Digging up Grass !!

mr_disc

Hi all,

Scenario :

I have just dug up my front lawn (Small enough area).

Problem :

The soil seems very poor with alot of stones etc, also it is not very deep.

I was hoping to plant a few shrubs etc in this area. Would anyone know if I should just get more soil to put down for here or would a few bags of compost do ?,

Please advise !,

Thanks,D.

sillybird

I would take as much stones out as possible. You could put a few bags of compost on top but mix it with the soil underneath. did you spray the grass? you will more than likely have patchs of grass coming up next Spring but you can always use spray to kill it next Spring. When sowing your shrubs make sure to put more compost in the bottom of the hole. It should be fine.

Sonnenblumen

If the garden is part of a relatively new development I suspect you have encountered builders rubble and/or hardcore (gun metal rough grey stone). I've seen some sites where they have literally put < 100mm of topsoil above hardcore base and then seeded/fitted roll turf. Of course it looks good for a relatively short period but then everything suffers/dies when roots encounter a compacted hardcore base.

As Sillybird has already suggested, it is best that you remove all stone until you reach soil or subsoil, in the case it's the latter you will need more soil to bring levels up. Do bear in mind the deeper the backfill, the more settlement you can expect, so for every rolled depth of 200mm assume a further settlement of c10%.

It's most likely a tough task to sort out, but there are no shortcuts, unless you use a mechanical digger.

mr_disc

Hi Thanks for the replies It is a new enough development and yes unfortunately they only put a tiny bit of soil on top of rubble, a disgrace really but what can you do !.

I didn't spray the grass I literally dug it out !.

Now it seems the hard work has only started !.


Thanks again for replies.

Time to put the gloves on !!