Grass has really struggled in places. I think it’s because the ground is packed solid. I was thinking it was because it’s to clay-ey but when I take a sample it breaks into hard chunks but the chunks do crumble into fine powder, it’s not malleable like the internet says clay would be.

Question is, with compacted soil, should I dig the whole lot over or just aerate it? There are three sections to our lawn, one is ok, one is so-so and the worst one is the one I am thinking of digging up – not very big so won’t take that long. The bad section is about 30% bare dirt, 50% rubbish grass and 20% reasonable grass.

How much can be rescued by aerating? It’s pretty solidly compacted. Might need more organic matter. Also – re-seeding at this time of year could be a challenge.

Leave it until next spring. Go at it with a fork and loosen it all up.

Dig a bit of compost and grass seed into the mix and spend the next 6 months mowing like mad to keep it below waist height

Buy a hollow core tine fork. About £12. Brush sharp sand into the cores or leave them open to the air. Will relieve compaction and improve drainage.

It’s a backbreaking shift but will solve your problem.

Perchy is correct! 8) wait until the ground is very soft though!

save your back… hire a Petrol Aerator

I think I’m going to aerate, brush in compost then do the patches. If it’s still shite in the spring, it’ll be dug up. Aeration might best be done next week after it’s rained. Maybe I can have a quick ride tonight before the footie instead of digging 🙂

Machine aerator won’t work in here – too small and too hilly.

Clay will not be soft and malleable if it is dry. Clay is made up of very fine particles, so when dry and you crumble it it will look like dust. Take one of the lumps, stick it in water and it will look like wet clay

I had similar problems with my garden, ended up getting a gardener in to sort the lawn out. There’s only so much time you should spend on a lawn ..

I think I’m going to aerate, brush in compost then do the patches.

Sharp sand for the holes you create with the hollow tine fork.

A 50:50 mix of compost and sharp sand for the patches.

A regular spray of WD40 on/ in the tines of the fork make it all go a bit smoother and quicker. You’ll need a bucket / trug to put the cores in as you go.

Couldn’t find an aerator in shops, couldn’t e bothered to order one so made lots of holes with a fork. Seemed to help more than I was expecting in wet ground actually, the tines going in broke up the soil so enough holes seem to have loosened it up loads.

Bought peat free compost but it’s much more fibrous than the peat so not sure how much if it has gone down the holes. Anyway over seeded it, let’s see what happens.

I did the holes with a regular garden fork waggled about a bit then filled with sand. Tedious work but seems to be paying dividends slowly.

have a similarly knackered lawn, with turf that was laid onto a bed of ash above stiff clay (new build when we bought, 14 yrs ago). Only upside is that it doesn’t need cut often !

I bought some of those aereator spikes than attach like an overshoe the other year and waited till it was nice and soggy to give it a go…… Pure comedy, with many ‘stuck in ground and falling over’ moments, much to the amusement of the kids. 🙂

The spikes went in the bin the same day !

I did the holes with a regular garden fork waggled about a bit

…and further compacted the bits inbetween the holes.

@iainc – Video? 🙂

Well the holes are a few inches apart.. and I worked backwards to avoid stepping on the holey bits 🙂

Didn’t add sand in the end cos b&q didn’t have any and I was wary of builders sand, plus having had a good look it was a bit sandy already from the last time I added sand. Having read up, it’s not as clay-ey as I thought, it seems.

You should be able to buy lawn dressing at a garden centre – mix of fine sand and soil. I use it to build up dips etc..