I think I ve f*#ked my lawn up
Discussion
Recently re-seeded my lawn & dressed with a load of top soil. Turns out the top soil was garbage, it’s full of stones / sharp flints / bits of glass(!) (complaint in with merchants) - see pics below.
I’ve manually raked and scraped a lot up already but is there anything else I can do to rectify the mess? I’ve got a power raker & scarifier but wasn’t sure if that would do anything productive.
Main objective is to get rid / bury the sharp stuff as I have a daughter who spends her life doing gymnastics & currently it’s like walking on gravel rather than a lawn.
Any advice appreciated….
Take a look at this rake -
It has a a fine toothed edge that will be more effective at pulling out the unwanted stones.
https://www.toolstation.com/roughneck-sharp-edge-s...
Second idea - a good leaf blower - Flymo is the one I now use and is very good at moving stubborn "matter".
It will be slow progress but I think it's well worth a try.
It has a a fine toothed edge that will be more effective at pulling out the unwanted stones.
https://www.toolstation.com/roughneck-sharp-edge-s...
Second idea - a good leaf blower - Flymo is the one I now use and is very good at moving stubborn "matter".
It will be slow progress but I think it's well worth a try.
RGG said:
Second idea - a good leaf blower - Flymo is the one I now use and is very good at moving stubborn "matter".
It will be slow progress but I think it's well worth a try.
Next Topic: My neighbour blew a load of stones into my car with a leaf blower how should I go about asking him to pay for repairs? It will be slow progress but I think it's well worth a try.
Thanks for the replies all. Supplier has received the same photos as posted here, currently awaiting their reply but I’m expecting a full refund. Sadly I don’t think they will cover the inconvenience/ lost time 🙄
How did I not see it? Asked myself the same question! Did it in an evening so light wasn’t great & once I’d barrowed it into piles on the lawn I was pretty committed. It looked ok in the dumpy bag but as I spread it it became apparent all was not well. I thought the soil had just rolled into small clumps (which it did), but on closer inspection I found the stones & crap.
Some good suggestions above…will try the broom / leaf blower and see how I get on. Something tells me I’ll need to get a load of new seed as I’m dragging out new grass and seed that hasn’t yet taken ☹️
Regarding new soil to put down after the clean up, should I just get bags of compost? Or there is a specific type of soil I need to order - don’t want to screw it up again!
How did I not see it? Asked myself the same question! Did it in an evening so light wasn’t great & once I’d barrowed it into piles on the lawn I was pretty committed. It looked ok in the dumpy bag but as I spread it it became apparent all was not well. I thought the soil had just rolled into small clumps (which it did), but on closer inspection I found the stones & crap.
Some good suggestions above…will try the broom / leaf blower and see how I get on. Something tells me I’ll need to get a load of new seed as I’m dragging out new grass and seed that hasn’t yet taken ☹️
Regarding new soil to put down after the clean up, should I just get bags of compost? Or there is a specific type of soil I need to order - don’t want to screw it up again!
paulmac said:
Regarding new soil to put down after the clean up, should I just get bags of compost? Or there is a specific type of soil I need to order - don t want to screw it up again!
Does it actually need top dressing?Google says: 'It is best to use compost or a sandy type loam to spread on the lawn. Before you actually spread the dressing, make sure the grass is actively growing. Topdressing dormant grass may damage it. You should fertilize the lawn a couple of weeks before topdressing; this will help the grass push through the soil quickly.'
paulmac said:
Thanks for the replies all. Supplier has received the same photos as posted here, currently awaiting their reply but I m expecting a full refund. Sadly I don t think they will cover the inconvenience/ lost time ?
How did I not see it? Asked myself the same question! Did it in an evening so light wasn t great & once I d barrowed it into piles on the lawn I was pretty committed. It looked ok in the dumpy bag but as I spread it it became apparent all was not well. I thought the soil had just rolled into small clumps (which it did), but on closer inspection I found the stones & crap.
Some good suggestions above will try the broom / leaf blower and see how I get on. Something tells me I ll need to get a load of new seed as I m dragging out new grass and seed that hasn t yet taken ??
Regarding new soil to put down after the clean up, should I just get bags of compost? Or there is a specific type of soil I need to order - don t want to screw it up again!
"Something tells me I’ll need to get a load of new seed as I’m dragging out new grass and seed that hasn’t yet taken ☹️"How did I not see it? Asked myself the same question! Did it in an evening so light wasn t great & once I d barrowed it into piles on the lawn I was pretty committed. It looked ok in the dumpy bag but as I spread it it became apparent all was not well. I thought the soil had just rolled into small clumps (which it did), but on closer inspection I found the stones & crap.
Some good suggestions above will try the broom / leaf blower and see how I get on. Something tells me I ll need to get a load of new seed as I m dragging out new grass and seed that hasn t yet taken ??
Regarding new soil to put down after the clean up, should I just get bags of compost? Or there is a specific type of soil I need to order - don t want to screw it up again!
This is not a problem.
Farmers pull a drag over grass fields to invigorate growth.
The "live - growing" part of grass is the root and not the tip like most plants.
The tips can be constantly eaten / cut away and all it does is grow more vigorously.
That's why after a drought, parched grass lawns, the grass comes back.
Plus, animals eat the tips, so it grows from the root, unlike most plants and trees.
I hope that helps a bit.
Was this topsoil from a big diy shed under their own brand name by any chance?
We had similar recently, got it in 25 l bags, first 20 in one batch were brilliant and on a 3 for a tenner!
Then needed 6 more so went back to a different branch, and when opened and spread (not by me, I’d have noticed), it was completely different stuff! More like compost, some stones and glass, but mostly rotting wood and organic lumps, but dark black not brown like soil.
We’ve had to go over it with another few bags of better topsoil from another shed, which we checked and seemed good. And most of the grass seed is now growing, but not all.
Really disappointed with the middle lot.
We had similar recently, got it in 25 l bags, first 20 in one batch were brilliant and on a 3 for a tenner!
Then needed 6 more so went back to a different branch, and when opened and spread (not by me, I’d have noticed), it was completely different stuff! More like compost, some stones and glass, but mostly rotting wood and organic lumps, but dark black not brown like soil.
We’ve had to go over it with another few bags of better topsoil from another shed, which we checked and seemed good. And most of the grass seed is now growing, but not all.
Really disappointed with the middle lot.
There are people who specialise in the right product like Bailey's of Norfolk, you can find that on sale in various places. The lawn repair/topping stuff is usually screened to 3 or 4mm, topsoil + compost mix.
'Topsoil' might be any old rubbish, and even the good stuff might be 10mm or bigger screened if not meant for lawns. Obviously you could sieve it but sod doing that with a 900kg bag of the stuff.
The cheapest compost option is usually (screams of horror!) peat, bags of that can be had for less than the cheap recycled grot from the sheds, tends to be finely shredded so also not much in the way of bits on it and usually free of rubbish.
'Topsoil' might be any old rubbish, and even the good stuff might be 10mm or bigger screened if not meant for lawns. Obviously you could sieve it but sod doing that with a 900kg bag of the stuff.
The cheapest compost option is usually (screams of horror!) peat, bags of that can be had for less than the cheap recycled grot from the sheds, tends to be finely shredded so also not much in the way of bits on it and usually free of rubbish.
Looks similar but slightly worse to how mine was
I ended up sieving every square inch several times which must have taken around 24 of my hours for about 93sqm
I then flattened with lute and roller. Used a landzie spreader to put out topsoil and then spread seed and covered with fleece
10 days later, food grass. Not perfect coverage but about 90% there
No need to cut
I ended up sieving every square inch several times which must have taken around 24 of my hours for about 93sqm
I then flattened with lute and roller. Used a landzie spreader to put out topsoil and then spread seed and covered with fleece
10 days later, food grass. Not perfect coverage but about 90% there
No need to cut
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