northgarden
09-01-2009, 01:44 AM
As part of a larger re-landscaping of my yard I plan to rip out what's left of my grass (clover is becoming the dominant species with assorted other weeds). Our soil is a clay that is as hard as concrete when it's hot and dry and supports standing water when wet. My goal is to make the soil a much friendlier place for a lawn.
Since there is a lot of germinating weeds tough enough to grow in the clay, I thought I would start by removing the top three to four inches (it's about 5,100 sq. ft of lawn), then getting enough sandy loam to fill in most of that, the till it with the top few inches of clay with the goal of getting about 4 or five inches of amended soil, (I would also mix in anything else needed bases on a soil test). Then, because I want to raise the elevation of the lawn a few inches, I would cover that amended soil with three inches of top soil/compost.
I'd be putting in an in-ground sprinkler system before getting grass seed that might do well in my area (hard to find much good info on that in Southern Ontario). There's a short Fall window to do this up here, beginning about the third week of October.
I realize what I'm proposing is costly but I don't mind spending more to get a lawn that is healthy and with good watering practices can be easily well-maintained.
What do you think of my plans? What would you suggest doing differently?
Since there is a lot of germinating weeds tough enough to grow in the clay, I thought I would start by removing the top three to four inches (it's about 5,100 sq. ft of lawn), then getting enough sandy loam to fill in most of that, the till it with the top few inches of clay with the goal of getting about 4 or five inches of amended soil, (I would also mix in anything else needed bases on a soil test). Then, because I want to raise the elevation of the lawn a few inches, I would cover that amended soil with three inches of top soil/compost.
I'd be putting in an in-ground sprinkler system before getting grass seed that might do well in my area (hard to find much good info on that in Southern Ontario). There's a short Fall window to do this up here, beginning about the third week of October.
I realize what I'm proposing is costly but I don't mind spending more to get a lawn that is healthy and with good watering practices can be easily well-maintained.
What do you think of my plans? What would you suggest doing differently?