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Baz[_3_] · 24-07-2011, 02:00 PM posted to uk.rec.gardening

harry wrote in news:253becbc-2be3-4246-9436-
:

On Jul 23, 7:13*pm, Timothy Murphy wrote:
I want to put down some lawn turves,
but the ground is very "cloddy".
I've tried breaking up the clods with a fork,
and also stamping on them with boots on.
This was quite effective.

I also tried a light roller, but this had no effect.

I tried watering the patch,
and it was slightly easier to break up the clods after that.

But does anyone have a better way of dealing with cloddy soil?

The traditional way is to let the frost bust the clods up over Winter.
If it's clay (probably is) you can buy and rotovate in a few tons of
sharp sand. Also lime helps.
Cheapest place for lime is builder's merchant.

and grass seed

BTW,you could save money by planting seed. September (and April) is
the traditional times

Yes.
September is the better of the two, I think. I have sown in both months but
the September sowings have had less weed growth in my experience.

If it was me doing this I would hire a rotovator and roller, do the work
now and seed it. OK it's not an instant lawn, but less expensive and I am
sure you will have to hire the rotovator and roller anyway even if you wait
'till spring when the frost has helped.

I wish you luck.
Baz