Hi,

last April I dug over my very bald and rubbish lawn, sifted the soil, levelled the ground, removed rocks, roots, debris and layed some very nice turf, then sat back and enjoyed my new lawn for months until it was eaten away by leather jackets! I got to the bottom and cured this problem, the lawn was not allowed to dry out, it was fed, cut regulaly (but not too short) and top dressing applied in November.

Now I'm back to a bald muddy mess... I've since carried out soil tests as I can't put the problem down to anything else and found a ph of 3.5 which explains why the green stuff won't grow.

Question is how do I bring the ph back to a more favourable level? I have applied lime but it will take ages to get the soil in shape and I'd really like to start again from scratch.

One option I thought of was to lob down a load of new top soil then turf with new turf in April, will this work or will the new soil quickly become acidic due to the stuff underneath? I don't want to spend a load of cash on top soil and new turf only to end up back here next year.

Any advice or alternative treatments would be gratefully received. The lawn is land locked so I can't get contractors in to help because they can't bring the chemicals and treatments through the house due to H&S rules.

Thanks!