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Old 03-04-2006, 01:29 PM posted to uk.rec.gardening
cliff_the_gardener
 
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Default Sand on a lawn - how much and when?

I am latching onto your observatio that the lawn is boggy.
Is that because the water is standing or because the kids are running
around on wet grass?
If your lawn is boggy, a top dressing of sand isn't going to solve the
issue quickly. The soile level will have to be raised above the water
table to have an effect. You would have to repeat topdressing for
years to have an effect.
The issue is one of drainage and best remidies by the installation of a
draininage to take the excess water away. Clearly you would need to
have somewhere to discharge the water to. Where I used to live was on
clay and as the years progressed the garden, which was typically damp,
would flood during rains. It turns out that there was a ditch behind
the property which, over the years, had been incorporated into peoples
gardens and garages built on. Some investigation revealed that we
would have to get intouch with each household to ensure that the ditch
was clear. Something that was unlikely to happen and would have taken
forever.

I would also incorporate grit sand into the soil to create a more open
soil texture, around 75-100kg m sq.

If you feel really adventurous, you could put in a large underground
water collector - solve problems of hosepipe band then!

Clifford
Bawtry, Doncaster, South Yorkshire