Drainage Problems

As some of you know I have had permission to lift the flagstones in my yard. The maximum depth I have is between 10 and 12 inches and the yard is on a slight decline leading to the road. Due to not being in the best of health I decided not to even attempt to break the concrete base otherwise (although dying happy) it would have probably killed me.

So far what I have done and planted in has turned out (for me anyway) brilliant and am very pleased with how it looks. Drainage is brilliant no problems.

Then I started to do a small patch of grass for my dog. She will only do her business on grass. I dug out a 6' x 4' plot and filled with TopSoil. I will admit to try and keep the costs down I only dug out about 6 inches and has you can see from my photo and yesterdays downpour it looks more like the Somme rather than an area ready to turf from seed.

Do you recommend me actually digging out the remaining 6 inches of gravel or do you think if may be something else?

Any help appreciated and many thanks.

 

It's looking good Pennine. I would'nt dig out all the gravel, maybe half as it will help drainage. Make up what you have dug out with more soil and then get the grass seed down. Once the grass is growing the roots should take up a lot of the water.

The only problem you may have at this stage is the seed rotting because it's so damp, I'm wondering whether it would be better to turf it. Certainly don't water it when the seed first goes in unless it has dried out.

 

I agree with Sheal looking good , I would level out , grass seed or turf wont cost much , quick fix turf , but the dog will soom have burt patches on it though

Spruce

 

Many thanks for the replies, for my muscles sake I hope to not to have to dig out any more. This is a big learning curve for me as I have never done anything of this nature before. I raked over today and added some more soil but I am struggling to grasp what maybe the obvious to others.

Surely a grass base is hard, at the moment if you put your foot on the soil it just sinks in. Does this mean in theory I will not be able to walk on the grass if the soil is damp ,or as it dries out and becomes hard does it stay hard?

 

That's something that's difficult to judge at the moment. The test will be when the grass is there and growing. Naturally when it's established the roots will soak up the water and hopefully the soil will become firmer.

I think you'll have to try it and see Pennine.

 

Been working hard on it today, and dug out 1 flagstone to the gravel. Poured a bucket of water on the gravel and it disappeared no problem so I put it down to the soil being clayee. I did not have any sand, but had a couple of 100 litres of compost so I have mixed that it with the top soil and it has vastly improved. I have poured on 2 watering cans of water and no more Somme. Not amused at the Topsoil but I have learnt something new and have put it down to experience. The weather looks to be holding in Rochdale for the next few days so I may seed over the weekend. Anyone any suggestions for the best way to go about it.

Many Thanks

Have attached a photo but a tad dark. This was after the two watering cans. I hope you can see that there is a massive difference.