Soft lawn + ballistic dog = the Somme - advice
Discussion
When we bought out house the lawn was a bit of a state. Dead spots from a trampoline, play area and wendy house. I de-weeded it and ferftlised last year and the bare patches grew back. It was still very uneven, but at least.
We got do back in November and he has now discovered running in the garden (ex-racing greyound) and loves hammering about.
The lawn apparently doesn't drain too well as it is always very soft under foot and add this with him going 0-30mph repeatedly and turning hard, he is leaving massive craters in the ground.
The lawn looks like the Somme at the moment. I will re-seed and cover in hessian (to stop him getting seeds in his paws and the bird from eating the seed) in spring, but I don't think it's going to harden things up as the grass isn't coming up, the soil / ground it is.
Anyone got any suggestion on how to help it drain? I was looking at hollow tine aerating, but it seems that it could be too soft and clog the tines? Would it help?
I may look at rolling to even things out?
I'm not looking for an ornamental lawn, but preferably one that will be hardier than it is at the moment.
Cheers
We got do back in November and he has now discovered running in the garden (ex-racing greyound) and loves hammering about.
The lawn apparently doesn't drain too well as it is always very soft under foot and add this with him going 0-30mph repeatedly and turning hard, he is leaving massive craters in the ground.
The lawn looks like the Somme at the moment. I will re-seed and cover in hessian (to stop him getting seeds in his paws and the bird from eating the seed) in spring, but I don't think it's going to harden things up as the grass isn't coming up, the soil / ground it is.
Anyone got any suggestion on how to help it drain? I was looking at hollow tine aerating, but it seems that it could be too soft and clog the tines? Would it help?
I may look at rolling to even things out?
I'm not looking for an ornamental lawn, but preferably one that will be hardier than it is at the moment.
Cheers
Difficult question - we have a similar situation with 2 fast dogs and claggy clay based soil. Even though they have an acre or so to run in the high traffic areas are always down to bare mud by this time of year.
Drains will help but ultimately it's the surface soil layer soil type that is the issue - we have a French drain running right under one of the problem areas and it doesn't really help. The one area of garden with sandy soil is perfect. It does tend to grow back in quite quickly in the spring if that's any consolation!
Drains will help but ultimately it's the surface soil layer soil type that is the issue - we have a French drain running right under one of the problem areas and it doesn't really help. The one area of garden with sandy soil is perfect. It does tend to grow back in quite quickly in the spring if that's any consolation!
KTMsm said:
If it's like my dog then the turns end up looking like a Moto X track
I would have used the plastic reinforcing mesh if I was staying plus whatever drainage options are available
Does the reinforcing mesh make much difference? I worry that he will catch his foot in it?I would have used the plastic reinforcing mesh if I was staying plus whatever drainage options are available
I suspect the real answer is to dig up the lawn, rotovate it and then laydown sandy soil.
Given that I need to render the house in lime, I may just go for a back breaking weekend of hollow tine aerating and then overseeding with hessian / keeping the dog off it for a bit.
Wildfire said:
Does the reinforcing mesh make much difference? I worry that he will catch his foot in it?
I suspect the real answer is to dig up the lawn, rotovate it and then laydown sandy soil.
Given that I need to render the house in lime, I may just go for a back breaking weekend of hollow tine aerating and then overseeding with hessian / keeping the dog off it for a bit.
I cheated with mine. Neighbour has a mini digger. He dug it all up. We barrowed on manure and sand. He mixed it in with the digger. Tracked over it and seeded. I didn’t need it billiard ball smooth. Took a weekend and not a lot of workI suspect the real answer is to dig up the lawn, rotovate it and then laydown sandy soil.
Given that I need to render the house in lime, I may just go for a back breaking weekend of hollow tine aerating and then overseeding with hessian / keeping the dog off it for a bit.
Wildfire said:
Does the reinforcing mesh make much difference? I worry that he will catch his foot in it?
I suspect the real answer is to dig up the lawn, rotovate it and then laydown sandy soil.
Given that I need to render the house in lime, I may just go for a back breaking weekend of hollow tine aerating and then overseeding with hessian / keeping the dog off it for a bit.
I didn't use it on my garden as I moved but I'm aware of it being used for car parking on grass etc. The holes are circa 10mm and it works very well I suspect the real answer is to dig up the lawn, rotovate it and then laydown sandy soil.
Given that I need to render the house in lime, I may just go for a back breaking weekend of hollow tine aerating and then overseeding with hessian / keeping the dog off it for a bit.
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