New Build Garden issues

Hi Everyone,

I moved into my new build house early september last year. The builders put a layer of topsoil over the rear garden, so I put grass seed down. But, the grass has hardly grown.

The grass is growing fine around the border of the land but not in the middle, where it is not growing it is also waterlogged after the rain or after I've watered it.

I've dug a few exploritory holes and found it to be very difficult to dig after the topsoil layer (about 5cm down), and found a bit of rubble in these holes as well.

I've tried using an aerator, but it just doesn't go deep enough.

Could I use a fork to aerate - would this be enough?

Should I double dig? If so, how deep should I go? Should I mix something in with the soil?

Is there another option out there?

Thank you in advance.

 

Hi JWK, thanks for the reply.

I don't think the topsoil is sitting on compacted rubble as we were able to watch the build and there was no evidence of this. I think it was just the plant rolling all over the worksite. How deep would you suggest I go with the exploratory holes? How would you suggest I aerate the land?

 

Thanks JWK,

I think the pickaxe is coming out of the shed.

 

Living not that far from you, just take heart that this winter has been incredibly wet. I live near Newburgh and I've seen puddles on our ground and in neighbouring fields that I've never seen before in the 14 years we have lived here. The water table is extremely high and even if we have a dry couple of days the puddles are back if it rains again. The advice you have had from JWK is as always very good but perhaps your problem isn't quite as bad as you may think. I'd certainly give the old pick axe a swing as increasing drainage in our part of the world is always helpful. Here's hoping for a dry season this year and good luck with creating your new garden.