UK gardening - sunken grass patch

Author

sunken grass patch

Kroma

2007-05-20, 5:25 pm

Hi,

We moved in to our house just over a year ago. Parts of the garden were
overgrown including 2 bushed which had overgrown on to the lawn and killed
it.

I added some soil and grass seed and it grew back nicely.

However, after all the recent rain the patches seem to have sunken by about
half an inch.

Can I just whack some topsoil on top and hope the grass will grow through it
or should I dig it up and put topsoil underneath (then replace the turf of
course)?

Thanks,

Kroma

A.Lee

2007-05-20, 5:25 pm

Kroma <NOSPAMPLEASE@btinternet.com> wrote:
> We moved in to our house just over a year ago. Parts of the garden were
> overgrown including 2 bushed which had overgrown on to the lawn and killed
> it.
> I added some soil and grass seed and it grew back nicely.
> However, after all the recent rain the patches seem to have sunken by about
> half an inch.
> Can I just whack some topsoil on top and hope the grass will grow through it
> or should I dig it up and put topsoil underneath (then replace the turf of
> course)?

Putting topsoil on it is not a great idea, unless you add some grass
seed to the mix. I'd get a bag of silver sand, and some compost, mix
that up, add some seed, then distribute it over the depression, then run
a roller over it.
It is also possible to peel back a sod, and put a bit of soil
undernetah, but that is too much hard work for a dip of half an inch.
Alan.
--
To reply by e-mail, change the ' + ' to 'plus'.

Martin Brown

2007-05-20, 5:25 pm

On May 20, 3:28 pm, "Kroma" <NOSPAMPLE...@btinternet.com> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> We moved in to our house just over a year ago. Parts of the garden were
> overgrown including 2 bushed which had overgrown on to the lawn and killed
>
> I added some soil and grass seed and it grew back nicely.
>
> However, after all the recent rain the patches seem to have sunken by about
> half an inch.

For a small amount like that over a smallish area you can probably get
away with adding an equal mix of topsoil and sharp sand at almost any
time of year. Anything more than about 1cm is best done in autumn or
early spring. I am gradually levelling out my lawn where a big tree
root is rotting away underneath this way.
>
> Can I just whack some topsoil on top and hope the grass will grow through it
> or should I dig it up and put topsoil underneath (then replace the turf of
> course)?

If it really is only a half inch then you can probably get away with
it at almost any time of year, but if it is any thicker than that you
may well kill the grass by smothering it. Especially if it is a fine
grass. I reckon upto 1cm deep you can top dress and then leave the
grass to grow through again. A bit of feed mixed in may help boost its
growth provided you don't minf having a greener patch for a while.

Regards,
Martin Brown

Muddymike

2007-05-23, 9:25 am

>>Putting topsoil on it is not a great idea, unless you add some grass
>
>
> Putting soil on top Alan, does work as long as you rake over the grass
> afterwards so that you can see the tips.

I am half way through levelling a couple of dips in one of our lawns by this
very method. Every time I have some spare sand/soil/compost I rake it into
the dips. A couple more sessions and I shall have a flat (ish) lawn.

Mike

Alan Johnson

2007-05-23, 9:25 am

Muddymike wrote:

> I am half way through levelling a couple of dips in one of our lawns by this
> very method. Every time I have some spare sand/soil/compost I rake it into
> the dips. A couple more sessions and I shall have a flat (ish) lawn.
>
>
> Mike

There are so many sunken patches in my lawn, I'm not sure whether it
would just be easier to flatten the peaks. :-)

Regards

--
Alan Johnson, Geotr@ns
www.geotrans-online.de
German-English, Geosciences/Technical
http://geotransblog.blogspot.com/
Terminus Est

Muddymike

2007-05-23, 1:25 pm

>> I am half way through levelling a couple of dips in one of our lawns by
>
> There are so many sunken patches in my lawn, I'm not sure whether it would
> just be easier to flatten the peaks. :-)
>

At our last house the very large (over half an acre) rear lawn was so lumpy
and bumpy the 42 inch cutter I used kept scalping bits. I borrowed a great
big vibrating road roller from a roadwork's gang who wanted somewhere safe
to store it over the weekend. It probably over compacted the soil but I had
a nice smooth lawn after a weekend running that up and down. Never really
noticed any growth problems afterwards.

Mike

Kroma

2007-05-24, 8:25 pm

Thanks for your help everyone. I will add topsoil a bit at a time and rake
it over so that the grass tips poke through.

Thanks again!

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