Non-gardener, turf advice, recently flattened garden

Hi everyone,

I know nothing about gardening, plants, grass. I'd like to lay turf (preferred) this month but may opt for artificial grass as a backup.
Having dragged inclined dirt forward to a lower dirt area to flatten a small garden, I fear the inclided dirt contains clay/sandy dirt. I'm not sure.

Today, the garden's flat (lovely), but, its a mix of soil dirt and lighter dirt (dragged forward) which I fear is clay'y and sandy becuse its a lighter colour. If turf is likely to survive, I'll go for it. If its likely to die or be alot of work I'll go for artificial.

I made a video =

If I go with turf, and people think the soil isn't great, I plan to drill 30mm holes, 60cm deep, 100mm pitch,over the whole area, and fill with premium compost. This will help with drainage and nutrients. Then lay turf.

Is my plan ok or any better suggestions or should I go with artificial

 

Welcome to the forum.
Unfortunately you have not supplied a location of your garden,(approx only) but from what I can see of your plot, and please correct me if I am wrong, you have a levelled raised platform , with a retaining wall on a couple of sides.
I would ask whether it drains freely, is there drainage through the retaining wall ?
It appears to be filled with a clay/sand mixture, although not apparently mixed very well.
It appears to be typical of the groundworks performed after new build construction and will likely require further preparation before planting/seeding or turfing. Astroturf , {the last resort!} , will need drainage if it is to be used for playing etc.
A wider angled image would assist, as would a deeper hole, perhaps showing the underlying structure.
Once you have dug a hole, say 30cm square and 45cm deep , fill it with a bucket of water and watch/record how long it takes to drain.
Happy to make further suggestions with more to go on.

 

Hi. You'll need topsoil anyway to lay the turf on, so you wouldn't be laying it straight onto that soil. (Don't, honestly, I speak from experience, lol!)
Please don't go for artificial grass, laying a lawn is pretty easy, and you can sit around while a small sprayer waters it for you - blackbirds love a shower, and grass provides so much for nature.
You can't go wrong with the good advice from people here, we know almost everything between us, even what colour your curtains are.

 

Hi @turfturfturf - as already said, a rough idea of your location will help, because we don't all have the same conditions and climate, and that affects what you do, and when you do it. How you intend using the site is also a factor.
If you've moved soil from one area to another [which is what I'm guessing you've described] you've probably brought in some clay subsoil, which tends to be less nutritious, and can be claggy and sour. While grass doesn't need a huge amount of nutrition to be reasonably healthy, it does benefit it if the soil is well prepped before you sow seed or lay turf. It really doesn't pay to skip that prep.
The easiest way with the site you have, is to make that edging a little higher, because you can then add soil etc. If that isn't possible, then it's a case of adding some organic matter- compost, rotted manure etc, to help generally with the drainage [it will also help retain moisture in long dry spells] and then level firm and rake several times to get as good a surface as possible. You can also add a general fertiliser like Blood Fish & Bone, a month or so before you're ready to sow/turf.
This would be a good time of year to do the turfing, because it would save on watering [vital for new turf or sown seed] but the prep is the most important part.
Please avoid plastic grass. It's really not a good idea, and almost anything else is preferable.

 

Hi everyone,

Thankyou for your initial responses.
It's in East sussex, its a victorian house, the garden was on a slope, I dragged the inclined section forward to the lower section, raising the lower section, to flatten out overall.
3 sides are retaining wall with plenty of drain holes.

45 x 30cm hole, filled with water
Took about 10mins to drain


Is this a good plan?
Add the holes (30mm x 600mm), compost filled
Add few inches of compost
Rotovate compost into old soil
Pre turf fertilizer
Flatten
Turf

 

It looks as if you might have covered the topsoil in the lower section with subsoil from the upper section. The lighter coloured clay and sand that you're seeing is probably the subsoil.

I don't see the point of making holes and filling with compost - I think that would result in areas of lusher grass and possibly sinking levels where the holes were. You'd be better off forking over the whole area mixing in organic matter as you go - bought soil improver, homemade compost-bin compost etc - if you want to use bagged potting compost, I think one that's made primarily from composted green waste would be the best choice, not peat-based and not the kind made with shredded wood - it's volume decreases noticeably as it breaks down.

A layer of new topsoil would be good seeing as it sounds as if you've buried yours in the leveling process (ideally you would have skimmed off the topsoil first and replaced it after sorting out the levels, but too late now).

 

So drainage is good.
Personally i would concentrate on:
Lightly dig over with a fork and allow to dry
Rake over to achieve crumb structure, remove any large (20mm+ ) stones, consolidate to level
Rake to fine crumb.

Apply layer of organic material/compost (20mm)
Allow to settle and rake in
Apply fert.
Turf, use type to suit your purpose,
Water if not delivered from above
Repeat water if it stops raining,
Avoid playing/walking on newly turfed area, for up to 2-3 months.

 

Hi everyone, again, thankyou JennyJB, fairygirl,

OK, so:
Fork the whole area, each fork, add compost to the mix
Level off with top soil
Tamp down + add soil improver
Add turf

What do you think?
Eager and excited...

 

Thankyou, infradig
My post was in tandem to yours.

It looks like this is the plan:
Fork the whole area, each fork, add compost to the mix
Level off with top soil, remove anything above 20mm
Tamp down + add soil improver/fert
Add turf

 

You'll just have to be vigilant with the watering if it's drier where you are, and you'll be heading for later spring/early summer conditions by the time you get the turf laid. Good, deep watering is always better than a light sprinkling for 20 minutes every day. A good, prolonged soaking every few days is always the best solution.
It's always worth doing the raking/firming part a coupe of times, allowing the soil to settle in between, as you sometimes get some lumps and bumps and hollows, especially when you're adding more soil or organic matter. It means you get a better surface for the turf.

 

A tip from my local garden centre when laying turf is to soak the underside/root side of each turf with water via a hose or watering can before laying to ensure that the roots are well hydrated. It seemed to help when I laid some turf!

 

We last laid turf on a mild March day, well it absolutely hammered it down as we started, and we had to give up, then the day we laid it the sun came out and it didn't rain for a month, lol!!
I just put a cheap sprinkler on it and left it going for a few hours a day - but we weren't on a water meter then. If we had been I'd have just hosed it and soaked the bejesus out of it once a day.
@turfturfturf I think you'll be alright for water the way things are atm!! Your lawn will need about 6 weeks of watering, maybe more, and as little walking on as possible, until you see new growth, then you can roll around on it in smug satisfaction.

 

This where the differences in location/climate come in. I've sown new lawns in June and never had to water them at all.
It's important not to rush the prep. It pays off with any plant, including grass.

 

Thankyou everybody again for all your advice.
It's clear what I need to do.

I'm going to fork in (peat-free) compost across the whole garden
Then top soil, rake flat, remove 20mm+ stuff and fertilize.

Before I get going
What kind of depth should I fork in the compost?
200mm?

 

Bearing in mind that grass is pretty shallow rooted, l would say 4 to 6 inches would be plenty (sorry, l work in old school measurements).
My OH has just told me 6 inches is around 150mm