one of my family have had a bonfire in the paddock - I am not saying who but
they know who they are, grrrr - and it has left a biggish patch of
bare/burnt ground, what is the best way to deal with it please

kate

In article ,
Kate Morgan wrote:
one of my family have had a bonfire in the paddock - I am not saying who but
they know who they are, grrrr - and it has left a biggish patch of
bare/burnt ground, what is the best way to deal with it please

Loosen it, and possibly sprinkle a thin layer of soil on the top.
Then let the grass regrow - you may have to mow it a bit until it
starts to establish. You can sprinkle lawn seed, or even turf it,
but that's overkill for a paddock. Grass establishes naturally
in the UK.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

one of my family have had a bonfire in the paddock - I am not saying who
but
they know who they are, grrrr - and it has left a biggish patch of
bare/burnt ground, what is the best way to deal with it please

Loosen it, and possibly sprinkle a thin layer of soil on the top.
Then let the grass regrow - you may have to mow it a bit until it
starts to establish. You can sprinkle lawn seed, or even turf it,
but that's overkill for a paddock. Grass establishes naturally
in the UK.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Thank you Nick, that was the sort of answer I was hoping for, I can handle
that :-)

kate

Leave it, and watch with interest what grows there. There are a number of plants which are colonisers - they find it hard to compete, so develop the strategy of moving in quickly on cleared ground. I was in the dales yesterday looking at the way kidney vetch was growing thickly round the edge of a bonfire site, whereas the surrounding grassland was thick with another yellow pea-flower, birds-foot trefoil.

Of course, if the paddock is fertile, then your colonisers might be docks, so you're probably better following other people's advice not mine ;-)

On 05/06/2010 07:21, Kate Morgan wrote:
one of my family have had a bonfire in the paddock - I am not saying who
but they know who they are, grrrr - and it has left a biggish patch of
bare/burnt ground, what is the best way to deal with it please

Spread the ash around somewhere else where it will do more good (too
much in one place will make the soil rather too alkaline). Loosen the
surface and let it reseed naturally - grass is in flower now.

Or you could keep using the same spot for bonfires!

Regards,
Martin Brown

"Martin Brown" wrote in message
...
On 05/06/2010 07:21, Kate Morgan wrote:
one of my family have had a bonfire in the paddock - I am not saying who
but they know who they are, grrrr - and it has left a biggish patch of
bare/burnt ground, what is the best way to deal with it please

Spread the ash around somewhere else where it will do more good (too much
in one place will make the soil rather too alkaline). Loosen the surface
and let it reseed naturally - grass is in flower now.

Or you could keep using the same spot for bonfires!

Regards,
Martin Brown

That might be a good idea, the horses love to stand in the thick smoke,
keeps the bugs away :-)