How to prepare backyard clay soil for laying new lawn?

[Mickey03]

 

 

 

Hi trust all is well with you guys! 

I am a  newbie here and looking forward to learn a lot of DIY stuff from your experience.  

We have recently moved to a newbuilt house and planning to do my own back yard. 
Our plan is is to have a natural grass in the backyard. The current condition of the ground is a bit hard clay soil with weeds. 

Are you able to guide me on a step by step  process on how to prepare the  backyard surface on laying new lawn including if recommended to have agpipe drainage thru out? 

i have bought necessary begginer tool such, shovel, soil spreader, manual soil compactor and shears. 

Thank you so much and looking forward for your advise. 🙏

[JacobZ]

Hi @Mickey03,

Thank you for your question and welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community, it is fantastic to have you with us.

Having a look at your back yard, it looks to be in fairly good condition, but there are certainly things you can do to increase its ability to grow new turf. 

Can you advise if you've had any significant downpours that create pooling in the back yard? 

I ask because if the water is pooling on the surface of the soil, breaking up the clay will help with drainage, and it is in your best interest for the water to penetrate into the soil as opposed to being carried away. If there is an obvious area where water is pooling and could potentially cause erosion in the future, you could install ag line and have it plumbed into a stormwater outlet, but having it drain away may not 100% be in your best interests.

I would start by physically removing the weeds on the top of the soil and turning it to break it up. Physically removing the weeds will stop the potential for them to grow back through the turf and turning the soil will aerate it allowing water to flow through more easily, allowing the turfs roots to follow it and grow to a greater depth.

The weeds can be removed with a hoe such as this Cyclone Courtyard Timber Weeder / Hoe. Once removed, they should be disposed of to prevent them regrowing.

The soil can then be turned with a cultivator or better yet a Rotary Tiller which can be hired in conjunction with our friends at Coates Hire. 

After this, I'd suggest adding a layer around 50mm of top dressing, which can be purchased in bags such as this Scotts Lawn Builder 25L Organic Lawn Soil Topdress & Underlay and often in  bulk bags through the Special Orders desk at your local store. Bulk bags are region specific, so if you'd like to go with this option, I'd suggest contacting your local store's Special Orders desk to enquire as to their availability.

Once your top-dress is down, you should level it with your soil spreader and apply a wetting agent before laying your turf.

This process should give you a great foundation for your lawn to thrive.

Allow me to tag some of our members with experience on this type of project to see if they have any further advice, @homeinmelbourne, @Adam_W, @vegie82.

You might also like to have a look at How To Lay Turf for some further guidance and New lawn and drainage over clay soil for an example of a similar project.

Let me know if you have any further questions.

Jacob

[Mickey03]

Hi Jacob,

Appreciate your quick response. This is a great tips for me to start. 
Regarding downpours , not really and site is relatively flat, but maybe best to still have the drain laid across for future downpour problem? 
I wiii give it a go this weekend and follow your steps. 
With the topsoil or soil topdress, is it better if I order per cubic meter? Was it more cheaper? 

Many Thanks

Mickey

[MitchellMc]

Hi @Mickey03,

It's always best to address any potential drainage issues now rather than later. 

Ordering large bulk quantities is almost always going to be the more budget-friendly option.

Mitchell

[R4addZ]

Hi @Mickey03,

With Clay soil you can use lime to break it down but I would go to a feed merchant with 3 or 4 samples of soil from around the area and have the soil analysed. From this they will be able to tell you exactly how to prepare the soil. I did this with a house I built some years ago and a local tv station did an aerial shot of the estate and the only two things that were green was one houses roof and my front lawn (grown from seed). Iron sulphate is good for greening up the lawn but be careful as it will stain concrete, stone and brickwork.

As with all chemicals, get the proper handling instructions then follow them (Lime can burn the skin) and follow the experts advice.