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#1
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New Lawn on clay
Hi there.
I was wondering if anyone could help me. I've recently levelled my garden (best I can) as I live on a hill. All I'm left with now is hard uneven clay and I want to put turf down. I've had advised to level the clay with chipping which will also provide drainage, but I've also been told not to use chippings but to use top soil. I've no idea which to use, can anyone help? Thanks in advance Mike |
#2
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New Lawn on clay
When you say chippings, I assume you mean stone chippings?
This is a personal thought, not based on any gardening knowledge I hasten to add , but I would imagine stone chippings would "migrate" to the surface in time thus causing avoc with the mower. Top soil sounds the best option to me. Maybe the aplication of lime to break down the clay? Although this would have to be done some months before turfing. Jeff. "M Smith" wrote in message ... Hi there. I was wondering if anyone could help me. I've recently levelled my garden (best I can) as I live on a hill. All I'm left with now is hard uneven clay and I want to put turf down. I've had advised to level the clay with chipping which will also provide drainage, but I've also been told not to use chippings but to use top soil. I've no idea which to use, can anyone help? Thanks in advance Mike |
#3
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New Lawn on clay
"M Smith" wrote in message ...
Hi there. I was wondering if anyone could help me. I've recently levelled my garden (best I can) as I live on a hill. All I'm left with now is hard uneven clay and I want to put turf down. I've had advised to level the clay with chipping which will also provide drainage, but I've also been told not to use chippings but to use top soil. I've no idea which to use, can anyone help? My instinct says topsoil; but it's usually expensive, and sometimes not very good. The textbook solution is probably sandy loam. But working in a bit of organic matter may be all you need to do. "Chippings" suggests quite big pieces of stone to me: coarse grit or even sharp sand would be better. I've got experience on this, as one of my lawns is on top of six inches of crusher-run limestone. This is great for a flower "meadow", but for normal lawn purposes it's far too poor; where the chunks are near the surface the grass dies off in dry weather, and you can feel them through the soles of your shoes. (In any case, if we're being really fussy, lawns like it neutral to slightly acid.) Is your clay subsoil, or just clayey topsoil? If the latter, it should already be fit to support turf: best to break it up fine first. This may be one of the few cases where a rotavator would actually be a good thing: you can rake the area smooth afterwards, and leave it to settle for a few weeks before the turf or seed goes on. During the settling period you'll be able to get out the weeds which the rotavator will inevitably have propagated. If we're working on exposed subsoil, a bit of organic material can be mixed in at the same time -- if we're not talking about a football pitch, even just a few quid's worth of the cheapest grow-bags could be enough to help the roots along (consider what you'd pay for topsoil, and see how many growbags you could get!). After doing this, you may find that your levelling problem has disappeared, or come down to a trivial size. Dos and don'ts may be available free of charge just by looking over the fence at what's happened for the neighbours if you have any. Mike. |
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