Heavily compacted soil

oleras

Hi folks, I had some work done between last summer and this and the soil has become very compacted from heavy machinery, it didnt help when a lot of work was completed on a very rainy day !

Its holding water now, which it never did before, im ready to reseed it but wondering will a good rotovate and a few inches of topsoil sort it or would i need to get the soil/mud removed. Its really only the left hand side, the rest has been sprayed and it ready for seed.

I really need a few dry days.

Lumen

I'd been inclined to sow a green manure and let the roots break up the soil.

https://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/sites/www.gardenorganic.org.uk/files/Sort-Out-Your-Soil-Final.pdf

"Some green manures species are particularly good at improving problems with soil structure. Lucerne, chicory and sweet clover have a strong tap root that can break through compacted soils or those with a plough pan. The fibrous root system of cocksfoot is good at improving soil crumb structure."

oleras

Quick update.

I really wanted to have grass seed down before the end of the month so i hired a mini digger, removed the earth bank that i never wanted and the few days of sunshine and lots of hard work and sweat blood and tears ill be spreading seed later today hopefully.



I had never driven one of these before, a steep learning curve, and i really felt i left the ground in as bad condition as when i started.





I then hired a heavy duty rotovator/cultivator, this thing was a beast, really impressed with how effective it was. felt it in my arms and shoulders the next day but was worth it.



After a few passes.



I wasnt able to hire a stone rake so had to do it by hand, amazed the amount i got out.



A light roll yesterday afternoon and then it started to rain so will finish it later and spread the seed.

listermint

Nice one, alot of sweat went into that. I'd say your delighted with the finish though.

oleras

listermint wrote: »

Nice one, alot of sweat went into that. I'd say your delighted with the finish though.

Lets just say i never want to see a rake ever again.

Raked it again today and seeded it, then lightly raked it again.

Ghetofarmulous

This is class. Very well done. Bet it feels great

oleras

Ghetofarmulous wrote: »

This is class. Very well done. Bet it feels great

Its still fairly bumpy in places, i wasnt looking for a putting green but im sure a heavy roll next march/april will even things out a tad.

ShiverinEskimo

Lie a ladder flat and drag it along with rope. Acts as a giant leveller and will help you spot bumps and divots.

oleras

Just a quick update, a few months on and looking ok, still a bit patchy but a nice improvement on what i started with.

Applied Evergreen 4 in 1 around 10 days ago.

albernazj93

Wow, looks great

promethius

That is excellent! I'm sure you're looking with great pride at it now, and you should be.

Zardoz

That looks great .
What type of grass seed did you use out of curiosity ?

oleras

Zardoz wrote: »

That looks great .
What type of grass seed did you use out of curiosity ?

No. 2 Lawn Seed from https://seeddirect.ie/index.php/lawn-seed.html

ShiverinEskimo

Looks amazing. Well done. After 6 years of settling my lawn is undulating a good bit and it filled with tramlines from the lawnmower. Be a bit of a job now to level it out but it's annoying all the same. I also get a lof of weeds blown in from an idle field next door so the work never stops.

Will tackle the tramlines at some stage this year when I can get a pallet of peat moss delivered. My advice to everyone is: mow your lawn a different pattern week by week if you can. Advice I wish I had 6 years ago before I really had reason to learn about lawn management.