My lawn is on poor draining clay soil. What I am in the process of doing this year I have removed 4” of clay and replacing it with 4” rootzone. Additionally I am drilling 6” holes across the entire area and back filling them with limestone chipping and topsoil. Like you mentioned it may not cure the problem but I’m sure it will get the lawn to drain more freely

@NoviceGardener

2 ай бұрын

Sounds good! Hope it goes well!

You definitely need to have the drainage deep not only for the reason you mention but to allow for when you aerate. Good luck and looking forward to following your progress.

Man, I love these videos. I’m learning how to take care of my lawn since the last 2-3 years and it’s great to see you analyzing what’s working, what’s not and what to do next. It’ll make it all the more satisfying once you crack it.

@NoviceGardener

2 ай бұрын

Nice one! 👍🏻

Love watching your videos, really looking forward to seeing the drainage go in and how it helps

Great plan mate, I think it will do wonders for your bottom lawn, can't wait to see your videos for the work and the results

Thanks to you and a few others and your combined inspiration I've started my own KZread channel today 🙏.

well done mate i like the way you think you are smart and you have done your research and presented it well. your lawns are in a challenging situation good luck

Good man!!,you've taken the best route with drainage,it won't look pretty but it will solve the waterlogging.

Looking forward to the results. I’m having the same issues and use rye grass so hopefully the fescue seed works then I’ll take the plunge to lol

good plan. as you say the water needs to be able to move somewhere.

Very exciting and look forward to following the fescue project. Interesting that you will kill the existing lawn and start afresh, I’m over-seeding ryegrass with fescue/bent so a good comparison. I like the French drain idea and can see why it’s needed in your lawn. Great explanations as always.

I'm doing the exact same to my lawn.. digging a big french drain throughout and connecting to my existing french drain

Great plan that man! 👏🏻 great comment random hero 🤲🏻

Love the French Drain idea, but......would diagonals rather than verticals be better as they'll cover more area ??. Just a thought

Maybe you need a load of gypsum in that lawn before you put any soil on it, it will help break up that clay and help with drainage, plus less expensive than a load of drains

@TheReelMowingMowingClub

2 ай бұрын

gypsum will take time though. Lawnright mentions this on his channel . I applied some to mine along with a shed tonne of sand based rootzone.

Your top lawn could probably do with a mix that’s suitable to shaded areas

Be interesting to see what choice you make with seed. My rear lawn lacks sunlight in winter. It was Barenbrug Extreme Ryegrass but I’ve just gone with HM.3 Hard Wearing Lawn mix from Hurrells which is a mix of Fescue and Rye. Good luck and I’m sure it will be back to full health once the drainage is sorted. If you have time id spray the old lawn off so you have a blank canvas to work with.

@NoviceGardener

2 ай бұрын

Hoping to get the seed for it this week. Also, did what you said, sprayed it with roundup a couple of weeks ago. Most has gone yellow now. It should all be dead by the time I seed next week.

As for drainage I’ve seen some videos from other lawn care content, about aeration, you have recent done your with a fork, you thought about using one of those that pull out a core out the ground? Could help the soil absorb moisture n make your ground less compacted?

@NoviceGardener

2 ай бұрын

Going to be doing that this week to help also 👍🏻

Or why not use a mix of both like normal people and stop cutting it too short in winter. I guess it will be good to see the differance

I also have a shaded garden which every year would become much like yours by end of summer. Last spring I scarified it and re seeded it with a shade grass mix, looked the best it ever has and continued to through the winter .

@bensdb

2 ай бұрын

What seed mix did you buy?

@SPinder-qw6yg

2 ай бұрын

@@bensdb I bought from Garden Lawncare Guy , his products have all been very good that I've had plus his services are excellent. Highly recommend it.

@SPinder-qw6yg

2 ай бұрын

​@@bensdb I bought from Garden Lawncare Guy, I have purchased a number of lawn products from him, excellent service and products I highly recommend him.

Hey, I'm very sorry about the result not being what you expected. I live wonderful county of Lincolnshire, we and I have the same problem with clay soil here. Thinking of digging it up and doing what you've done. Someone recommended using gypsum on clay, apparently it should work, as well as aerating the soil by taking plugs out and filling the holes with compost.

@NoviceGardener

2 ай бұрын

I've heard the same. Going to try filling the plugs with sand this year and see how it gets on. Just going to make a couple of tweaks each year until I get the right balance!

I like the plan going forward 👌🏾 however that red Robin really needs to get trimmed down , I warned you when you 1st planted it , it's grows very fast and you will end up with no leaves at the bottom with big thick long stems and all your leaves at the top I can see that has started to happen, I would let it grown no more than 1 metre high , I have 2 and one is around 9ft tall and it's a big problem the other is 5ft , of I could go back in time I too wouldnt let it grow more than 1m. Can't wait to see this new lawn renovation 🍿

@NoviceGardener

2 ай бұрын

That's on my list for Easter weekend, which is now shaping up to be a busy one! 😅

my lawns premiership pro and it was very thin and patchy so ive just overseeded it today

@TheReelMowingMowingClub

2 ай бұрын

I had issues with A1 seed so switched to Johnsons Premier Pitch. Not a problem since

Just a idea I'm thinking about at the moment but have you ever heard of vertical drains, basically use a fence post drill to make holes across the grass and add some limestone. Apparently popular in the Netherlands but I have seen it catching on here and the US.

@TheReelMowingMowingClub

2 ай бұрын

I understand what your talking about, however at the bottom of the drain, depending on how deep you go, there will be clay and the water will sit ontop of this? water needs to go somewhere.

@NoviceGardener

2 ай бұрын

I did consider this. But like Reel Mowing said, the clay just acts like a bowl and the water can't penetrate through! I started digging the drain yesterday and the clay beneath is horrendous - water doesn't have a chance unless drained away somewhere else.

@whizzy666

2 ай бұрын

@@NoviceGardener ye both fair points maybe I'll have to re-think it for my own, look forward to seeing what you do. 👍🏻

How do u get rid of the grass? Roarator or lawn cutter

I’ve seen you’ve used premiership pro in the past which is basically 100% rye, maybe that’s your issue, maybe go for another mix.

I'd love to havee a more solid plan to fix the drainagee in my garden but I rent so i'm not fancying putting in the work required. Just scalped, scarified and overseeded my lan today hoping the lan gods will look after me

@NoviceGardener

2 ай бұрын

Hope it works out well 👍🏻

Enjoying watching your progress but man you really can talk for England 😅

@NoviceGardener

2 ай бұрын

🤣

Any advice on how to look after a 4 month old lawn. Laid from turf last December for a new build. I've not touched it except removing some dock patches.

@NoviceGardener

2 ай бұрын

I'd get on and fertilise it. It will show up any problem patches.

@Danceup-dh6kn

2 ай бұрын

@@NoviceGardener thank you,!

If your new build is anything like mine, you will struggle with cutting those trenches. I only have to go down 300mm and hit rubble left over from the builders. Impossible to dig any further without an excavator!

@NoviceGardener

2 ай бұрын

Tell me about it! Once I got about 300mm like you said, it was hard graft chipping through the rest!

Where do you get your clover multi compost from ? How many litres per bag and how much ?

@NoviceGardener

2 ай бұрын

I get it from my local garden centre. 2 bags for £13.

Does it matter what type of compost is used to top dress a lawn? Or will any multi-purpose compost do the job?

@NoviceGardener

2 ай бұрын

Any will do the job. Just make sure you don't have lots of large pieces in it.

No don’t kill it off, just over sow with the new seed, the Rye will die off It has to, but your better off keeping a variety

@SilverTrill

2 ай бұрын

Because he going to add new drainage there no point keeping it , it will prob due anyway with the amount of walking he going to do when doing the drainage

do youre drainage channel in a herringbone pattern

@sparty328

2 ай бұрын

Definitely agree with this advice and it’s how I done mine.

Fescue is a drought tolerant and wont do well there. A fescue bent is far better...seed companies will sell you anything....also, the front lawns are thriving because of the content of fescue (although cant see exactly)

@stevenbelcher5658

2 ай бұрын

Agreed. I had fescue in damp areas in my front lawn and it all died off in those areas but . This year i'm digging it out and replacing the soil with 50-60% loam and 40-50% silica sand combined with a fescue bent mix.

@NoviceGardener

2 ай бұрын

Is there a specific mix you’d recommend? I have had a look at a lot of fescue bent mixes, but they’re on the pricey side.

@stevenbelcher5658

2 ай бұрын

AberMajesty 1kg added to the a1 platinim pro fescue mix. Higly rated for colour, density, deisease resistance etc. @@NoviceGardener

@danwillson8393

2 ай бұрын

If you use fescue bent mix, then your need to overseed each year will hopefully be dramatically reduced…thus saving you money over the longer term compared to the rye route. I like you, am very much in the amateur category and while I thought that absorbing lots and lots of different YT videos on lawns was helping my knowledge of what to do, they really did not at all. Your videos are great as they show an honest open view on what you are trying to do, when it works and when it does not. If you want to learn about all things related to lawns, from different seed types, how they are impacted, drainage issues, what scarifying actually does so why you should do it etc then I would highly recommend the Lawn Association videos if you haven’t already watched them. I have a far greater understanding about my lawn from watching them than all the other instructional videos I have seen elsewhere. Keep up your videos, will be interesting to see how the drainage and your back goes over the coming weeks!

Why dont you just use a mix of rye and fescue?

Wouldn’t it be easier and cheaper the dig it all up and replace it with a few tons of 70/30 top soil.

sounds like a lot of work

@SilverTrill

2 ай бұрын

It's good he doing it now while soil is wet should be easy to cut through , it will be worth it in the end

Hire a small walk behind trencher will save so much time only about £100 for the day

@NoviceGardener

2 ай бұрын

I wish I had done this! Started yesterday. I'm about half way done. It's safe to say, I'm having a few days off to recover! 😅

Have you checked for grubs?