Lawn problems.

[KimT]

We have the most shocking crappy lawn anyone would ever wish to have!
We have a north facing garden which is not huge and the grass doesn't particularly grow and when it rains it is absolutely water logged and is like an ice rink/mud pie and yes I have gone over on it several ������..not happy. The water just doesn�t seem to drain away and sits on the top with grass floating on it.

We do have chickens which are kept off the lawn but I wonder if anyone is a lawn expert here that can offer some advice.

Would planting some really really thirsty tree�s in the garden help?

Thanks.

[jackie j]

Bit like my garden then lol Sorry cant help but someone will soon.

[Two_Sheds]

Grass likes sunny positions.
If you have a shady North patch, it will never thrive.

I am digging my lawns up and turning them into flower borders. My North patch is now full of foxgloves and hellebores.

[vicky]

Have to agree with the above...I'd get rid of the lawn and replace it with paving/gravel/bark and more raised beds (to avoid waterlogging).

If you're desperate for grass you could have a large raised bed with the lawn in it and use shady grass seed

[Glutton4...]

Astroturf?

I know people who have done it. Especially those with hoards of footie-playing kids. It stays green all year round and you don't have to mow it. Alternatively, you could try googling 'shady grass mix' or something similar, as I know a few of the major Turf-growers supply turf (and presumably seed too) for shady applications.

Good luck!

[petal]

You need to put drainage pipes in, lots of sand then returf with a turf that accepts shade.

[snuffer]

Before doing anything drastic, a lot of your problems might just come from compacting of the soil, try going over the entire lawn with a garden fork or a hollow tine rake (fork probably best as it will penetrate further) and make lots of holes. After this cover grass with a thin layer of sharp sand and then brush this (just with a normal yard brush) into the holes. That should go some way to improving the drainage.

If drainage seems better after that then it will be worth scarifieing the lawn to remove all the old grass and moss. Be brave because the lawn will look even worse after a good scarifying. The next step would be to scatter some new seed (as others have suggested try and find a seed mix for shady areas). Once the new seed is well established give the lawn a feed and all should be OK.

Good Luck.

[KimT]

Thank you for your info Snuffer.

I have in the past done what you suggest and last year I used some 20-10-10 on it and boy did it look fab thick lush and green but now it's back to it's usual yuky mess. I will battle on as I don't want gravel and slabs.

If you think of anything else that may help please let me know............I'm all ears.

Thanks

[HeyWayne]

We have a similar problem to you as our garden is north facing, and we have a load of trees on the west side of the garden, so it can be quite shaded. Added to the fact that we have an oak tree overhanging the garden which dumps tonnes of leaves in the garden in autumn - it takes quite some looking after. The benefit of the trees is that they take a fair bit of the moisture away, but because we're heavy clay it still can get quite waterlogged (due to a drainage issue we had a couple of years ago we had contractors dig a 6x6x6ft hole in our lawn to peform a "percolation test" which involved filling said hole with water, covering it over and leaving it for a week or two to see how much water drained away). Needless to say when they came back we still had a rather rugged looking plunge pool.

I'd go along with the sand/aeration method above - it'll improve the upper layer enough so that the grass can breathe and drain as it needs. You'll probably, like me, have to do this every year. Even then, in the shady bits I get more moss than grass during the winter months.

Good luck.

[Hilary B]

If you have a 'waterlogging' problem, then you need to assess where the water is coming from (ie just rain, or is it running down a slope to this area), and where it could go to (what is the soil like underneath, is there a handy ditch it could be directed towards). If water is running off a hill to make this area wet, you need to make a diversion ditch, so that water goes elsewhere.

If scarifying etc was a temporary fix, you might need to go for the more drastic version, land-drains. Unless you are on a level site with a water-proof subsoil or high water table, it WILL be possible to make a real improvement, but it DOES require a lot of effort and time.