(Bob Smith) wrote:
(Chet Hayes) wrote in message
. com...
Six inches of good top soil should be enough for an excellent lawn.
You can get by with less, say 4 inches, but the tradeoff is it will
likely need to be watered more frequently during dry spells to keep it
green, unless whatever is underneath retains moisture well. If your
doing it from scratch, some extra bucks to make sure you have six
inches of good top soil, rich in organic material, ie compost, peat
moss, etc. is well worth it. It's easy to do it right and impossible
to fix later.



wrote in message
...
"Bob Smith" wrote:
It's the first time I have looked on this group, so forgive me if I
ask something straight out of the FAQs, but here goes:

Can anyone tell me how deep topsoil needs to be to grow a lawn?

How big is your lawn, Bob? (sq ft)

What I have is a 10' x 10' area that I have removed
some 'decorative' broken brick gravelly stuff from (the kids were
always
throwing it in the grass, trying to assasinate my lawnmower).

I removed the brick stuff, and still have 3-4" deep of broken rocks
and
broken down tarmac, then clay soil. I was going to buy 2-3" worth of
topsoil to replace the 2-3" of brick stuff, when I found this picture
of
some grass roots:
http://www.duke.edu/~jloreti/ecophys/roots1.html

I may add a few sacks of compost, perhaps some of that moisture
retaining gel or formiculite. Am I right in thinking the clay will
keep the water from draining away?

Bob

That sounds like the right approach, adjust your topsoil to make
a decent grade. I'd be more concerned with the broken rock or
stuff, than I would be with the clay.

The broken rock may inhibit root growth and increase the soil
temperature in that area, resulting in a blighted look during
hot weather. Can you remove the rest of the rock before adding
your soil?

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