Grass Problems

[HenryG]

Hi everyone, 

I would be really grateful of some advice. My house is a 6 year old new build. Since I moved in, the back garden has been problematic. The grass needs a lot of water in the summer or it goes brown and dies, after winter there is always a lot of moss and the grass goes patchy. I have found huge lumps of stone under the grass and often, where there is a weak grass patch, there is a large stone in the ground underneath. I have gradually tackled these and removed them but still there are patches in the grass and it is all very uneaven. 

 

Over the past 12 months, I took the advice of others and got an aerator, proper grass feed with moss killer, a grass feed dispenser and a scarifier. I ensured I didn't cut the lawn too short for all of the year and even got a robot lawnmower.

 

The garden was looking pretty good towards the end of the year in October after I re-seeded patchy areas:

 

But since winter, it just looks so bad again: 

 

If you look at the edge of the patio, the entire garden has now risen so it is not in line with the patio as it once was. 

The problem I have got is that the soil has a lot of clay in it. The garden in general is really lumpy and isn't very smooth on the surface. I would struggle with the DIY myself but I had got a few quotes to have the garden dug out and re-done with better soil and turf as put in a retaining wall from the top of the steps going down from the shed across to the fence post with the concrete fence spur with additional tiles being placed around the shed. This would provide a nice level garden and hopefully a better chance at getting this looking nicer. Quotes were £1900-4k.

 

I would be really grateful of any advice anyone can offer as I have spent so much time, energy and more importantly water on this for six years now and it just isn't working. With water rates going up, I can't keep throwing water at it each summer to keep it looking green. 

 

Thanks in advance. 😊

[Bonner]

Depends where you are in the country but even if you have it redone, it may still need a lot of water to keep it green year round. If it bugs you so much, think seriously about a gravel garden with drought tolerant planting.

[Conor]

Nice blossom tree in the middle, gravel the rest with some spot planting. I don't understand small lawns. Pain in the hole. If you do want a lawn, for whatever reason, you have to dig out about 200mm of "soil" and replace with good quality topsoil. I could think of better uses for ~£3k.

Edited March 3 by Conor