Drainage And Your Lawn

Your lawns health depends on how well it can both retain and drain water.

We all know that grass needs water to survive and just the right amount. Too much water can impede oxygen uptake, slow metabolic processes and encourage root rot.

The type of soil that is below your lawn will directly impact upon the lawn’s ability to drain correctly,

Clay based soils may drain too slowly, and end up becoming boggy and slippery. Sandy soil may drain too quickly and end up leaching away crucial nutrients.

Soil compaction can also affect the drainage of your lawn – if your lawn is heavily compacted then water will just sit on the surface and unable to move through the soil freely.

Initially you should check to see if your lawn does have a drainage issue. Dig a hole 30cm wide and 60 cm deep – half fill with water. Check back in a day – if the hole is empty then you have good drainage. If there is more than half (or even the same) amount of water then you have some serious drainage issues.

An existing subsurface drainage system will need a professional check to see if it’s blocked.

An incorrect installation or badly designed system could be the issue, or other objects and soil can also block drains.

If you routinely have large puddles on your lawn and no drainage system installed, then it is easy to install one on an existing lawn to divert rainwater. Otherwise, your soil is most likely the factor causing drainage problems.

Lawn aeration is an important part of correcting the issue due to removing cores of soil which can add air pockets to help the lawn to drain more freely.

You can also improve the soil quality long term for both sandy and clay soils by adding organic matter in the form of compost or topsoil. Organic matter will aid both water retention and drainage.

For more lawn care tips and tricks or to install a new lawn contact the team at Daleys Turf today.