Originally Posted by Me here

"SiT" wrote in message
...

Hello all,

I've purchased my first home 7 months ago and have recently turned my
attention to the garden. The house is only five years old, hence the
garden is particularly immature; the main issue being the lawn. The
lawn is constantly water logged and covered in moss, I have done a bit
of research on the web and discovered that the soil is particularly
heavy with clay.

Could any of you experts provide me with a couple of pointers as to how
I could improve the quality of the lawn. Someone at my work suggested
constant rollering and lawn seeds but the lawn has become so water
logged in the recent rains that this is not really a viable option.
One site that I visited suggested using Lawn Sand, has anyone had any
success with this or can the offer a good brand?

Any help to solve the problem would be appreciated.

Regards

Simon

Your real problem is lack of drainage. Clay!

Being on a clay subsoil won't allow the top to drain or aerate as
efficiently as it
could.Alternatively install a system of French drain in a herringbone
fashion to assist drainage. The lowest point of the area chosen for a
natural collection point for the run off etc.

Mole ploughing to provide a water run off about 4-6" under the surface would
help a little, but probably expensive to have done on a small area.

Alternatively ask at the local Golf course Greenkeeping shed if anyone can
assist with deeper aeration using a Vertidrain if they have the equipment.
Although if the clay is deep it just produces holes that fill with water and
rotten debris unless sanded properly.

(Assuming you can get the equipment in there) Have a look at
http://www.pitchcare.com/external/sc..._news.php?id=2
in the Aeration chapter.

It sounds like you'll need to lift all the turf (Not all at once though) and
remove a fair depth of the clay and replace with a quality soil or loam. Add
sharp sand at the same time to give a good drainage layer, re seed and lay
the turf back over. Include the French drain while you are at it.