Apologies if this has been asked before but I have checked google and
couldn't find an answer butm aybe that's because I'm not phrasing my
search correctly.

Anyway - I'm doing a lawn. The level of the ground needs to be raised so
I'm going to need to buy topsoil. The problem I have is the condition of
the existing ground. It was recently a building site and is basically
hardcore stones and rubble with a fair amount of sand and poor quality
soil. What depth of good quality topsoil should I use for planting
grass? I don't need a bowling green type lawn but I don't want one which
is patchy either.

Thanks
--
John Kelly

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The RHS Encyclopedia of Gardening says that for a "top-quality" lawn
you will need at least 8 in (20cm) of topsoil. Although as you are not
looking for "top-quality" you will get away with less. This website
(http://www.turfgrasssod.org/trc/soilprep.html) suggests 4-6 inches
which sounds about right to me.

Good Luck
Sally Hayward



John Kelly wrote:
Apologies if this has been asked before but I have checked google and
couldn't find an answer butm aybe that's because I'm not phrasing my
search correctly.

Anyway - I'm doing a lawn. The level of the ground needs to be raised so
I'm going to need to buy topsoil. The problem I have is the condition of
the existing ground. It was recently a building site and is basically
hardcore stones and rubble with a fair amount of sand and poor quality
soil. What depth of good quality topsoil should I use for planting
grass? I don't need a bowling green type lawn but I don't want one which
is patchy either.

Thanks
--
John Kelly

remove dimspam if replying by email

John Kelly wrote:
Anyway - I'm doing a lawn. The level of the ground needs to be raised so
I'm going to need to buy topsoil. The problem I have is the condition of
the existing ground. It was recently a building site and is basically
hardcore stones and rubble with a fair amount of sand and poor quality
soil. What depth of good quality topsoil should I use for planting
grass? I don't need a bowling green type lawn but I don't want one which
is patchy either.

What you have should provide some drainage, although I would remove the
larger lumps of concrete etc. first as they will cause brown spots even
2 foot down - think about crop marks and arechaeologists. If you work
some (lots of) humus into what you have and rotovate it in then it will
improve water retention in dry spells. It will also make what you have
far more useful. It is important that the base is as evenly mixed as
possible, you can't just throw a blanket of goodness over badness and
expect the badness not to come through. Think sheets and matresses.
Then I reckon a minimum of 4 inches of resonable quality loam,
depending on the type of mix you will be sowing.

You need to interpret the site: low lying and boggy will need improved
drainage, while arid will need the water retention improving with
(potentially huge) amounts of rotted vegetation. Think riding school
waste.

John Kelly wrote:
Apologies if this has been asked before but I have checked google and
couldn't find an answer butm aybe that's because I'm not phrasing my
search correctly.

Anyway - I'm doing a lawn. The level of the ground needs to be raised so
I'm going to need to buy topsoil. The problem I have is the condition of
the existing ground. It was recently a building site and is basically
hardcore stones and rubble with a fair amount of sand and poor quality
soil. What depth of good quality topsoil should I use for planting
grass? I don't need a bowling green type lawn but I don't want one which
is patchy either.



How high does it need to be raised? When I dug up my garden a while
back the topsoil was only a couple of inches thick before it was hard
clay. The grass always grew ok but drainage wasn't great.

wrote:
John Kelly wrote:
Anyway - I'm doing a lawn. The level of the ground needs to be raised so
I'm going to need to buy topsoil. The problem I have is the condition of
the existing ground. It was recently a building site and is basically
hardcore stones and rubble with a fair amount of sand and poor quality
soil. What depth of good quality topsoil should I use for planting
grass? I don't need a bowling green type lawn but I don't want one which
is patchy either.

What you have should provide some drainage, although I would remove the
larger lumps of concrete etc. first as they will cause brown spots even
2 foot down - think about crop marks and arechaeologists. If you work
some (lots of) humus into what you have and rotovate it in then it will
improve water retention in dry spells. It will also make what you have
far more useful. It is important that the base is as evenly mixed as
possible, you can't just throw a blanket of goodness over badness and
expect the badness not to come through. Think sheets and matresses.
Then I reckon a minimum of 4 inches of resonable quality loam,
depending on the type of mix you will be sowing.

You need to interpret the site: low lying and boggy will need improved
drainage, while arid will need the water retention improving with
(potentially huge) amounts of rotted vegetation. Think riding school
waste.

All the advice you've been given is textbook-quality. But even four
inches of bought-in topsoil is an expensive item. If curtains and
things are more important in the budget, as they so often are when
one's just moving in, I'd be quite happy to skimp. There's no soil so
bad that it can't be turned into good soil. Certainly get the biggest
lumps out, until you get bored with it, but don't worry too much about
archaeological air photos: the point about that is that the effect is
generally invisible _except_ from the air and when the light is right.
It's possible that you don't fly over your lawn as often as some people
do.

It really is surprising how well an awful soil will grow things, so I'd
buy in what seems like an affordable quantity of council compost and
work it in. If after that you still have a lot of satsuma-sized stones
at the surface, it's probably time to think about a load of topsoil.

Don't use a rotovator if it's full of stones, of course. On the whole,
I tend to say "don't use a rotovator at all". They don't really belong
in the small private garden, unless you enjoy machinery for its own
sake -- and I've got nothing against fun. Fork and rake are less aggro,
and let you feel any nasties you'd rather not disturb.

--
Mike.

wrote:
John Kelly wrote:
Apologies if this has been asked before but I have checked google and
couldn't find an answer butm aybe that's because I'm not phrasing my
search correctly.

Anyway - I'm doing a lawn. The level of the ground needs to be raised so
I'm going to need to buy topsoil. The problem I have is the condition of
the existing ground. It was recently a building site and is basically
hardcore stones and rubble with a fair amount of sand and poor quality
soil. What depth of good quality topsoil should I use for planting
grass? I don't need a bowling green type lawn but I don't want one which
is patchy either.

How high does it need to be raised? When I dug up my garden a while
back the topsoil was only a couple of inches thick before it was hard
clay. The grass always grew ok but drainage wasn't great.


It needs to be raised about 3 inches one side and 2 inches the other.
I'm not keen on digging down to get a depth of 6 inches as it's a fair
amount of work and we'd need a skip so that increases the cost by about
£150. Having said that if it's the only way to get it done then I
suppose we'll have to :-(

--
John Kelly

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John Kelly wrote:
[...]
It needs to be raised about 3 inches one side and 2 inches the other.
I'm not keen on digging down to get a depth of 6 inches as it's a fair
amount of work and we'd need a skip so that increases the cost by about
£150. Having said that if it's the only way to get it done then I
suppose we'll have to :-(

I'm sorry: I wasn't thinking of raising the level when I wrote my
earlier reply. Poor reading skills: I blame the parents and the
teachers.

What dictates the need to raise the level? This could have a bearing on
the answer.

--
Mike.

Mike Lyle wrote:
John Kelly wrote:
[...]
It needs to be raised about 3 inches one side and 2 inches the other.
I'm not keen on digging down to get a depth of 6 inches as it's a fair
amount of work and we'd need a skip so that increases the cost by about
£150. Having said that if it's the only way to get it done then I
suppose we'll have to :-(

I'm sorry: I wasn't thinking of raising the level when I wrote my
earlier reply. Poor reading skills: I blame the parents and the
teachers.

What dictates the need to raise the level? This could have a bearing on
the answer.

We built an extension and need to level the ground around it now. It
wasn't obvious how low it was till I put a path in.

--
John Kelly

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John Kelly wrote:

It needs to be raised about 3 inches one side and 2 inches the other.
I'm not keen on digging down to get a depth of 6 inches as it's a fair
amount of work and we'd need a skip so that increases the cost by about
£150. Having said that if it's the only way to get it done then I
suppose we'll have to :-(

--


If it drains well I'd just put the soil/compost mix on top. It might
not be perfect but it's be a damn site better than most new builds get
these days.

John Kelly wrote:
It needs to be raised about 3 inches one side and 2 inches the other.
I'm not keen on digging down to get a depth of 6 inches as it's a fair
amount of work
Absolutely not. I'd go for improving what you have as much as possible
within budget and physical constraints, and then adding the topsoil you
need.

Oh, and consider turfing. It costs more than seed, but you get about
12mm of someone else's topsoil in the price! you won't need to preapre
to quite the same standard, and you will want to wait a bit before
doing it - this weather is really not suitable.