I have the same problem, probably not quite as bad as yours. What I am
considering doing next spring is hire a turf lifter and lift the whole lot.
Level out the surface, relay the good turf and replace the dodgy turf.

"Mike Lyle" wrote in message
ups.com...

wrote:
Alan Holmes wrote:
wrote in message
ups.com...
We moved house last year, and I've noticed the lawn is in quite bad
condition.
To start with, there are numerous pot-holes and uneven patches which
can be noticed as you walk on the grass, some of which could turn
your
ankle. This makes it impossible to cut the grass down to a fairly
short
level as my rotary mower just grounds itself and can't be pushed.
Secondly, the grass has a 'spongy' feel when walked upon. Could this
be
due to a build up of thatch? There are patches where I can see a lot
of
clover and other weeds, but very little grass.
Thirdly, I know the soil is heavy clay based, and there are also
numerous trees surrounding the garden. Could this be causing drainage
problems?

I would fill in the potholes, water with Verdone to kill off the weeds,
and
wait until next year to see what the changes are, if any!

Alan


The potholes and cracks are almost too numerous to count. It's a
general problem all over the lawn. Almost like a ploughed field in
places.
I'd like to get to the state where it's possible to bounce a football
on the grass and not break an ankle running around on it. Is that too
much to ask?

No, it's not a bit too much to ask. But turf or reseeding won't cure
bumps and hollows. The unevenness is the result of poor levelling when
the lawn was first laid (it may never have been laid at all, of course:
somebody may just have let nature take its course) or damage caused by
wheels, feet, etc when it was wet. The cracks are because of drying
out: you get that with clay soils. The trees will take moisture out of
the lawn during drier weather: some say they hold it there during cold
wet periods when they've stopped sucking, but I rather doubt that.

You could buy in a load of topsoil and top-dress the whole lawn, and
sling some seed on. The result won't be perfect, as you'll probably
still get cracks in the summer; but at least there shouldn't be any
broken ankles. You'll probably need to repeat the top-dressing in a few
patches next year.

If that isn't convenient, it looks as though you need to dig the whole
thing over with the fork, and work mightily on it with the rake until
you've got a fairly smooth surface. This will be a swine, as you need a
moment when the lumps of clay are neither too solid nor too sticky to
break up. If you're comfortable using one, and the soil isn't full of
fist-sized stones, and the clay isn't wet, a rotovator could help here.
If there are a _lot_ of dandelions and things with tap roots, I'd
recommend weedkilling before rotovating -- it spreads them nicely. If
you dig by hand, you can easily pick out the weed roots as you go. If
there aren't too many of these deep weeds, I wouldn't use a weedkiller:
once the new lawn is growing, the weed seeds in the soil will shoot up,
and you'll need to deal with them anyway -- herbicides don't affect
seeds.

If at all possible, you should work in as much organic matter as you
can get -- find the cheapest. Some councils sell compost from recycling
operations.

Best practice is then to wait a month (or two) to let it settle, then
rake it again. During this time you can hoe out the weeds which will
appear. Then you can follow the instructions on the bag of grass seed,
or just lay turf.

Yes, that spongy feel when the lawn is very dry is probably thatch. I
wouldn't worry about it if you're going to do the whole digging bit.

--
Mike.