Lawn sand

Appreciate some advice please .

Amazon are delivering my lawn corer today - next week I'm going to have a go at my rock hard compacted lawn.

After googling - some people recommend brushing lawn sand into the holes left by the extracted cores. I don't understand why you would do this - isn't the point of coring to introduce some space for the surrounding soil to collapse into - to ease compaction. Sure, lawn sand will help water and food get down to the grass roots - but so would an unfilled core hole

What happens if the holes remain unfilled - to do their own thing?

Anyone know why the holes would be filled with sand?

 

I always thought coring the lawn was to let air in and if you leave the holes empty they will collapse and you are back where you started.

 

Lawn sand and sand for top dressing ( sharp sand ) are totally different products .

The hole will fill in itself over time after cores have been removed . Some run a scarifier over the lawn after coring to smash up the cores to make a a bit of a dressing for the lawn.

 

I dont think the holes will remain.
Surely you need to fill them with something like sand to keep the holes open, if that makes sense, and lighten the soil the turf is growing in and help with drainage.

 

You don’t want pure sand, you want a dressing as sand by it’s self is not beneficial as repeated coring and sand will introduce a high sand content over time and increase the cost of maintaining a healthy lawn.
Depending on diameter of the core I would be dressing with a 70% soil and sand mix but before coring you need to make sure the lawn is watered and the soil is damp to aid the penetration.
I would collect and dispose of the cores and depending on the state of the turf I might even add seed if required.
I would be hesitant to scarify as coring removes thatch and you need a percentage of thatch left and it can be quite stressful on the turf which makes recovery longer.

 

Thanks for replying everyone - some interesting points .

I never thought of that - good point.

As this is the first time I'm going to core the lawn - and I suspect the first time it has ever been done - I'm going to go down my usual cheapskate route and will leave the cores open. I'm also thinking it's always easier to add than take away - if the results are not as expected.

The area around the archway is particularly compacted - so this will be the first area to be cored - after it has been watered as Liz the pot suggests.

If I remember - I'll take a photo for before and after comparison.

 

Yes - this one:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Walensee-Dethatching-Aerating-Compacted-Compaction/dp/B08SW658FZ/ref=sr_1_5?crid=2R7YF2W242LPX&keywords=lawn+corer&qid=1653747833&sprefix=lawn+corer,aps,336&sr=8-5

As you can see from the link - you drive the hollow tines into the lawn using your foot - and the cores pop out of the top.

I can't afford a machine to core the lawn and I'm not going to be doing it that often. Google tells me that it is an annual job.

My lawn is the same size as a postage stamp.

 

I'd just use a fork @clanless especially with the size of the lawn I do with mine anyway , I wouldn't mind a machine corer

 

This is the one I use. Does the job in half the time

 

As promised some before pictures - the stepping stones and the arch. Thought I'd take advantage of the rain and damp lawn. Only took 5 minutes to get the cores out and another 5 to brush them up and chuck them onto the compost heap. The tool itself is very easy to use - you just step on it to drive it into the ground - the new cores eject the previous cores - it's very well made and will last a number of years I should imagine.

No cats were involved in the making of this production...



After pictures to follow in due course