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#1
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Drainage for a lawn on clay soil
My son-in-law has planted a lawn (not from seed) and it has done well.
one big problem. There is very little top soil and underneath is all clay. the garden is always very wet because of very poor drainage. Even putting in drains probably wouldn't solve the problem as only that area would drain. Any ideas ? Tom Atkinson |
#2
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Drainage for a lawn on clay soil
-- ------------------------------------------------------------------- "BIGTOM" wrote in message oups.com... My son-in-law has planted a lawn (not from seed) and it has done well. one big problem. There is very little top soil and underneath is all clay. the garden is always very wet because of very poor drainage. Even putting in drains probably wouldn't solve the problem as only that area would drain. Any ideas ? Tom Atkinson Is there anywhere for the water to go? Water finds its own level and you MUST be able to get it off sight. Question. Where? Only you can answer that one. Look around you at neighbour's gardens and the road. Are they higher than your ground? Yes? Problem :-(( Mike |
#3
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Drainage for a lawn on clay soil
Neighbour's gardens ARE higher so water from them drains into my son in
law's garden. Nowhere really for the water to go. tom Atkinson |
#4
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Drainage for a lawn on clay soil
regular aeration and autumn spring renovations would help apply top dressing
of 70/30 sand soil dress after aeration "BIGTOM" wrote in message ps.com... Neighbour's gardens ARE higher so water from them drains into my son in law's garden. Nowhere really for the water to go. tom Atkinson |
#5
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Drainage for a lawn on clay soil
-- ------------------------------------------------------------------- "BIGTOM" wrote in message ps.com... Neighbour's gardens ARE higher so water from them drains into my son in law's garden. Nowhere really for the water to go. tom Atkinson Tom as I see it from a remote situation, your Son in Law has three options. 1) Live with it as there is nowhere to drain to. 2) Build the garden up so his is highr than the neighbour's. Not too practicable if their gardens are a lot higher. 2) Dig a hole through the clay to the sub soil in the hope that it will drain through that sub structure, BUT, a) it will drain all his garden and b) there is no gaurantee that the sub structure is any more absorbant than the clay and 'might' be a mile down ;-) There is a large Garden Gentre/ Nursery near me and before they put the greenhouses up they wanted to know if the soil was absorbant to take the water off the glass in the form of a soak-away. They dug a hole a metre deep and filled it with water. A week later it was still there! The water that is;-)) Mike |
#6
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Drainage for a lawn on clay soil
Thanks folks-looks like he is going to have to try a soak away and add
lots of drainage material and cross his fingers !!! Tom |
#7
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Drainage for a lawn on clay soil
Tom wrote .... My son-in-law has planted a lawn (not from seed) and it has done well. one big problem. There is very little top soil and underneath is all clay. the garden is always very wet because of very poor drainage. Even putting in drains probably wouldn't solve the problem as only that area would drain. Any ideas ? He didn't think it through then. Should have sorted the drainage out by incorporating grit/sand before he laid the lawn. All he can try now is to push a garden fork right into the soil at a couple of inches apart and move it around to make conical deep holes which he can then fill with sharp sand and hope it will be enough to cure the problem, depends how solid the clay is. The lawn will look a mess for a while but soon green up again. -- Regards Bob "Never get so busy making a living that you forget to make a life" |
#8
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Drainage for a lawn on clay soil
"Bob Hobden" wrote in message ... Tom wrote ... My son-in-law has planted a lawn (not from seed) and it has done well. one big problem. There is very little top soil and underneath is all clay. the garden is always very wet because of very poor drainage. Even putting in drains probably wouldn't solve the problem as only that area would drain. Any ideas ? He didn't think it through then. Should have sorted the drainage out by incorporating grit/sand before he laid the lawn. All he can try now is to push a garden fork right into the soil at a couple of inches apart and move it around to make conical deep holes which he can then fill with sharp sand and hope it will be enough to cure the problem, depends how solid the clay is. The lawn will look a mess for a while but soon green up again. -- Regards Bob "Never get so busy making a living that you forget to make a life" dont use sharp sand it holds the water and doesnt integrate with the clay you need a sand/soil mixture |
#9
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Drainage for a lawn on clay soil
"BIGTOM" wrote in message oups.com... Thanks folks-looks like he is going to have to try a soak away and add lots of drainage material and cross his fingers !!! Tom Ggetting a soil test may be worthwhile, I am thinking, for a humus test (some soil testing laboratories will test for this, other will not). Once he has dug the soak hole(s) this may start to drain some of the water off. Aerating the soil and gradually building the soil layer up by top dressing will also help (these will not yeild dramatic results over night but should be viewed as a medium term matter. If he has a shitty little layer of top soil over a clay pan (such as you have sometimes in new subdivisions) he may need to add quite an amount of organic matter and resow the grass. If the top soil is fairly deep, at a guess here at least 6 inchs, then there should be enough for decent humus to develop. The humus layer is where a lot of biological activity takes places and it is an important part of a lawn expelling excess moisture in wet seasons and retaining needed moisture in dry seasons. Again, it is not a miracle cure but plays a part in the cycle. If a soil test shows low humus levels, soil tests will come with diagnostic information, then he can pay attention to getting that working right. Best way go organic, no pesticides and artifical fertilisers. Blood and bone & pelleted animal poop will help build humus. If you can;'t be bothered doing it the scientific way a rough guide is cut a sod of turf a spade depth cubed and count worms. 7 or under shows problems with the soil life, 8-22 aprox is ok, over 23 is very good. If you have a good abundance of worms this indicates the soil is probably in good health and that the humus is probably also good. Worms help aerate your soil and drain it. This advice is in addition to the other good tips you will get about drains, aeration, top dressing etc and is only ONE of several steps that will help. rob |
#10
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Drainage for a lawn on clay soil
Thanks again for all the detailed information. I think he has only 3
inches of top soil. Another Gardening friend suggested using a 1½" auger and making 18" deep holes about 1 metre apart and filling with coarse grit but postings todate seem to advocate a sand-soil mixture. I will pass all of this on to my son in law. He is half my age so it's up to him !!!!! tom |
#11
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Drainage for a lawn on clay soil
BIGTOM wrote:
Thanks again for all the detailed information. I think he has only 3 inches of top soil. Another Gardening friend suggested using a 1½" auger and making 18" deep holes about 1 metre apart and filling with coarse grit but postings todate seem to advocate a sand-soil mixture. I will pass all of this on to my son in law. He is half my age so it's up to him !!!!! tom Boring inch-and-half holes will be a _complete_ waste of time. 18" deep, even if not filled with grit, would only hold a few hearty gulps. And if the holes were eighteen _feet_ deep, they'd still fill up fast enough to leave him back where he started. The only complete solution is drains, and, as has already been said, they will work only if they lead somewhere. That could be a pond, or wherever the rainwater goes from the gutters on the house. A pond like that would, of course, need an overflow in a rainy area, so it's back to wherever the rainwater downpipes go. Even ripping up the whole lawn and relaying it on top of a quick-draining layer, like a football pitch, still implies some sort of drain at the lower end. If most of the water is seeping in off neighbouring land, though, rather than just rainfall on the lawn itself, then a simple deep stone drain at the upper end, leading down the side, should help. A raised lawn with crushed stone paths all round a few inches lower might work. Hard to say without seeing the site. -- Mike. |
#12
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Drainage for a lawn on clay soil
g'day tom,
a hard question to help with when we can't see the situation. yes you need to work out how or where the water comes from or gets there? french/agricultural drains (have some ideas on them on my page) will work if you have or can create somewhere for the water to drain to? also a simple thing like adding another good layer of top soil can alleviate pooling problems. len snipped With peace and brightest of blessings, len -- "Be Content With What You Have And May You Find Serenity and Tranquillity In A World That You May Not Understand." http://www.users.bigpond.com/gardenlen1 |
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