"lumpy" lawn

Hi all,

The other half had some people + dogs over at the weekend - and let the kids / dog run around on the lawn. Unfortunately the lawn / soil was very wet and is heavy clay so now my lawn looks like the moon with foot print's embedded into it everywhere. The grass itself has not seemed to suffer at all.

My plan is to top dress with soil/sand (33/66%) once the weather gets a little warmer (so the grass is def growing).

Is there anything else that would be recommended to help the problem?

Thanks,

 

Any reason why you went for an odd figure rather than say 60/40 or 70/30?
It's easier to work in the mixture if the grass is cut low and is scarified before hand. You then apply and work in so that the grass is not smothered.
Are you trying to change the soil structure or just trying to get the lawn back to a standard you like?

 

the 33/66% is 1 bag of soil to 2 bags of sand ....

Am trying to improve the soil structure as well as de-lump it

 

If your soil or I should say your top soil is heavy in clay then dressing it for a general lawn will take time over a space of quite a few years and even then the clay will effect the turf so that it still remains wet and water logged under the top soil content.
im guessing you are going heavy on sand due to its natural porosity and it's resistance to compaction.
Often you hear that you should aerate the soil and the dressing be worked into the spaces created thus improving soil aeration and drainage. The truth of the matter is if say you have clay based problems and the fact many machines only penetrate to a shallow depth means
All that work does very little in the long run. Fine on purpose built areas like cricket pitches where the soil content has been created but not so good in many general lawns.
When you top dress you can only apply a set amount, this would have to be done time and time again so you form a depth that would start to help with wet sub soil contents.
If that's the way you are working to dressing needs to be put on in the early autumn and late spring so that over time you build that level.
However too much sand in a mix can have negative effects.
Increase wear on mower blades, dry patch problems, alters microbial activity within the thatch, lowers moisture retention with lower nutrient levels and turf wear over winter periods becomes a greater vulnerability.
I don't know the type of lawn you have but say you have a fine turf area and you wanted to keep this you would only use a max of 10% fine sand/clay.
So back to your needs if you want it to be more stable and take a bit more abuse you need to dress the lawn multiple times over a number of years to build up the top soil structure but being careful not to over do the sand or be tempted to go sand only.

 

Thanks Liz - this is def a long term project! Right now my short(er) term goals are to give some improvement to the soil and reduce the bumpiness a little - not looking for smooth as a babies'.

I'll take the advice then and try the spring top dress with mostly top soil + 10% sand.