We have a badly compacted area of "lawn" on the shady side of our house. It
is on heavy clay which cracks when dry. However we can ensure that it gets a
good soaking once a week. So far I've holes with a fork and brushed sharp
sand into them. I've also sprinkled some chicken manure on top of the area
in the hope that worms will drag it down and sprinkled grass seed down. Will
this work? Is there anythign else I can do other than digging up the whole
lawn and starting again which I'd like to avoid? TIA

--
Hayley
(gardening on well drained, alkaline clay in Somerset)

"H Ryder" wrote in message
...
We have a badly compacted area of "lawn" on the shady side of our house.
It
is on heavy clay which cracks when dry. However we can ensure that it gets
a
good soaking once a week. So far I've holes with a fork and brushed sharp
sand into them. I've also sprinkled some chicken manure on top of the area
in the hope that worms will drag it down and sprinkled grass seed down.
Will
this work? Is there anythign else I can do other than digging up the whole
lawn and starting again which I'd like to avoid? TIA

--
Hayley

Hayley,

You are fighting a losing battle although you have done what most
Greenkeepers do anyway.
Your real problem is lack of drainage. Clay!

Compaction is usually caused by heavy "traffic" over the area. Also being on
a clay subsoil won't allow the top to drain or aerate as efficiently as it
could.

Mole ploughing to provide a water run off about 4-6" under the surface would
help a little, but probably expensive to have done on a small area.
Alternatively ask at the local Golf course Greenkeeping shed if anyone can
assist with deeper aeration using a Vertidrain if they have the equipment.
(Assuming you can get the equipment in there) Have a look at
http://www.pitchcare.com/external/sc..._news.php?id=2
in the Aeration chapter.

It sounds like you'll need to lift all the turf (Not all at once though) and
remove a fair depth of the clay and replace with a quality soil or loam. Add
sharp sand at the same time to give a good drainage layer, re seed and lay
the turf back over.

Me here wrote:
It sounds like you'll need to lift all the turf (Not all at once though) and
remove a fair depth of the clay and replace with a quality soil or loam. Add
sharp sand at the same time to give a good drainage layer, re seed and lay
the turf back over.

Yep, just dig it out, replace with decent stuff and re-seed or turf.
You could put a layer of compost sand mix over the top of the clay
which will help a little as a blotting paper arrangement and will stop
the clay from drying so quickly.