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Nightmare lawn recovery

#1 · 17th April 2024, 10:01 am

Hi all,

New here, looking for more opinions on how to go about saving my lawn. Had the input of several experienced people but advice is varied and it's a very difficult problem to resolve. Main facts:

- new build on heavy clay (house 4 years old)

- severe waterlogging and flooding at first, builder agreed to install significant drainage more than a year after purchase. Work done well with extensive piping in branched channels connected to the main drain

- garden slopes towards the house

- added raised beds at the top and either side to aid water absorption and flagged the bottom next to the house (with drainage underneath) as so boggy

- lawn in total shade all winter, top half of lawn in full sun all summer

- have reseeded annually

- this winter extensive moss growth due to weather (affected all local area badly), applied lawn sand a few weeks ago and have removed all dead moss

The plan I have is to use the hollow tine aerator I bought to firstly aerate, then top dress using Westland lawn and turf dressing (already purchased), then reseed with the specialist seed I bought for clay soil. This is a mix of 70% tetraploid perennial ryegrass and 30% tall fescue. The problem is, the ground is now so bald after removing the moss that when it rains water puddles on top, especially around the sides, and is so wet that I am unable to start this process of aeration. By the time the ground is dry enough to do the work, it will be so late the ground at the top will begin its annual hardening due to the clay. The lawn goes from one extreme to another at the top but remains moist at the bottom year round.

Does anyone have any advice here, specifically how do I complete the work when the ground isn't getting any chance to dry up? We live in the very wet northwest UK so get a huge amount of rain. Any seed laid now will just rot and fail to germinate, or simply wash away to the bottom of the garden.

Any help gratefully received!

#2 · 19th April 2024, 3:48 pm

Hi @peperomia29

Gosh, what a nightmare. I do have a few ideas, but I could do with seeing a few pictures first. If you can upload them I'll then reply.

All the best

Lee Garden Ninja

#3 · 19th April 2024, 6:14 pm

Hi Lee,

I've (hopefully, if it's worked) attached a couple of photos of the whole lawn taken from above immediately after I did a cut once I'd removed the dead moss, and a few closer up after it had rained. You can see how badly soaked it is!

The problem is we get many frequent showers that can be very heavy so the ground isn't getting a chance to dry up, and because it's so dense the water isn't reaching the drainage effectively. It's also still very cold here which isn't helping at all.

I'm getting some stepping stones laid on the right hand side of the lawn at the end of this week so that when I do aerate we'll still be able to use the washing line and have access to the top patio without walking on the grass and further compacting it or squashing grass seedlings.

Any help much appreciated!

Uploaded files:

#4 · 22nd April 2024, 7:56 am

Quote from Lee Garden Ninja on 22nd April 2024, 7:56 am
Hi @peperomia29
Oh dear, thats really frustrating, isn't it. Firstly, can I just congratulate you on not giving up on this one? I see countless poorly drained newly built gardens where people either totally pave them, pushing the water into neighbouring gardens or worst, Astro or artificial turfing the space, which is a simply unacceptable way of gardening given the following problems:
Fake grass cannot be recycled at the end of its life
It gets clogged with dirt, leaves and waste
It is too hot to walk on in the summer
Literally fries the soil underneath in the summer, killing all life
You've done the right thing having the drain put in, and as some reassurance, last winter was the wettest I have ever remembered. My garden is saturated. It looks waterlogged and like there's a drainage issue when there isn't. So I think that maybe part of it is that you're trying to l with the worst conditions.
I have a few solutions for you to give you some options as I really don't want this bad experience to put you off gardening.
Firstly I really would wait until things dry out a bit. It's rained non stop. Everywhere is so wet. So I would hold the horses on the new lawn seed, leave whats down and then when its dry I'd sieve over some compost just to help those seeds germinate. I mean the lightest amount of compost to assist.
I will leave the hollow tine aeration until September if I'm honest. Given everything you've had to do to the garden, the oil could really do with a break, and you'll just further compact it. It needs to fully dry out and have a summer of rest. Same with feeds and treatments. Cut the lawn and leave it as it is.
The next option when you get through to September is to consider adding a 1m border around that patio nearest the house to make it more dynamic. Then, plant it with a mix of bog or damp condition-loving plants and a few suitable shrubs. Not only does this work with what you've got, but it would also take your garden design away from 'everything at the edge' and make it more dynamic. Then, even in the wettest months, you've got something lovely to look at whilst still keeping some lawn. This is the method I would apply. Then you can actually fall in love with the garden! I'd be happy to use my consult service to plan this for you and explain further how you can elevate your garden.
I do hope that helps and please keep us updated on your space.
Don't give up and thanks for being one of the good gardeners (sorry astro turf gardeners but next time, choose life).
Lee Garden Ninja

Hi @peperomia29

Oh dear, thats really frustrating, isn't it. Firstly, can I just congratulate you on not giving up on this one? I see countless poorly drained newly built gardens where people either totally pave them, pushing the water into neighbouring gardens or worst, Astro or artificial turfing the space, which is a simply unacceptable way of gardening given the following problems:

Fake grass cannot be recycled at the end of its life
It gets clogged with dirt, leaves and waste
It is too hot to walk on in the summer
Literally fries the soil underneath in the summer, killing all life

You've done the right thing having the drain put in, and as some reassurance, last winter was the wettest I have ever remembered. My garden is saturated. It looks waterlogged and like there's a drainage issue when there isn't. So I think that maybe part of it is that you're trying to l with the worst conditions.

I have a few solutions for you to give you some options as I really don't want this bad experience to put you off gardening.

Firstly I really would wait until things dry out a bit. It's rained non stop. Everywhere is so wet. So I would hold the horses on the new lawn seed, leave whats down and then when its dry I'd sieve over some compost just to help those seeds germinate. I mean the lightest amount of compost to assist.

I will leave the hollow tine aeration until September if I'm honest. Given everything you've had to do to the garden, the oil could really do with a break, and you'll just further compact it. It needs to fully dry out and have a summer of rest. Same with feeds and treatments. Cut the lawn and leave it as it is.

The next option when you get through to September is to consider adding a 1m border around that patio nearest the house to make it more dynamic. Then, plant it with a mix of bog or damp condition-loving plants and a few suitable shrubs. Not only does this work with what you've got, but it would also take your garden design away from 'everything at the edge' and make it more dynamic. Then, even in the wettest months, you've got something lovely to look at whilst still keeping some lawn. This is the method I would apply. Then you can actually fall in love with the garden! I'd be happy to use my consult service to plan this for you and explain further how you can elevate your garden.

I do hope that helps and please keep us updated on your space.

Don't give up and thanks for being one of the good gardeners (sorry astro turf gardeners but next time, choose life).

Lee Garden Ninja

#5 · 22nd April 2024, 8:23 am

Quote from Peperomia29 on 22nd April 2024, 8:23 am
Hi Lee,
Thank you so much for that valuable advice. The reason I haven't given up on the grass is precisely because I am strongly opposed to plastic lawns (which I refer to as plastic rugs!) for the reasons you listed. They are so damaging for the environment and would only worsen the water problems we have. They also look terrible in my opinion. Unfortunately one of our uphill neighbours flagged half of their garden and laid a plastic rug on the other half so we now get even more water due to their run off. They have no drainage other than a rudimentary thin land drain running around the perimeter connected to nothing, which doesn't reduce the amount of water running into our garden and in fact directs even more of it towards us. This is on the right hand side of our garden and you can see how badly waterlogged that side is in the photographs.
My concern with not aerating until early autumn is that because the ground is so severely compacted, any seed laid down now will fail to germinate as the tiny roots will be unable to penetrate the thick soil. I was definitely planning on waiting at least several more weeks to do the work due to how wet it still is and that there are weeks of showers still forecast. It is reassuring to know the rain was particularly bad nationwide this winter as it explains why extensive moss appeared for the first time and why so much of the lawn died.
Your suggestion to create a bed along the bottom patio is a brilliant idea and I have considered it previously, however I was concerned about one thing - we had the raised beds built so that the plant roots wouldn't interfere with the drainage system, would this not be an issue if bog plants were planted straight into the ground around the patio where there is a buried drainage pipe?
I have struggled so much finding water loving plants that will tolerate the terrible conditions too. At the bottom of the raised beds I have opted for a few evergreen ferns, a hosta and several shrubs recommended by the fella at the garden centre after describing the conditions (I am not good at remembering plant names!). I also have a sun tolerant hosta at the top of one bed, two spiraeas, a salvia, dicentra, astilbe and several heucheras. Any ideas on which plants would survive and hopefully thrive at the bottom of the lawn over winter when it's particularly soaking and dark would be great.
Thanks again for your advice, I am fairly new to gardening after moving from a rental house with a beautiful, well established old south-facing garden requiring little maintenance to a bare patch of sopping wet clay and starting from scratch!

Hi Lee,

Thank you so much for that valuable advice. The reason I haven't given up on the grass is precisely because I am strongly opposed to plastic lawns (which I refer to as plastic rugs!) for the reasons you listed. They are so damaging for the environment and would only worsen the water problems we have. They also look terrible in my opinion. Unfortunately one of our uphill neighbours flagged half of their garden and laid a plastic rug on the other half so we now get even more water due to their run off. They have no drainage other than a rudimentary thin land drain running around the perimeter connected to nothing, which doesn't reduce the amount of water running into our garden and in fact directs even more of it towards us. This is on the right hand side of our garden and you can see how badly waterlogged that side is in the photographs.

My concern with not aerating until early autumn is that because the ground is so severely compacted, any seed laid down now will fail to germinate as the tiny roots will be unable to penetrate the thick soil. I was definitely planning on waiting at least several more weeks to do the work due to how wet it still is and that there are weeks of showers still forecast. It is reassuring to know the rain was particularly bad nationwide this winter as it explains why extensive moss appeared for the first time and why so much of the lawn died.

Your suggestion to create a bed along the bottom patio is a brilliant idea and I have considered it previously, however I was concerned about one thing - we had the raised beds built so that the plant roots wouldn't interfere with the drainage system, would this not be an issue if bog plants were planted straight into the ground around the patio where there is a buried drainage pipe?

I have struggled so much finding water loving plants that will tolerate the terrible conditions too. At the bottom of the raised beds I have opted for a few evergreen ferns, a hosta and several shrubs recommended by the fella at the garden centre after describing the conditions (I am not good at remembering plant names!). I also have a sun tolerant hosta at the top of one bed, two spiraeas, a salvia, dicentra, astilbe and several heucheras. Any ideas on which plants would survive and hopefully thrive at the bottom of the lawn over winter when it's particularly soaking and dark would be great.

Thanks again for your advice, I am fairly new to gardening after moving from a rental house with a beautiful, well established old south-facing garden requiring little maintenance to a bare patch of sopping wet clay and starting from scratch!