Sewing Grass on very stoney ground
 

Apologies in advance but I am a complete newbie in the garden!

I want to sew some grass where the previous owner had his garden shed.
When we removed the shed we found the ground cover in pea shingle.
I've tried raking as much as I can but it's firmly mixed in with the
soil.

My question is:

Is there a problem with sewing the grass into stoney ground?
Should I just try and rake the top layer stones away once the grass has
grown a bit?

Thanks in advance.

Charlie

If the area is depressed, you might get by by putting down some topsoil.

I think a better solution would be to build a sieve (I made one of spare
lumber and metal mesh) and dig up the dirt and rocks, separate the
rocks, then use the old dirt, some new dirt, and a lot of organic matter
to overfill the hole, being careful to compress as you go so it won't
sink as much. It will no doubt sink some over the years, but you can
add thin layers of dirt right through the grass.

wrote:

Apologies in advance but I am a complete newbie in the garden!

I want to sew some grass where the previous owner had his garden shed.
When we removed the shed we found the ground cover in pea shingle.
I've tried raking as much as I can but it's firmly mixed in with the
soil.

My question is:

Is there a problem with sewing the grass into stoney ground?
Should I just try and rake the top layer stones away once the grass has
grown a bit?

Thanks in advance.

Charlie


--
SPAMBLOCK NOTICE! To reply to me, delete the h from apkh.net, if it is
there.

On 3/9/05 9:37 AM, in article
,
" wrote:

Apologies in advance but I am a complete newbie in the garden!

I want to sew some grass where the previous owner had his garden shed.
When we removed the shed we found the ground cover in pea shingle.
I've tried raking as much as I can but it's firmly mixed in with the
soil.

My question is:

Is there a problem with sewing the grass into stoney ground?
Should I just try and rake the top layer stones away once the grass has
grown a bit?

Thanks in advance.

Charlie



Grass, as a stitching fiber is a tad coarse and rough on the hands. Try
sowing it instead.

Cheryl

Let's here if four homophones!

Cheryl Isaak wrote in
:

On 3/9/05 9:37 AM, in article
,
" wrote:

Apologies in advance but I am a complete newbie in the garden!

I want to sew some grass where the previous owner had his garden
shed. When we removed the shed we found the ground cover in pea
shingle. I've tried raking as much as I can but it's firmly mixed in
with the soil.

My question is:

Is there a problem with sewing the grass into stoney ground?
Should I just try and rake the top layer stones away once the grass
has grown a bit?

Thanks in advance.

Charlie



Grass, as a stitching fiber is a tad coarse and rough on the hands.
Try sowing it instead.

Cheryl



Everytime I try to sew on stoney ground, my needle breaks. Darn!

butt, i wuz thinkin they wanted to be shure to use a thimble befour sewing
the grass onto the stones. donchu??

From:
Organization: http://groups.google.com
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
Date: 9 Mar 2005 15:00:22 -0800
Subject: Sewing Grass on very stoney ground

Let's here if four homophones!

butt, WHY do you want grass???? i don't know where you live, butt if you
live in an area where there are droughts and the town or municipality says,
"stop watering your grass," ewe're gonna hafta do what they do in or-a-gun:
PAINT YOUR GRASS!!

why not xeriscape your garden from the beginning??? why not plant native
plants which don't require extra watering? what better time to start than
from the beginning????

From:
Organization: http://groups.google.com
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
Date: 9 Mar 2005 06:37:53 -0800
Subject: Sewing Grass on very stoney ground

Apologies in advance but I am a complete newbie in the garden!

I want to sew some grass where the previous owner had his garden shed.
When we removed the shed we found the ground cover in pea shingle.
I've tried raking as much as I can but it's firmly mixed in with the
soil.

My question is:

Is there a problem with sewing the grass into stoney ground?
Should I just try and rake the top layer stones away once the grass has
grown a bit?

Thanks in advance.

Charlie

SKYlark wrote:
butt, WHY do you want grass???? i don't know where you live, butt
if you live in an area where there are droughts and the town or
municipality says, "stop watering your grass," ewe're gonna hafta
do what they do in or-a-gun: PAINT YOUR GRASS!!

why not xeriscape your garden from the beginning??? why not plant
native plants which don't require extra watering? what better time
to start than from the beginning????

or just let the grass go dormant in the summer.

--

Travis in Shoreline (just North of Seattle) Washington
USDA Zone 8b
Sunset Zone 5

From:
Organization: http://groups.google.com
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
Date: 9 Mar 2005 06:37:53 -0800
Subject: Sewing Grass on very stoney ground

Apologies in advance but I am a complete newbie in the garden!

I want to sew some grass where the previous owner had his garden
shed. When we removed the shed we found the ground cover in pea
shingle. I've tried raking as much as I can but it's firmly mixed
in with the soil.

My question is:

Is there a problem with sewing the grass into stoney ground?
Should I just try and rake the top layer stones away once the
grass has grown a bit?

Thanks in advance.

Charlie

The original poster didn't ask if WE LIKE GRASS !! He asked if it was
ok to plant it in an area that has some pea gravel on it.


It is none of our darned business if he wants to plant grass, so we should't
lecture him on reasons why HE should not plant grass on HIS property.

To the OP: I would try to spread a minimum of 2-3 inches of topsoil on
the area, if that is feasible for you. That would give the grass a better
chance to grow and spread. As long as the existing gravel is "mixed"
with some soil, the grass will grow, but adding a few inches of topsoil
would give you a quicker and more pleasing result.

After the grass has taken hold and doing fine, you might add a few more
inches of topsoil the next year, and before you know it, you will not be
able to tell the gravel was there.

Good Luck !!

--James--

James wrote:
The original poster didn't ask if WE LIKE GRASS !! He asked if it
was
ok to plant it in an area that has some pea gravel on it.


It is none of our darned business if he wants to plant grass, so we
should't
lecture him on reasons why HE should not plant grass on HIS property.

To the OP: I would try to spread a minimum of 2-3 inches of topsoil
on
the area, if that is feasible for you. That would give the grass a
better
chance to grow and spread. As long as the existing gravel is
"mixed"
with some soil, the grass will grow, but adding a few inches of
topsoil
would give you a quicker and more pleasing result.

After the grass has taken hold and doing fine, you might add a few
more
inches of topsoil the next year, and before you know it, you will not
be
able to tell the gravel was there.


Until then, make sure you wear heavy shoes, long pants, and eye
protection when you mow, and make sure no one comes anywhere near you
while the mower is running.

And buy replacement blades in bulk.

--
Warren H.

==========
Disclaimer: My views reflect those of myself, and not my
employer, my friends, nor (as she often tells me) my wife.
Any resemblance to the views of anybody living or dead is
coincidental. No animals were hurt in the writing of this
response -- unless you count my dog who desperately wants
to go outside now.
Clean-up your yard this spring with Black and Decker tools:
http://www.holzemville.com/mall/blac...ker/index.html

James wrote:
The original poster didn't ask if WE LIKE GRASS !! He asked if
it was ok to plant it in an area that has some pea gravel on it.


It is none of our darned business if he wants to plant grass, so we
should't lecture him on reasons why HE should not plant grass on
HIS property.

To the OP: I would try to spread a minimum of 2-3 inches of
topsoil on the area, if that is feasible for you. That would give
the grass a better chance to grow and spread. As long as the
existing gravel is "mixed" with some soil, the grass will grow,
but adding a few inches of topsoil would give you a quicker and
more pleasing result.

After the grass has taken hold and doing fine, you might add a few
more inches of topsoil the next year, and before you know it, you
will not be able to tell the gravel was there.

Good Luck !!

--James--

He would be better off to till that topsoil in to a depth of 6 to 8
inches.

--

Travis in Shoreline (just North of Seattle) Washington
USDA Zone 8b
Sunset Zone 5

James, Warren and everyone else - thanks for the advice.

Going to give a go tomorrow.

James - I'll use as much top soil as feasable on the bad bits.
Warren - I'll also dig out my shin pads from rugby when I come to cut
the stuff.

Cheers again

Charlie
(Complete gardening newbie!)