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Hi all,
We recently moved back in our home after many years and have decided to give the lawn the best life it can have. My question is how to raise the lawn bed in line with the retaining wall without digging everything up?
It's very hard clay soil underneath, especially under the window area. I've just finished aerating it with a pitchfork and applied gypsum too. Should I just add topsoil on top slowly until it reaches my desired height?
The reason I want this raised is so that it is easier to mow and can be seen from the front of the house, not hidden by the wall.
Hello @toffeeapple
Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community. It's marvellous to have you join us, and thanks for sharing your question about raising the level of your lawn bed.
I suggest having a quick look at these discussions - How to level a sunken lawn? by @Jolly181 and How to lift turf and level lawn? by @dannymel. The general procedure suggested in the discussions are to cut and remove your existing turf so that you can add more soil, then place the turf back on top.
Adding more topsoil in your lawn might work, but it will take some time and you need to make sure to do it slowly and not to smother your existing turf in the process.
A quicker method would be to bury your current turf in topsoil and put new turf on top. Just keep in mind that there will be settling period, so you need to make sure that enough soil has been added to the area.
If you have any other questions we can help with, please let me know.
Eric
Hi @toffeeapple,
Just wanted to extend my own very warm welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community.
I trust Eric's reply was helpful, but let us know if you have any follow-up questions and please don't hesitate to post anytime you need a hand with any project around the house or garden. We're here to help.
Jason
Is there a rule of thumb of additional topsoil as a % of volume to take into account the settling period?
Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @kenblaz. It's marvellous to have you join us, and many thanks for your question about adding topsoil.
Could you tell us a little more about your project and what you're hoping to achieve? Are you adding this topsoil on top of the grass or trying to fill an area before adding grass?
If you're trying to fill an area, then you should add 25% more fill than your desired height, as it will settle and compact quite a bit. So, if you're trying to raise the soil level by 100mm, add 125mm to the area.
Just a warning about adding topsoil onto the grass to raise the level. You want want to do that incrementally and not cover the entire blade length and tip in any one application.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Mitchell
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