New Lawn on compacted sand / earth

Ben Mavely

Hi all, 

I have taken up a patio, and the laborious task of breaking up and removing the concrete so now i'm left with earth / sand, which is very compacted.

It's all level and there are no problems with drainage, water seem to be absorbed / soak away well.

I've ordered enough top soil to allow for a coverage of roughly 2 inches for the new turf to be laid on to.

Question is, is it recommended that I turn the compacted earth / soil then level it or fork it all for extra drainage before laying my top soil or will I be ok to just lay it all on top?

Thanks in advance

keepitlive

If you turn the earth, you will have to wait for it to settle again and/or use some means of mechanical compaction.

I am still trying to find the time to build up an area of my garden prior to sowing lawn seed, but the sticking point always seems to be the time it would take to get newly laid soil to settle properly. When talking to a garden landscaper about this problem, he said that his technique was to add the new soil a few inches at a time, compacting each layer using a plate vibrator (the sort of machine used when laying block paving).

As the base for your new lawn is both level and well-drained, I wouldn't disturb it unnecessarily.

 

Ben Mavely

Thanks for advice, makes sense.

Will post some pics when i'm done.. nearly there!