On 2009-05-23 21:58:43 +0100, "jbm" said:


"Fuschia" wrote in message
...
| On Sat, 23 May 2009 11:36:08 +0100, "Rich" wrote:
|
| I've about 5 inch of fairly stony soil then below it very rocky and
| sandy.
|
| My intention is to sift the soil and remove all the stones and lay
| stones down first, then put the sifted soil top of that. Then grass.
|
| I'm sifting with a garden sifter thingy and the size of the holes are
| about 1cm square. Should I sift with a finer sieve?
|
| I'm wanting a lawn bowling green-ish.
|
|
| If you bury the stones they will eventually work their way up to the
| surface as the fine soil washes down between them. That wouldn't
| matter too much for an orcinary lawn, but if you really want a bowling
| green you should remove the stones entirely.

Or put a porous membrane down on top of the stones. That'll stop anything
going up or down.

jim, Northampton

Not really. Water seeps through it. It helps to suppress weeds but
it does not suppress dips and bumps in the soil underneath. And it
would not, of course, truly nourish a lawn of bowling green stature.
If that were the case, our area of 'hard standing' covered in membrane
on which our potted perennials sit all year round, would be a mass of
greenery of one sort of another! For the lawn - take out every single
stone, rake the soil to a fine tilth, turf it. Water it constantly in
dry weather. Leave uncut and un-walked-on for a minimum of 4 weeks.
Pray for Camelot weather - sun during the day, rain overnight. Or -
like the majority of the population ask yourself why you want a lawn.
If it's for sitting on, playing on, enjoy the daisies. If it's really
for playing bowls on, talk to your local club's groundsman.


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Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
Exotic plants, shrubs & perennials
South Devon