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Old 28-06-2014, 09:47 AM posted to uk.rec.gardening
sacha sacha is offline
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Default preparing sandy ground to sow a lawn from seed?

On 2014-06-28 06:04:16 +0000, welly_59 said:

David Hill;1004341 Wrote:
On 28/06/2014 00:45, Nick Maclaren wrote:-
In article ,
welly_59
wrote:-

I've recently moved house and have a 30m2 patch of ground that I want
to
sow a lawn on. The top 10m2 or so used to have a patio laid on top of
it
so it is really sandy, maybe 3 inches or so of sand before you reach
any
type of soil.

The rest of the ground is generally slightly sandy and quite compact.

What should I do to prepare this ground for sowing grass seed on?-

Dig it over, remove stones and level it. Grass likes sandy soil.
If it is VERY poor, adding some topsoil might help.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.
-
What sort of soil do you have under the sand.
Have you thought about turf?


I put some seed down about a month ago and the very sandy patches have
no growth at all, it's drying out too fast. Where the patio was I can
literally take a layer of sand off with a shovel.

I've thought of turf but if I can seed it myself I will try that first


You could put some wet compost into a wheelbarrow, mix the seed into
it, put it back into compost bags loosely rolled over at the top.
After a day or three, when the seed has germinated, scatter it. You can
see where you've been and the birds are less likely to eat it. You
could also wait until September when the weather is more likely to
water it for you but the soil is still warm. In current weather, it
could need a lot of watering, especially in dry spells!
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon