Levelling a lawn?

roboamigo · 17 Jan 2020 at 09:30

Hi all,

Our back garden (20s house, long and thin plot, 700m2 roughly), was terrible. It had numerous buried piles of bricks and rubble, old footings, tree stumps etc. We paid someone to dig all of this out and rotavate the garden back in October followed by raking. I then seeded it which is coming up nicely.

We havent touched it since then due to weather but noticing some areas are puddling and its a bit boggy. Underfoot it still feels like it hasnt settled.

Im assuming we need to roll it when the weathers a bit better, any other tips on what we can do? I know it will need overseeding in some areas were it hasnt taken or were we may need to redistribute some of the soil to level it better.

Any advice apprieciated.

Participant · 17 Jan 2020 at 11:05

Pics would help. Probably a sand / loam / compost top dressing and overseeding would be a good start. Depends how much levelling is required.

roboamigo · 17 Jan 2020 at 15:20

This was after a nights heavy rain.

The 'puddled' bits are actually fairly firm underfoot, its all the rest thats soft if that makes sense.

Hoping if its all rolled it will settle and be clearer what areas need attention.

roboamigo · 17 Jan 2020 at 15:22

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roboamigo · 17 Jan 2020 at 15:24

Participant · 17 Jan 2020 at 17:16

I'd wait until it's drier then dump a lot of topsoil on it before overseeding.

You might also want to look at a drainage solution, though honestly the weather's been so awful I'm not sure you can use those puddles alone as a basis to add drainage, which is a big job.

SeatIbiza · 17 Jan 2020 at 21:43

What are your neighbours gardens like? Are they as water logged? If not, then suspect yours is due to the upheaval recently done. Wait until it stops raining, although that might be a while! Take a view once it's dried out.

roboamigo · 18 Jan 2020 at 18:24

SeatIbiza said:
What are your neighbours gardens like? Are they as water logged? If not, then suspect yours is due to the upheaval recently done. Wait until it stops raining, although that might be a while! Take a view once it's dried out.

No previous issues, think its due to the work. As its been rotavated it is ‘fluffy’ in some bits. Hoping rolling will help.

Blackjack Davy · 18 Jan 2020 at 18:39

Your soil is waterlogged possibly due to compaction, rolling it will only increase the compaction. I'd think about fitting drainage or soakaway but don't let the neighbours' drain into yours.

As for the grass it will recover grass is amazingly tough if left to its own devices but avoid walking on it that'll just churn it into a mudbath and those areas will need reseeding if that happens.