Grass
 

Hi

I am looking for some advice on this project.

I have a 4 year old house and the main lawn has sunk as much as 10" in
places. The builders skimmed off the top soil and then built the house and
then placed the soil back but in the 4 years the clay under the top soil has
compressed and sunk leavening a very uneven lawn.

What I don't want to do is disturb the existing surface and plan to place
new soil over the existing lawn after cutting it as short as possible,
compacting the soil and then laying new turf on the top of the new soil. The
minimum depth of new soil I may end up with is about 4"

Is this feasible of am I going to have more problems.

Thanks
Steve

--
The UK SpeedTrap Guide" @ www.ukspeedtraps.co.uk
The UK Weather Guide" @ www.ukstorms.com

In article ,
writes
Hi,

How does grass grow? I know that sounds a silly question, but as a
newbie gardener, I think of plants as flowering, to produce fruit, the
seeds in which grow into new plants. but of course, we cut our grass
before any flowering can occur.

I know that say strawberries also reproduce another way: by producing
a runner. That may not be the technical term, but like I said, I am a
beginner. Is this how grass grows too?

Yes.

And no. Because 'grass' is not a single plant but a huge number of
different species. Some of them are perennial, carrying on for year
after year, and, although they flower, some of them rely on reproducing
vegetatively by underground 'runners' - dramatically so for couch,
Agropyron repens.

Others are annual, growing, flowering, seeding and dying, and they rely
more on the seeds.

That said, some of the plants we think of as 'annual', like runner
beans, are in fact perennial in their home countries but are killed off
by our winters - I don't know whether this applies to any of the grasses
we grow.


--
Kay
"Do not insult the crocodile until you have crossed the river"

wrote in message
...
Hi,

How does grass grow? I know that sounds a silly question, but as a
newbie gardener, I think of plants as flowering, to produce fruit, the
seeds in which grow into new plants. but of course, we cut our grass
before any flowering can occur.

I know that say strawberries also reproduce another way: by producing
a runner. That may not be the technical term, but like I said, I am a
beginner. Is this how grass grows too?

I ask all this because we just moved to a house with a terrible lawn
and terrible soil. We decided to dig up all the grass and took away
the top inch or two of the rubble that passed for soil. We put down
new soil and we thought about turf, but in the end we settled for
seed.

After two or three weeks the seed began to grow. Great. But now some
of the old grass has started to grow back. Perhaps we did not dig deep
enough to get rid of all the roots? This coarser grass seems to be
spreading; which is why I ask, could it be that one grass plant is
producing runners from which more grass grows? In which case, will the
whole lawn be overwhelmed with the old grass again soon?

Is there any way to remove the old grass? I worry that even if I
remove the random patches I have now, whether the grass next door will
spread back under the fence?

Thanks for your help.
grass grows same as many other plants however there is a diference with
species of grass monocotelydens grow just one stalk and we generally cut
before the plant flowers and seeds which is why we have to nurture the lawn
to keep the plant healthy.
However some grasses are stoloniferous and spread outwards these are
generally weed grasses and not good for a lawn .
Scarifying regularly helps stop the weed grasses spreading encourage your
good grass with regular watering feeding grooming dressing etc and maintain
a healthy sward

wrote:
[...]
After two or three weeks the seed began to grow. Great. But now
some
of the old grass has started to grow back. Perhaps we did not dig
deep
enough to get rid of all the roots? This coarser grass seems to be
spreading; which is why I ask, could it be that one grass plant is
producing runners from which more grass grows? In which case, will
the
whole lawn be overwhelmed with the old grass again soon?

Is there any way to remove the old grass? I worry that even if I
remove the random patches I have now, whether the grass next door
will
spread back under the fence?

I wouldn't worry about it. Most coarse grasses give up when mowed
regularly, and apart from a few thugs it won't matter if they don't.
You may have couch, aka twitch, by the sound of it: it sends out
runners, and is a problem weed in beds, but not in a lawn, in my own
experience.

If you gently pull up a few samples, couch will look like this:
http://www.doctorgreenfingers.co.uk/...ouch-grass.jpg

--
Mike.

In article , Mike Lyle mike_lyle_uk@REMO
VETHISyahoo.co.uk writes
wrote:
[...]
After two or three weeks the seed began to grow. Great. But now
some
of the old grass has started to grow back. Perhaps we did not dig
deep
enough to get rid of all the roots? This coarser grass seems to be
spreading; which is why I ask, could it be that one grass plant is
producing runners from which more grass grows? In which case, will
the
whole lawn be overwhelmed with the old grass again soon?

Is there any way to remove the old grass? I worry that even if I
remove the random patches I have now, whether the grass next door
will
spread back under the fence?

I wouldn't worry about it. Most coarse grasses give up when mowed
regularly, and apart from a few thugs it won't matter if they don't.
You may have couch, aka twitch, by the sound of it: it sends out
runners, and is a problem weed in beds, but not in a lawn, in my own
experience.

If you gently pull up a few samples, couch will look like this:
http://www.doctorgreenfingers.co.uk/...ouch-grass.jpg

there's quite a few 'coarse' grasses that you can get in a lawn - we get
Holcus lanatus, Yorkshire fog, which has broad leaves and therefore
looks coarse. But the coarser grasses in general seem to prefer to grow
taller, so if you keep mowing, you discourage them.
--
Kay
"Do not insult the crocodile until you have crossed the river"

In article , pied piper
writes

wrote in message
.. .

grass grows same as many other plants however there is a diference with
species of grass monocotelydens grow just one stalk and we generally cut
before the plant flowers and seeds which is why we have to nurture the lawn
to keep the plant healthy.
However some grasses are stoloniferous and spread outwards these are
generally weed grasses and not good for a lawn .

Is that generally true? A lot of the fine leaved grasses are
stoloniferous - are these not used for a lawn? I would have thought it
would be an advantage for the grass to spread outwards and thus form a
dense turf as soon as possible.

Scarifying regularly helps stop the weed grasses spreading encourage your
good grass with regular watering feeding grooming dressing etc and maintain
a healthy sward



--
Kay
"Do not insult the crocodile until you have crossed the river"

Mike Lyle wrote:
Most coarse grasses give up when mowed regularly,

pedant
mown
/pedant

wrote in message
oups.com...
Mike Lyle wrote:
Most coarse grasses give up when mowed regularly,

pedant
mown
/pedant

I've just come back from being rown on my rowing boat to read this
interesting view of grammar. However I won't mown about it, instead I'll go
out and see how the seeds are getting on which have been sowed, and sown
al...so.

On Mon, 6 Jun 2005 12:05:29 +0100, "Duncan Heenan"
wrote:


wrote in message
roups.com...
Mike Lyle wrote:
Most coarse grasses give up when mowed regularly,

pedant
mown
/pedant

I've just come back from being rown on my rowing boat to read this
interesting view of grammar. However I won't mown about it, instead I'll go
out and see how the seeds are getting on which have been sowed, and sown
al...so.

That's right, man, get DOWN to it!

Pam in Bristol

Pam Moore wrote:
On Mon, 6 Jun 2005 12:05:29 +0100, "Duncan Heenan"
wrote:


wrote in message
oups.com...
Mike Lyle wrote:
Most coarse grasses give up when mowed regularly,

pedant
mown
/pedant

I've just come back from being rown on my rowing boat to read this
interesting view of grammar. However I won't mown about it,
instead
I'll go out and see how the seeds are getting on which have been
sowed, and sown al...so.

That's right, man, get DOWN to it!

Hey, I refuse to be out-pedanted by _anybody_ !

OED clearly states that strong and weak forms of the past participle
are equally current. And COD gives both without comment. (But I
confess to a moment of uncertainty when I framed the "mowed" message:
I suspect I may use the two indiscriminately. If a devoted pedant can
be said ever to use any word indiscriminately.)

--
Mike.

"Kay" wrote in message
...
In article , pied piper
writes

wrote in message
. ..

grass grows same as many other plants however there is a diference with
species of grass monocotelydens grow just one stalk and we generally cut
before the plant flowers and seeds which is why we have to nurture the
lawn
to keep the plant healthy.
However some grasses are stoloniferous and spread outwards these are
generally weed grasses and not good for a lawn .

Is that generally true? A lot of the fine leaved grasses are
stoloniferous - are these not used for a lawn? I would have thought it
would be an advantage for the grass to spread outwards and thus form a
dense turf as soon as possible.

also form crowning

In article , pied piper
writes

"Kay" wrote in message
...
In article , pied piper
writes

wrote in message
...

grass grows same as many other plants however there is a diference with
species of grass monocotelydens grow just one stalk and we generally cut
before the plant flowers and seeds which is why we have to nurture the
lawn
to keep the plant healthy.
However some grasses are stoloniferous and spread outwards these are
generally weed grasses and not good for a lawn .

Is that generally true? A lot of the fine leaved grasses are
stoloniferous - are these not used for a lawn? I would have thought it
would be an advantage for the grass to spread outwards and thus form a
dense turf as soon as possible.

also form crowning

eh?
I'm not a lawn person - sorry, that comment is a complete mystery to me


--
Kay
"Do not insult the crocodile until you have crossed the river"

"Kay" wrote in message
...
In article , pied piper
writes

"Kay" wrote in message
...
In article , pied piper
writes

wrote in message
m...

grass grows same as many other plants however there is a diference with
species of grass monocotelydens grow just one stalk and we generally cut
before the plant flowers and seeds which is why we have to nurture the
lawn
to keep the plant healthy.
However some grasses are stoloniferous and spread outwards these are
generally weed grasses and not good for a lawn .

Is that generally true? A lot of the fine leaved grasses are
stoloniferous - are these not used for a lawn? I would have thought it
would be an advantage for the grass to spread outwards and thus form a
dense turf as soon as possible.

also form crowning

eh?
I'm not a lawn person - sorry, that comment is a complete mystery to me


--
Then dont reply to a lawn question if you dont know

In article , pied piper
writes

"Kay" wrote in message
...
In article , pied piper
writes

"Kay" wrote in message
...
eh?
I'm not a lawn person - sorry, that comment is a complete mystery to me


--
Then dont reply to a lawn question if you dont know

My 'reply' was a question. Asking a question is a rational response to a
state of not knowing, and most people would regard it as an acceptable
way of trying to increase one's knowledge. On the other hand, asking a
question about something you *do* know seems a complete waste of time.

Your response to my question consisted of the three words
'also form crowning'
and made absolutely no sense to me, so I asked for elucidation.

I have to wonder why you are participating in this group if you are not
willing to share your knowledge but simply giving enigmatic comments
which you refuse to explain.

--
Kay
"Do not insult the crocodile until you have crossed the river"