Growing lawn where paving used to be - do I have a problem?

Hi! I hope you can help, because I'm dumbfounded.

I had a new lawn (turf) put down by a professional gardener at the beginning of the summer. From what I can tell he used that sandy soil mixture between the old soil and the new turf.

The lawn replaced a garden that was half paving/concrete/brick and half soil/plants. The paved area consisted of one of those circular concrete pavements in the centre, and a separate raised area in one corner which had, along the front edge, a small brick wall and a couple of concrete steps leading up to it. There was also a tree elsewhere in the garden which I'd killed about 6 months previously.

When the lawn was first put down it seemed to be growing evenly, but over time I noticed that half was growing really well, and the other half hardly at all. Imagine my surprise when I realised that the parts not growing are EXACTLY when the paving, the brick wall, and the concrete steps used to be. You can literally trace them out on the new grass! In fact I think those area may be going slightly yellow.

I'm guessing the soil underneath those areas isn't as fertile as the rest due to the old conrete/brick/etc.

The spot where the tree used to be also seems to be yellowing.

Is there anything I should be doing to help it along? Watering it every day for example?

Please can somebody help? (This is my first house and first lawn and I'm a bit thick!)

Thanks!

 

hard to comment, as we do not know how good the soil is beneath the paving was

however, try fertilizing the lawn with phostrogen (read instructions and mix accordingly with water in a watering can) ...
Phostrogen - Healthy Eating For Plants

water once or twice a week for the next 2 weeks, then come back to the forum with photos and we may advise what to do next

(please note: I'm no expert and am giving my personal opinion!)

 

The soil under the paving will be very, very compacted. Likely so much so that its too hard for grass roots to penetrate into, and even if they could, there will be no air flow down there, so the roots will likely be getting slowly poisoned. Add to that the fact that water will just sit on top of the compacted earth when it rains, so the grass roots will be sat in soggy soil for long periods after rain, and you have a recipe for poorly, yellow, slow growing lawn.

It also won't help that soil that has been compacted for a long time (as it would be under paving) is anaerobic, which leads to unpleasant bacteria living there, which makes the soil toxic to some plants, including grass.

When the professional laid the turf, do you know if he did anything to the soil where the pavement had been?

Did he know that there had been paving there?

Do you know how much sand/soil he put on top before laying the turf?

 

You don't mention it .but do I assume that the old slabs /wall etc was lifted...by you or the landscaper ?
If yes do you know what was beneath the slabs ?
If it had been a good job beforehand there may well have been a layer of hardcore /M.O.T beneath which again would need removing .
Was a good layer of soil put in or just enough to rake over to lay turf ?
Lots of questions I know but all important ones .

Dave
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Hi guys!

Thanks for your responses...

Yes, the landscaper lifted up the paving, and the mini-wall, as part of the job. Nope, as far as I know he didn't do anything special to the soil afterwards. He raked the soil that was there (basically re-distributing soil from elsewhere in the garden) and then put a fairly generous layer (I would *guess* about 3 inches or so deep) of what I now believe was a sandy soil, which he also put between the pieces of turf to encourage growth.

I was completely clueless about it all when he did it, it's only now that things aren't looking so great that I've been researching it.

To be honest I had some problems with some of the other jobs he did (particularly a new fence) so it wouldn't surprise me if he cut corners, but it looked terrific when it first went down so I didn't worry at the time...

 

As Shiney says, if possible speak to the landscaper and see what his reaction is.
Is it possible to show us a photo of the area..
How long has the lawn been down ?
Did you keep it well watered afterwards ?

Dave

 

URGH! Thanks - will do!

I've been watering a lot, although not as much as I should have during the first week because the outside tap needed replacing and I couldn't get it done for a week because of work committments (it was extremely hot and dry that week unfortunately).

When I water now it doesn't seem to drown the grass. It's absorbed into the soil pretty quickly, but obviously I don't know if it's being absorbed by the new turf he put down but then blocked by the original soil underneath.

I'll try your suggestions...

 

Guys -

A possible development...

I did some quick aerating this morning and I discovered that there may still be a concrete step and possibly even the base of the small (3 bricks high) brick wall under the grass (very near the surface!) that the gardener didn't dig up!

That would certainly explain why the grass isn't growing properly...!

A big question: is it safe for me to leave the concrete there? Will the grass eventually find a way to grow from the soil surrounding it? Or should I have the concrete dug up?

 

Not the best solution to leave the concrete there , It will alway give you grief..looks like you may have had a cowboy gardener . Is removing this concrete something you could undertake youself ?


Dave

 

Confirmed. I just dug down a bit and there's a slab of concete (presumably one of the old steps) about 1 inch below the surface! ARGH!

"Cowboy" doesn't do this bloke justice. As such I'm not inclined to get him back. I'd rather have a go myself or pay somebody else. Why is nothing simple?! :-/

 

I think you'll have to dig it out. Otherwise the grass there will always suffer. In hot dry spells (the few we get), it will dry out too quickly.

 

the reason the gardener never dug the concrete foundation out is because he most probably could not without the aid of a jackhammer or specialist equipment

I had a similar job recently .... I quoted per hour for the labour.... there was an old shed on a foundation that was removed and I had to clear the site and make it ready for planting grass ... I did not know what was beneath the soil before quoting, so gut instinct told me to quote per hr

I smashed the concrete base with a sledgehammer and removed it all ... managed to remove the bricks from the foundation .... I could not break the concrete foundation with the tools I had and told the property owner that they needed to hire a jackhammer

they refused due to costs and sad it was fine, they would add a layer of topsoil over the foundation (which was only 1 foot wide) ... last time I visted, grass was growing fine

so, don't always blame the gardener .... some do the best they can (for the money paid)