Boggy lawn

I am a novice gardener and new to GYO. GYO is where my interests are but I am starting to take more of an interest in general gardening also.

We have never had a 'nice lawn'. Modern house - clay soil - anything but level. The garden is south facing. The bottom 4 - 5 ft of the lawn is boggy. Weeds, moss and several different types of grass cover the area.

I am not after a bowling green. I would like less moss, less clover and less bog. The bog is my priority.

Yesterday I started to use a garden folk and puncture the lawn with holes. Continued today - I have blisters!!! Happy to continue if it works. What else can i do? Can I put anything on the lawn to soak up the wet? Is there a more appropriate grass seed to sow?

I have a scarifier. I am yet to cut the lawn this year.

Looking forward to reading your advice/tips.

 

Clay is soil that needs to be kept open. Would you prefer lawn at the boggy end or plants? Preparation for either is not easy but shrubs and trees would take up some of the excess moisture.

Having moss there automatically says either heavy soil or shade, may be both. Clear the area of anything growing there, weeds etc. apart from any established plants that you wish to keep. Dig over the soil at least a spade or forks depth and then dig in a good amount of sand, grit or shingle.....anything that will help to drain the soil. If you want to replace the area with lawn you could also spread a layer of sand over the soil before laying turf. I've just re-read your post and see that you will probably use grass seed. There are many different types of seed available and I don't think any particular one will help the problem. I tend to use a general purpose seed that is fine for all types of soil, mine is sandy. The soil in both cases, seed or turf will have to be levelled, raked to disperse any lumps and firmed down after digging over. Then loosen the surface with the rake and sow the seed allowing a bit extra for theft by birds. Rake the seed in and then firm down again, you can do this by walking gently over it. Ironically, you will need to keep the new lawn watered every day if the weather's dry until it's established, but there's no need to swamp it, just enough to keep the surface wet so that the seed germinates and develops.

You have done right by aerating the lawn with a fork, if you give it a good wiggle in the ground you can open up the soil fairly well. At this point you can brush some sand into the holes to help keep the clay open. The sand in turn will also help to keep the moss issue in hand. Did you where gloves when you used the fork? They help to keep blisters down to a minimum.

 

Thanks for the response. Yep - had gloves on - but its all part of being a gardener I guess.

I have a border around my garden so this is lawn that's causing me issues. There was some kind of weeping tree planted in the lawn but it blew down a couple of winters ago. I guess that drank a lot of water.

Will continue with the aerating. What sand is suitable for scattering on the lawn? The area is slightly shaded by the gable end of a property - nothing I can do about that.


I have just potted some dwarf fruit trees - perhaps I plant these in that corner of the lawn if the problem persists. For now they are only twigs and will stay in pots!

 

Gloves do help even though you have blisters. I've just had a look at my hands and they resemble a builders! I don't get blisters anymore but have a number of calluses, I also keep my fingernails short for fear of tearing them when I work in the garden.

The weeping tree you speak of may well have been a willow, they are thirsty trees and always a good choice for a wet area. I wouldn't recommend another though, their roots can be invasive and damage house footings etc.

Sharp sand from a builders merchant can be used. I wouldn't recommend planting your young fruit trees there just yet but see how the area performs during this year after you've worked on it.

 

Thanks. I am forking holes again today!! Tomorrow I will mow and scarify. I will then fork more holes and then sprinkle with sand.

I think a combination of holes and sunny weather is already taking effect.

Ta

 

I think lawns are probably the part of the garden that take the most work and give us the most headaches. Good luck with the lawn and don't forget to brush the sand into the holes.

 

Didn't know that, so thank you.

So much to learn

 

You'll be surprised how quickly things fall into place and by the end of this year you'll surprise yourself at how much you've learnt. We all had to start somewhere and gardeners never stop learning.

 

Well I mowed and then scarified. I then went over the worst areas with a fork and then scattered sand.

As the lawn at that end is boggy and mossy, it looks a pretty mess now. See pic. However I need to scarify the whole lawn again. Would have done it yesterday but ran out of room to put garden waste.

Once I have scarified again, aerated again and put more sand down, I will also sprinkle some grass seed.

Thanks for your help. Once its drier at the bottom of my garden I can tend to the borders at that end.

 

Try to stay off the area you have treated, it will help it's recovery. The lawn growing season has really only just started to get underway, so as the weather warms up growth will speed up. If the area doesn't look like it's recovering then lay some grass seed with either a thin layer of compost or topsoil to cover it.

 

Ok. So Friday last week i attacked the lawn. Mowed, scarified and forked my lawn then sprinkled with sand.

It looks pretty dire but hopefully its starting to dry out.

Question. What should I do next? Want to scarify the remainder of the lawn again. I have more sand and grass seed but are in no rush to get a green lawn so happy to fork some more, etc etc etc. Rather spend the time now to dry it out.

Advice would be welcomed.

 

Does the remainder of the lawn need scarifying again? There is no point in over doing it - it can cause just as much damage. If you need to put down more grass seed that's fine but after that I would let it rest and wait for the grass to grow, the grass will eventually take up water and help the soil dry out. If there are any patches they can be dealt with later.

 

Wonderful. No - I don't have to scarify again. Can do it in a month or two's time. So I will scatter a bit more sand and then grass seed.

Thank you.

 

I wouldn't scarify now until the autumn you will tear the young, new grass roots out and be back to square one. As I said let it all rest until later in the year, mowing when necessary and watering when it's been to dry.

 

Great advice. Really appreciate it. The time saved I can spend on planting potatoes, sow beans and peas tidying up borders/hedges.

The gift of time - priceless.