New build: Grass

[Delvis]

Possibly buried in a other thread but wanted to ask here.

What's the best thing to do with a new build lawn? Obviously at the moment it's wet, so can't do much right now....

My only concern right now is it's rather water logged, hopefully that will die down. Only been in the property since December.

 

[Delvis]

Its something I'll need to watch, I've been told its because its new (was literally put in a week before we moved in), that and we had heavy downpour here it flooded down the road for instance due to the river bursting its banks...So ill see how it goes.

 

[Delvis]

You've been sold a fob story.

It'll be a mix of rubble, crap, and anything else they could cram in there with some turf over the top.

Many new builds are just horrible things to avoid.

Sadly some of us aren't in the fortunate situation where we can buy our dream home mate, so it is what it is

 

[Delvis]

I do have A pic of it before or was laid, will try post it up at some point

 

[Delvis]

@tom_e Yes, the pictures have since gone from the post. However, i have done a fair few threads on what i ended up doing.

In summary: i had 50% of it covered in concrete then laid artificial grass on that for a flat surface in the shape i wanted and slopped away from an extension. I had aco drains put around the extension Then the other half, is made up of gravel and raised sleepers with pergola and different seating areas, whereby i could fill with topsoil.

Digging down, on new builds is a big old job and can be costly.

FYI new grass etc will be pointless. You need to sort the cause of the issue, otherwise its always going be the same.

True enough, I'll let you know in spring or so

We'd avoid astro personally but I'm envisioning grass out the back door (small bit of patio) then patio at the back with pergola also and the shed, then some raised beds no doubt.

 

[Delvis]

Best thing to do is dig it all up and put your own down. It's total crap what they lay.

I'm a landscaper and I went for a contract on a new build estate. I got told the going rate was £2 per square meter layed. At the time I was buying turf for £2.10 per square meter.

Every garden that I've ever been to on a new build has crap grass.

Cool, probably will at later date Letting winter do it's thing

 

[Delvis]

Or if you don't want to do that keep adding some decent seed

Problem there is making sure its the same

 

[Delvis]

Same seed?

You can put any seed you want down. The grass they usually use is that poor it will end up really thin so the new seed will take over.

Fair enough

 

[Delvis]

Op, if I were you, have it removed and lay decent quality astro. The upkeep of a lawn is a pain in the arse. Looks amazing once it's laid, you'll soon get bored of looking after it though

Nope, not good for dogs in all honesty, also just don't like it

 

[Delvis]

We're in the same boat as your. They just gave us a few tiles and left the rest as a mud heap!

We moved in October but have only just got round to having someone come over and sort the garden out. Luckily we have been given some decent top soil form the home builders but we'll be bringing in another 2 tonnes (small garden) and getting it levelled and turfed.

Apparently, it's to do with the amount of clay under, at least that's what I'm gathering in my place due to surface water.

 

[Delvis]

We had a similar problem to you with our new build in Feb last year. The ground underneath their free "premium" turf was a mixture of clay and rubble with a sprinkling of topsoil on the top of it and was like a swamp to walk on. We had them replace it once and they made all sorts of excuses like it needing time to bed in but the first time it rained it was a swamp again and many of our neighbours had similar issues.

In the end we got a landscaping company in to sort it all out. Levelled the ground, removed 85 tonnes of soil, clay and rubble, installed drainage, raised beds and 300mm topsoil + turf. We've been told we should get 20 years out of the drainage before it needs replacing, thankfully we won't be here as there is a couple 100 meters of the stuff and its a few feet deep in places.

It was a huge undertaking but no other real way to sort it and the difference is massive!

/Salsa

It saddens me this is the only way to actually make it work.

Currently I just get the standard it will take a few months to bed in response

 

[Delvis]

You could make a reasonable go of it yourself depending on how big your garden is and how bad the soil is underneath. Ours is pretty big and had quite a slope which required digging out which is why I didn't do it myself.

Once the weather dries up, hire a hollow tine aerator to poke holes through the turf and into the clay below and then brush sand or top dressing into the holes to help improve the surface below the turf layer. A french drain isn't too difficult to DIY too and would help move water away from the grass if you have somewhere suitable to drain it to. Some of my neighbours had decent results just installing some drainage so the excess water has somewhere to go. You could also install some raised beds and backfield them with whatever you dig out for the drainage channels to save having to dispose of the soil and also means your plants won't drown in winter!

The builders don't really care as long as there is no risk of damage to the structure from standing water, they will never be able to properly fix it by plopping more turf and a bit of topsoil down.

/Salsa

Cheers, I'll do some reading.

Main issue is it does pool outside the back door (as it slopes towards the back door. There's a small drain near the back gate on the side of the house so guess I have scope to go that way...my other though was to install a soakaway, but that would look horrible

 

[Delvis]

So we're back round to nearly February again. Grass started to look decent, then I've done a load of work in the garden so traffic has been high.

The above, coupled with missing the last winter cut meant the grass has got long, dying in places and needs some attention...

Is it worth doing anything now? Or waiting till say late march/april to reseed and feed?

 

[Delvis]

If dry enough I'd cut on the highest setting and maybe give it a good feed. Seed and put top soil on top early spring then keep it watered on dryer days

Highest as on tallest presumably?

Will look at feeding it soon, got a feeling it needs a reset