning
I agree, although I doubt farmers would add sand and grit as it would be too expensive for large fields.
RobinBHM
Established Member
re title) I find its always greener on the other side
just sayin
just sayin
Stones will only improves drainage once you get over 70% below that it impedes drainage and moisture holding capacity. It goes against commonly accepted tv wisdom but part of my degree included soil science at the institute for grassland research. We made mixes and put them through lab conditions to measure drainage. Stones make it worse as the water has to drain around them lengthening the path the water has to take through the soil, slowing it down. Think concrete- the cement fills the voids around the aggregate, it doesn’t stay as free space unless you have loads of aggregate and start to introduce voids.
Did end up pretty good at doing spit tests for soil constituent percentages. Silky feel is typically used to describe silt rather than clay.
Bark
RogerS
Established Member
walkies ?
Jacob
What goes around comes around.
First dandelions are showing on my lawn. It's very poor soil, stony and dry old lead-mine spoil heap, levelled out. All the 3 inches of soil now on top is self generated by free growth, and dandelions are excellent - deep roots through stony ground slowly working nutrients in, opening up routes (no pun intended) for other roots.
You see a lot of it around here in our post industrial landscape - much of which starts out completely sterile but quickly gets invaded by lichens, moss first and "ruderal" species - often spectacular flowers, orchids etc, constructing a soil layer.
If it's a lawn you want, mow it a bit (not too much), if not then 5 to 10 years on and hawthorn, blackthorn get going.
You see a lot of it around here in our post industrial landscape - much of which starts out completely sterile but quickly gets invaded by lichens, moss first and "ruderal" species - often spectacular flowers, orchids etc, constructing a soil layer.
If it's a lawn you want, mow it a bit (not too much), if not then 5 to 10 years on and hawthorn, blackthorn get going.
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Inspector
Nyuck, Nyuck, Nyuck!
Actually not so good for soil as is sawdust. When it breaks down it uses up the nitrogen and the soil is worse.
Pete
I add both in mine, soil is lovely down to 50cm , but we also have 2 cubic metres of compost permanently on the go.Bark gets you some interesting mushrooms too
then again, in my book, grass is for grazing.We had 3 hectares in the south of France, took all my Saturdays to keep it in check, so we got a Shetland pony and some goats.
here the neighbour behind us has around a hectare of grass, takes him a couple of hours on a ride on mower, this is the rainiest part of France, so you can almost see the stuff grow.We get to appreciate his grass, he does the labour.
then again, in my book, grass is for grazing.We had 3 hectares in the south of France, took all my Saturdays to keep it in check, so we got a Shetland pony and some goats.
here the neighbour behind us has around a hectare of grass, takes him a couple of hours on a ride on mower, this is the rainiest part of France, so you can almost see the stuff grow.We get to appreciate his grass, he does the labour.
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Yep, that's why i dont eat humus despite delia smith claiming its nice
Thanks for the double digging explanation. I should say though, along with being time poor, im often out of energy in the evenings, so digging once is unlikely ( hence a rotavator
) and digging twice isnt gonna happen I could compromise and rotovate twice?
I'll get photos and do a soil pinch test in the morning, i didnt manage it today
Tris
What am I doing here?
I have double dug with a mini digger on a large project before now, couldn't be bothered to dig out 150 rose bushes cos my back doesn't like the workout any more. Reckon if we don't get any more rain this week it might be safe to do by the weekend.
