How much soil does grass need to grow.

Tinders

Tinders

Tinders

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Hi folks,

Ive got a horrible patch of concrete in the garden, its a fairly big patch so digging it up is out of the question. But im wondering if I could lay turf on it if stuck some top soil/sand down first?

Im just trying to neaten up the garden, and the other option is the artificial stuff you can get, or just nice paving slabs which will be the much cheaper option!
 
How big a patch is it? I had a 12 metre long concrete path running down the length of my garden and getting rid of that didn't take long at all.

As to whether you can lay turf I'm not sure but judging by the way grass and moss had grown over some paving slabs in the back garden which we discovered when we moved in, I'd asy it probably would be ok, though would have course become a nightmare if you needed to do any digging etc...
 
How large is this horrible patch of concrete in your garden?
If you use pavers, they can be bedded straight on the concrete slab, if it's grass then I would remove the concrete.

If it's 100mm thick concrete, you can soon break it up with a sledge, starting in one corner, if it's thicker & a larger area, then hire a breaker for a day/weekend.
 
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Its a patch of 9m * 5m, digging is a nono as whoever did it (dad im looking at you) filled the ground with all manner of junk and just concreted over, it really is a big job judging by how bad it was just digging some fence posts out!
 
Tinders said:
Its a patch of 9m * 5m, digging is a nono as whoever did it (dad im looking at you) filled the ground with all manner of junk and just concreted over, it really is a big job judging by how bad it was just digging some fence posts out!
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Only a day's work breaking that up, allow two if your not use to doing it, then another skipping it.
 
I'd imagine that the amount of soil for growing grass won't really be the problem - drainage will be much more of an issue, if it's solid concrete underneath.

If it were me I'd:

Remove the concrete
Remove the worst of the 'junk' that gets uncovered
Cover the rest with topsoil
Level and lay turf

If you try and turf the concrete, you're just taking the same shortcuts that your dad did when he concreted over the 'junk'. :p

/edit - I've recently been laying a path, widening the grass and preparing for a patio. With it being a city garden, I've uncovered literally hundreds of rubble sacks worth of stones/bricks/rubble/rubbish. In the long run, I've found you're much better investing your time in the preparation, than in anything else.

Do it right once, do it once. Take shortcuts and you'll find yourself spending time on it again and again.
 
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Slabs it is then lol! I must admit I didn't think of drainage.

Its just that I have so much work to do in the house, I guess im just like the old fella and looking for easy ways out!
 
Depending on thickness, hire a medium breaker up to 5"of concrete or a heavy duty breaker up to 7" of concrete, I myself prefer the heavy one, as make a even quicker work of the thinner concrete.
 
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Hey guys, i need a bit of advice with getting some grass to grow, we've just installed a ground source heat pump at work (which is amazing, must start a thread about it shortly) and as a result the grass is now like a potato field. We need to get it back into a state where it doesn't look like its been used for mud wrestling because its on the entrance to the estate.

At the moment the soil is anywhere from 60 - 80% clay, its not flat and it needs a lot of work. I was just wondering, can i get some top soil, mix in some seeds and throw it down? hire a compacter and flatten it? it hasn't got to be a bowling green or anything, just better than it is!

Here are a couple of pics to see what im mean

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Kimi said:
hire a compacter and flatten it?
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You have wet clay soil which has been compacted by standing on it (while wet) - you now have the soil equivalent of slightly damp rock
Further compaction is the very worst thing you could do to it.

Ideally don't touch it until it has dried out for a few weeks, add garden sand and some top soil (what you have is dead really). Then try seeding it.
 
Ok, its not that compacted already, you sink in it if you walk on it. So i should allow this to dry, then rotovate it? mix in some sand & top soil, try to get it level with the ladder trick. Then spread some seed?
 
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