laying lawn on clay

Hi everybody,
I wonder if anybody could advise me. I have had extensive work done on my garden, all the way around my bungalow, and underneath the topsoil, which was only a couple of inches deep, is thick solid clay. I had to have the topsoil removed because the builders who have been modernizing my house smeared about a foot of clay on top of the topsoil, again all over the whole garden, Anyway, now I am left with solid clay, topped with about 4 or five inches of grade two topsoil, which i would like to turf.
My quesiton is: Is four inches enough or too much? The man who supplied the topsoil thinks two inches might be enough, I dont, I think four is the minimum straight onto clay.
Any thoughts please!!!!!!!!

 

Thank you wiseoldowl, do you think I should stick to turf, or perhaps go for seed?. Its a large area, about 300 square mtrs, Ive checked out some turf from a supplier, it looks nice but iv'e been reading some of the horror stories regarding turf and weeds on this site and now i'm worried incase he is trying to sell me rubbish. It looks nice, but then it always does when its on the roll doesnt it! It wasnt thick tufty grass, it was nice fine stuff, but i dont really have a clue as to what to get!!
Lynne

 

Ahhh thank you so much. I wont be able to ask him until monday, but I will ask him and put on here his response. I did ask him where it came from and he said it was cut in Urmston, Manchester. I used to live near there lol. Hopefully its good stuff. He isnt from a garden center, he is a topsoil, aggregate and other 'earthy' stuff supplier. He says he usually charges �£2.45 per square mtr, but he will charge me �£1.85 as i have approx 300 square metres to do. This is why I was considering using seed, its going to be a bit expensive. Anyway, I will ask him and hopefully you will be able to respond on Monday after ive posted his answer on here. Thanks Again,
Lynne

 

hi lynne

we are are solid clay here and from my experiance about 3-4 inches of topsoil is fine we have layed turf straight onto the clay and that was also fine grass tends to grow anywhere we have found

as for the turf ......... the first lawn we laid straight onto the clay was field grass unknown to me while i was on holiday bought by my father in law but............. was ok and grew well untill we had an extension which made a mess !

2nd lawn we layed on a few inches of topsoil and cost me �£200 for 20ft x 20ft approx very expensive but i was told it had something in it to over rule the weeds and was the best i could get ye right !!!

then we had a conservatory built which also messed the lawn up so........... we layed another new lawn which we layed on 3 inches of topsoil on top of the old lawn and we got that out of the local paper some supplier that advertised which cost �£60 for the turf and i have to say 3 yrs later is lush and better than the one that cost me �£200

i have found that spending alot do not mean you get the best and all in all i have layed and seeded 5 lawns in 10 yrs all due to building !

seed takes ages to come up and to get thick into a proper lawn i would go for turf every time

hope this helps a little

 

Hi Catwoman, My dog wizzy would love to chase you around lol!
Thanks very much for your advice, ive never heard of lawn being laid on top of old lawn before!! I think after what you have said I will go for the turf and four - 6 inches of topsoil on top of the clay, and wait to see what my turf man says about where its from and what seed it is, hopefully he will be able to tell me then I can get WISEOLDOWLS opinion on what he says. Thank you very much. Lynne

 

hi lynne
your very welcome and if your dog is small i won't mind been chased :D

clay is a nightmare is'nt it i did ask my supplier when i ordered about putting some gravel/hardcore down first to help with drainage and then the topsoil but he said you don't do that it won't grow !!!

well i have found out that you can do it as long as you have a good 7-10 inch of topsoil and in 1 area in my garden it does'nt drain due to the heavy clay and edging we put in so i have re-seeded twice and it seems to get better each yr just an idea if you have the same problem .

as for laying turf over old lawn i had never heard of it before but could'nt cope with hiring another skip so tryed it but with the topsoil to let the new turf get its roots into something 3 yrs later lawn is fab so i feel theres no need to dig old ones up any more .

my front lawn is looking pants at the mo we sowed seed 5 yrs ago and i have to say it did look nice after 2 yrs when it had got lush and thick but now is just full of weeds and moss so................. think i will be re-turfing that one soon i wanted to just put pebbles all down and grow more veg in pots but my other half is'nt having any :rolleyes:

heres some pics of my back lawn pardon the washing :D

 

wow Catowman, that does look lush and lovely. I hope mine looks as good when ive finished all the work. Ive just agreed a prive with the man whos doing my paving and the drive and pathways so that part of it should be completed in around a month. Wish me luck lol ! Byt the way, wizzy my dog, is the same size as a border collie but the same colours as an alsatian. Hes lovely and friendly.
Lynne x

 

lol at Catowman, sorry about that lol
Lynne x

 

sorry lynne wizzy sounds a little big for little old me lol

good luck and don't forget post a pic when your done would love to see (nosey person i am)

if your lawns anything like mine it will take a couple of yrs to get strong and thick looks lovely after turfing then mine went a little bare after winter but lots of hard work feeding ect it now looks like that so im really pleased thats with 2 cats and 2 kids on it most days oh and me in and out the greenhouse seeing if anythings grown lol

x x