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Help

I hope someone can help please! We moved into a new build house at the end of September last year. The developers turfed the garden & told us to leave it well alone until Feb/Mar of this year - being novices we did just that however the 'lawn' is so wet and boggy the garden is unusable! We have a dog who likes  to do his business on the grass which is fine by us but the mud comes half way up his legs & all over my shoes when I'm scooping the poop!!! 

We've cut the grass today in the hope that this will somehow dry the lawm out but it looks a complete mess. We've had the builders back who said it's not a problem it's just because of the wet weather we've had but the small piece of lawn at the front of the house is fine no problems with no standing water or mud on this and that was laid at the same time. 

Please can someone offer advice, we live in the Lake Didtrict which is probably one of the wettest areas in England - at this rate we're not going to be able to learn how to garden as all we have is mud and rain in this part of the world can be constant! We just don't know how to make the garden useable for us and our dog without being covered in mud.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated - thank you. 

Posts

  • Orchid LadyOrchid Lady Posts: 5,800

    Oh Claire, what a nightmare for you and such a shame.  I live near Blackpool and have a well established lawn and even that is still a bit boggy in places with all the rain we have had, we also have 2 dogs so can empathise with you on that too.  Unfortunately I can't offer any advice, I just didn't want you to feel ignored and hopefully me posting will bump it up and someone can help.

    Welcome to the forum by the way image

  • Dave MorganDave Morgan Posts: 3,123

    I think you need to find what the subsoil is like. New build land is often compacted by heavy vehicles.

    Most builders aren't gardeners and lawns are thrown down to please the new purchasers.

    I'd start by getting a fork out and digging down about 2- 3 feet and see what you come across, one test pit, not the whole lawn.

    You will find plenty of rubble and builders waste. if it's hard work, then you have a lot of work in front of you to improve the drainage, as the only way to break up compacted soil is by breaking it up manually, and removing the builders waste.

    Importing top soil wont work as water will still have no where to go.

    I can't offer an easy solution, but someone on here may have a different solution.

  • Kevin daleKevin dale Posts: 135

    Hi clare if you have a garden fork stick it the grass as deep as you can pull it out go from one side to the other then in between rows leave a six inch gap and then start again try to stay off it if you can also you could get builders sharp sand then brush it in to the holes to improve drainage hope that helps 

  • Busy Bee2Busy Bee2 Posts: 1,005

    I agree with doing a test pit in the lawn - find out what you've got under there - and don't worry about the fact you are digging a hole in your lawn.  Lawns are pretty easy to fix, and in the long run, knowing what you are up against will be well worth the investigation. 

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