I got knackered just watching the first couple of holes being drilled well done for completing both lawns you are what people want someone who does the job right keep up the excellent work 👍
Haha, I had just bought an auger bit to try this and started drilling last night. My neighbors were looking at me like I was crazy, but it appears my logic was sound. Here's to hoping it gets the desired results. Great video!
Have fun! and the results will speak for themselves... 2 years ago I literally aerated a clay front lawn and to-dressed with compost and their lawn was literally the darkest greenest lawn on the whole street
I took it a bit further and used my compact tractor and drilled 12" diameter holes, filled with stone, covered top 6" with topsoil. Without these holes for drainage, the clay soil does not drain and yard becomes a soggy mess. I thought of starting lawn from scratch and use my tiller to amend soil with compost/manure and more topsoil, but decided on the auger method first. Also dug a moat all the way around the yard (Resembles waterways in Venice, Italy to a very small degree, but there are no gondolas with small men operating them) and added pea gravel, then dropped in wrapped drain tiles--corrugated plastic /perforated plastic) covered with more pea gravel and then topsoil.. With these two solutions--and a lot of work-lawn stays relatively firm even with Spring deluges. Additionally, I used my commercial-grade aerator and pulled as many plugs as I could. Then I went the organic route and used the liquid soil loosener. No idea if it did anything. I also added a ground level firepit made from a vary large semi wheel that I cut in half. Dug hole, it rained, and hole never drained until I used the tractor's PTO with the auger and drilled hole. Filled with stone. I do not like those planting augers because I've gotten the auger caught on something and the torque from the newer drill violently spun my wrist around. Really surprised the wrist did not fracture: Be sure to use the drills clutch so this does not happen. Incidentally, operating a tractor auger is a bitch, it's dangerous, and quite difficult because inevitably you will break sheer pins in that nasty root/rock/debris ridden clay and occasionally get the auger stuck in the ground--because my auger does not have a reverse. The auger was so firmly embedded in the clay I had to use a 2nd tractor and leverage the auger out of the ground. For all of this, I must really love my lawn or I am not too bright. I think both.
Thanks for the feedback. I have a customer reho used a similar large scale auger who drilled one giant deep hole in the worst part,filled with some grabelnthen soil and compost an dots performed so much better
Clay soil problems are that nutrients get bonded in the soil causing the compaction. Humic Acid is a natural chelator meaning it breaks the bonds causing the problem. Aerating works if your willing to do it a several times across your lawn over the first few years along with replacing the clay in the hole with something like peat moss which has a low PH. Ammonium sulfate lowers PH and getting to between 6 - 6.5 on your PH will dramatically help in having a better lawn as nutrients in the soil will be easily released to the roots of your grass. Also using a balanced organic fertilizer 10-10-10 along with supplementing micro nutrients works but it can take several years to fix the problem. Also supplementing Molasses will super charge your micro biology and worms etc. which are great at getting rid of compaction naturally. Best time to use molasses is in the summer with higher temperatures as microbiology is the most active then. Also Bio-char works great also for creating spaces in the soil along with holding nutrients for your micro biology to use...
Thanks, Pete - loving both of your comments. I readily admit I simply don't know it all.. so Im super excited to get detailed replies like this :) I have mentioned a few times about compost, humic acid, biochar and topsoil just to improve things.. now I'm working more toward soil biology too.
Nice comment. Here in Norway i know a couple who had a lawn full og clay. They had a huge load of soil braught in and spread across the lawn, this soil was more than a normal topdressing amount, but they had machines. It solved the clay problem just 1 year later, and i really couldnt believe it. The secret was this wasent any type of soil, it was soil braught in from the woods under massive spruce trees. Years and years of needels falling into the soil supposedly makes the soil very low PH, and this breaks up the clay like magic.
That’s a great piece you did mate. Very informative and you took the time to show exactly how you did it , well done.I checked several methods to improve clay lawns and this is by far the most economic.
I have very heavy clay soil last summer i took out about 6 inches of clay all over and added a mix of potting soil and top soil to bring it up again. I am now in the process of Aerating the lawn and filling them with sharp sand the holes are not as large as yours so taking much longer than expected I do a section of the lawn each night after work . Hopefully all this work will help with drainage.. 👍 We get lots of worm casting on the lawn and when they get wet and you stand on them they make a right mess and stop water from draining away so easily. So we try and stay off the grass in bad weather.
I done this a few month ago. I spaced the holes out every 500mm and then next year I will drill in-between those. I'm a fabricator so i made a steel box with a hole in for collecting the soil/clay.
I'm not an expert or anything but with a lawn that small couldn't you have rotavated it and added compost/manure and gypsum,, levelled it out and reseeded instead?
@Joe Smith would the pipes not be a bit deeper than 5 or 6 inches.? Im not trying to be smart, just genuinely wondered. I know lines (taking waste) leading from garden out into street pipes are very deep. Mine roughly 5ft.
I have a garden patch adjacent to my lawn which is the low area as the lawn slopes down to it. My issue is not clay but a hard compacted silt layer. I'm going to auger some 100mm diameter holes down 1m to a sandy layer. I'm going to first use a 50mm diameter auger as a pilot hole. Then I'll fill the hole with fine drainage aggregate and top off with topsoil. I'm picking 3 holes will suffice.
Excellent video, I did this a few months ago on my clay lawn. Best to use a pumping or up and down motion so drill doesn't end up sticking and breaking your wrist.
Good work. How has this turned out? When it snatched on the clay, did you just put the drill into reverse? I did the exact same.recently but didn't have a drill, ended up pulling bigger chunks than planned out the lawn. Either way, filled with top soil and compost so hoping it improves a bit
I'm currently doing this and swiss cheesing an area of heavy clay soil I want to plant in the spring. However I'm also backfilling the holes with a mixture of compost, sulfur(to lower ph), gritty cactus plant citrus soil, perlite, Kellogg soil conditioner and wood chips that I've had as 6 in deep aged mulch. I then topdress the area with more compost and will keep adding compost annually to amend the whole area. I have a similar bulb planter auger. However I used a 7.5amp corded drill that allows me to get all 24 inches of the auger in. A lot of sticky doughy clay gets pulled up when you drill that deep. I don't remove the clay that is pulled up since I want the compost to loosen it up and integrate with amended soil.
I have the opposite problem with my lawn being nothing but sandy loam that will not retain any water for the plants. So I have drilled holes in my yard and filled with liquified bentonite clay to hold water for the plants and the grass.
Feeling a bit overwhelmed with my lawn but after seeing this I am going to get going on it. Will have to do it in sections over maybe a week as it is 150 foot. Brilliantly done, so impressed and I am sure it has turned out just fine in the end.
In a way I would love to have such a small piece you could make it stunning but also I would rather loads of land that’s not so pretty. But everyone has their own current situation and I have terrible clay so I’m interested to learn if this will help … thanks for the video
Question is there a video on if this worked? And also what time.of year is best to do thisI'm.looking at doing the same to my lawn as I don't want to rotovate it all and start again as it's not so bad that I feel it needs that level of treatment
Hi Will.. yes I went back ( th-cam.com/video/bNh_eisHTPc/w-d-xo.html ) and it had definitely been better as a result but the shade had led to thinning..and theyve since gotten a dog thats destroyed the lawn sadly. More recently a customer of mine copied my exact steps and I managed to film a short update on that which you can see here. th-cam.com/video/68YoT1tvCkQ/w-d-xo.html so in short..it definitely helps and definitely works..its hard work but worth it..deeper holes are better but watch put for any cables or drains. Fill the holes with a bit of compost, gypsum and the top 6 inches or so with good soil.. some humic acid applied regularly will also help change clay soil over time .over time surrounding soil will begin to improve too once worms get in.. good luck!
Well first time for me. I dont belive it can get any worse than solid clay. So the drainage issue should improve, and as a result the customer should hopefully end up with a better lawn over winter when it typically thins to almost nothing here
Curious about why not recording the overfeeding? I'm a new home owner and I'm learning all this for the first time. Made it through my first winter and got here from: (Patches in lawn)>> need to overseed>> (soil really thick, dry clay)>> need to aerate>> (traditional aerator didn't get very deep yesterday)>> learned about this deep aeration technique. So going to selectively deep aerate today, and then overseed right after. Hence my question
@@LawnRight I came up with this idea because I've seen you struggling a lot with the Auger drill bit 50mm x 600mm in that soil. I will try this idea this weekend and let you know if it makes you job easier or not in heavy clay soils. Kind regards!
Hi.. so generally you get more rain.. main thing is following all the usual rules, but working harder to ensure good drainage and plenty of sunlight can access the lawn through trimming bush height, cutting back trees etc... aeration/drilling deep holes (avoiding pipes/cables) will help a lot.
Hi, yes you can honestly do it with antthing that will put a hole in. If its deep thick clay then the ceeper the better.. in my situation it was clay then hardcore.. so whatever you use if it makes a hole and you put soil or compost in or both, its going to improve things... I actually proved this 2 years ago when I aerated a clay lawn and brushed compost in... that was it. The lawn stood out as the best on the street
The best hand drills to use for jobs like this is a low speed spade drill or similar. The speed is much slower (usually under 900 RPM) but has the power to power through the soil (assuming your auger than handle it) and the strain on the wrist is minimized greatly. And if your are careful enough there will be no strain on the wrist at all. If you can get one with a hammer function and side handle that would be even better. These are drills that are used to drill through masonry, slowly but surely. Even though slower than regular high RPM drills (usually over 3,000K RPM), the job will get done much faster because it powers through the soil easier. And with less risk to wrist injury.
Hi something like this? www.silverlinetools.com/products/Product/ProductDetail?ModelName=123557. Would you recommend 600 watts or a 1600 watt model? Thanks
@@LawnRight Indeed, that is exactly what I am going to do. I am planning to do it a different way, and the reason is because I don't have that particular tool (auger) to drill holes. I am going to use my pickaxe to make a few trenches (hope to go 12 inches deep) all over the lawn. My lawn is not big hence it is manageable. Anyway, thanks for the tips.
Estás en la zona de doncaster? Yo soy español pero viví 9 años en hatfield ,hace 25 años volvimos a España ,mi esposa es inglesa y sigo todos tus vídeos son muy interesantes 😊😊😊
Hi, every winter my lawn becomes a muddy/squelchy mess. So this weekend I began the process of drilling holes. New build house that seems to be 4-5in of top soil then just clay clay clay under that. I’ve dug a 2ft hole in corner and I seriously could of made some fine pottery with whats come out the ground. (finest Sheffield Clay!) I’ve drilled 16 rows of 18 holes and removed all the gubbins. I’m planning to fill them all with compost/top soil mix next week. But I have a couple questions, i filled a couple of the holes with water and they drain incredibly slowly. Is the compost/top soil going to help? I’m assuming once dry weather comes the clay will dry/crack and the water will make its way into all 288 holes? Secondly, could you recommend a particular gypsum i should add to my compost/top soil cocktail. Many thanks for the video.
Hi Anto, unfortunately it's a slow long game. If there is considerably deep clay then ground drainage would be the fastest option. Drilling holes will in time slowly improve the upper parts of the lawn, creating a better soil more amenable to the grass roots, making the grass a little more resilient. Repeat this over a few years and then imagine that the upper 189 inches is more soil and less clay. Things will be a little better. As for gypsum, just horticultural gypsum, something like this one amzn.to/41ymHil. You can also look to start adding humid acid regularly through the year, and even adding ion some microbes to work on the soil. This soil conditioner will also help to do both amzn.to/3ApQmyp
This is great, I guess I need to try it but I feel my clay is more than 10inches down! How much would it cost for someone like you to do this on a 3m x 4.5m lawn?
Hi it's likely going to be a days work so it would depend on who you got to do the work and their fees. Consider drilling as deep as possible then drop some gypsum, topsoil and compost in the holes.. intime.. along with regular humic acid and seaweed things should improve in the top so many inches.. sadly if the issue is deeper you may want to look at more solutions
@@teaformulamaths certainly sounds like there is water building up under there and its struggling to get away theres a company on youtube called apple drains charlotte. You wouldnt fo wrong watching some of their videos to start understanding how to move water round.
Good job, lot of tedious work with the holes. It seems like there should be a period of time for the holes to have an affect on the area before seeding. Won't the immediate seeding fail if the clay is so heavy/thick? Just my layman impression.
Hi, love your videos. Any thoughts on if this is feasible on 600sqm lawn? If not what alternatives would you suggest. Does 30/70 too soil mix help. Been thinking to add french drains but that would cost significantly through contractor so might do drains myself.
Hi you could start adding gypsum every month or 2 and over 18 months to 2 years see an improvement in the soil.. This is if the soil is sodic (very heavy clay with higher pH)
I'm going down the clay lawn from hell rabbit hole and this is a really cool video, thanks for doing it. A couple of questions: #1 wouldn't a liquid aeration product application help make the job easier (I don't know, I've never done it). #2 Hammer time! Wouldn't a hammer drill be a better tool than a regular drill. I'm not a tool expert so I could be missing a glaringly obvious flaw in that idea.
Hi yes it helped quite a bit. I did go back and make a couple of videos there over the following months and it ended up where less water gathered there over winter,meaning less thinning, other than just the thinning due to shade. Definitely an improvement from the previous winter.
hi shaun i tried out useing a iron bar with pointed end for aerating today on soft clay soil it went down about 6 to 8 inches will use a compost sand mix to fill in holes is this great option its only on a 15 by 15 feet lawn the customer do get soggy soil but not water logged .Plus they have had leatherjacks
Hi itll certainly help.. long term though consider hollow tine aeration as this removes soil cores as opposed to pushing soil down creating compaction further down
thankyou shaun no it will not be long Term mate its just the start the top dressing mix going into the holes below add texture plus the particles of the soil to it so by next early spring will hollow tine then more softer underneath then full dressing top soil, sand compost & seed , plus shaun i would like to get a petrol hollow tiner which you can change to solid spikes as will i seen it on one of your videos the camon LA25 for larger lawns this do the trick mate
I have 2 big dogs & the lawn was wrecked before I even moved in. Doing lots of research & this method looks like my next steps going forward as it’s also a new build with clay & drainage issue. I’ve a few questions if you could help? , I’ve found a brand of grass seeds that are suppose to be non toxic & hardwearing grass for dogs… is this a gimmick? Second question is about maintenance going forward once done, I’ve also found a urine diluting agent… again do you know if these are just gimmicks or if they actually work? I’m thinking once sorted regular aerating & watering should help lawn stay green whilst the dogs run around, do you think that would help? Thank you in advance for a reply :)
Hi Lorraine, even with the best pracitcal care you are more tahn likely to have some urine issues over time (sadly).. the "supposed cures" for dog wee burns all work for some dogs but not all.. its just a case of trying and seeing unfortunately. I dont know about non toxic for the seeds but yes you can get hardwearing varieties, but even so.. with prolonged wear and tear any grass type will evenuially suffer.. so itll be a case of annual maintenance... I have another video coming up about clay lawns very very shortly also.. thanks
@@LawnRight thank you for your quick response! Im fully expecting a lot of initial work & maintenance as it’s the dogs playground, my goal is to fix the soggy, muddy, swamp that I currently have. I’ve been watching more of your videos & they’re super helpful, I’ll look forward to your upcoming video(s)!
Hi..I popped back there a couple of months ago and took this footage.. th-cam.com/video/bNh_eisHTPc/w-d-xo.html this is just towards the end of winter. So there was obvious shade thinning but customer did say it was a lot better than previous year and hadn't thinned out so much
Would you have a load of low spots In 12 months time when the compost breaks down? Would you need to Keep topping it up? I need to do something similar to my lawn but not sure what to put in the holes, I thought maybe pea gravel then top soil might be good as I have a really bad issue.
Hi nor really. If you aerate say down to an inch or so compost would be fine but for deeper holes I'd consider some pea grave at lower levels say 6 to 12 inches or more down then a blend of topsoil and compost. You should also consider throughout some gypsum to help break up some clay and some humic acid to help convert it fo better soil over time
@@LawnRight that’s great thanks, much appreciated 👍🏻 my lawn used to be a clay hill before we levelled it and it’s only got about 6 inch of top soil on the clay so it’s a bit of a nightmare at the minute. 👊🏻🇬🇧
Hi you can but youre not making deep holes to make big drainage gains. However you will get a etter top few inches Ive aerated and compost dressed a good number of lawns and they really look so much better ..however this video tackles problems when there is deep clay and water pooling issues
I just did 6 hours on my 45 sq. Feet clay or sandy. Mowed, trimmed, then raked. Sprayed. I could hand cut that little lawn...what a cute little space. You could kill with a tarp and try every type of grass.
Great video thank you mate 👍🏻. I need to do this on my lawn but just wondering when is the best time of year to do it? Or doesn’t it matter? Just gave my lawn first cut of year and it’s pretty boggy under foot 😢
What would I be looking at to have this done on an 80 sqm lawn roughly? Lawn is well kept already just holds water like nobodies business being all clay
@@LawnRightsounds like one to diy despite how back breaking it looks, thought it might be 6 hours work plus the compost sort of thing and hoped for the best given my arthritis, just have to do it in stages i suppose
I don't know, seems coming in with a tiller and then removing and replacing the soil might have been in order here. A larger section no, but these are very small. Just a thought.
Hi Shaun, awesome video! I’ve been following your channel for a few weeks and you’ve given me the motivation to try and renovate my lawn by myself instead of hiring a gardener (in Switzerland, prices are astronomical). I bought a Landzie spreader and a scarifier to clean up and feed the soil before seeding, but realized I have horrible clay soil that the previous owners didn’t look after in 10 years. Grass grows a bit but roots cannot establish and with the first heat wave, everything died off despite having watered diligently. I think I will have to try this deep integration method and an wondering how long it took you to drill all these wholes. My garden is about 170m2 so it’s quite a bit larger (and I will be slower). Thank you in advance and keep up the amazing work you do with this channel! Thierry
Hi Thierry and welcome! 👋 that job was one days work..it was also my first attempt so I think further attempts would be quicker. Also longer deeper sugars going down say 2 foot then filled with pea gravel, then filled with a mix of topsoil compost and gypsum and some humic acid would make for a great soakaway in the worst spots
How did this one turn out> Mine is a new build, I've just spent a fortune on some drainage for the garden but tried this before and it didn't really work
It was fairly good... def a better lawn after a wet winter. This lawn was only 8 inches of clay and then hardcore which made things harder.. that year they got a dog and it's been destroyed sadly so not good at the minute
@LawnRight Lawn Care cheers for the reply mine is still waterlogged even now. Dont think you can realistically expect to have a dog and a nice lawn at the same time, especially small lawns
Recently found your videos, very helpful 👌 just a question when you found the hardcore, i trialled a few test holes with an auger. I was around 2-3metres from the back of the house where the patio is as it tends to pool when saturated with a heavy persistant downpour. I found a what seemed a hardcore layer.. got about 6” down to it, but kept the drill and drag and got to a good 18” should i stop at the hardcore layer? Or it ok to keep going as i felt i couldve went the full auger length around 80cm, any help would be greatly appreciated with the heavy clay soil my area is in ☺️
As long as there's no utilities or cables go down as much as possible.. A customer of mine used a post hole borer and went down about 2 or 3 fest at about 6 spots on his lawn where it was worse.. Bottom half with pea gravel and grit sand.. Then a sprinkle of gypsum and then topsoil with compost in.. Now his lawn actually drains really well.. It still gets wet but doesn't die off any more
@@LawnRight thank you very much for your help and advice, very much appreciated. With the weather set fair this weekend i will be busy with the auger 😁 really enjoying your content, massive help as a bit of newbie to the gardening world ❤️
Interesting idea. I have just brought a 80mm x 600mm auger for my drill to turn my compost 😂. Set the drill to screw function torque 1 if you can so you don't snap your wrist! I also have clay soil and this video has given me the same idea for my lawn to do late autumn. Interested to see your results.
I'm doing something similar, making holes, based on another YT video I came across before yours. They put some shredded rubber in the holes. I'm thinking about putting scoria instead (tiny pebbles/rocks). This is to improve water drainage as I find in heavy rain it becomes a bit sploshy to walk on (rather than major pooling). What do you think?
What a good idea and video explanation. I’ve got clay below 300mm of top soil, my lawn is suffering with a bad leather jacket infestation and the drainage is only making it worse. Do you think this may help drilling out the clay below the top soil?
I have just started this process and can only drill down around 4 inches before I hit solid clay and the drilling stops. Will this depth be acceptable for it to work
@@LawnRight I tried but the ground is too hard. I have the larger auger from the link you suggested. Do you think the smaller one that you use in the video would be worth purchasing and using instead? Thanks for your advice!
Hi, how has the lawn faired this winter? Did the drilling fix the issue? My lawn is sat on clay and always has drainage issues, aside from paying £1000’s to have it all dug up, I’d love to think this would help!
Hi..the technique definitely helps 100%.. the deeper the better and backfill with compost, gypsum possibly a bit of gravel deeper down and good soil on the top.. this customer ended up with a dog thats obliterated the lawn! They're considering their next move
@@LawnRight thanks for the reply. I’ve just ordered an 800mm auger bit which arrives tomorrow. I’ll give it a shot. At this stage I have nothing to lose other than time. Thanks for the videos, very interesting :)
Hi I dont imagine it would make too much difference other than how much mess is made. Some moisture is advantageous but too much would make things quite swampy
Hi so far so good.. its germinated fine and performing well. The shaded area is going thin as expected so the customer is going to change its use.. the real test i suspect will be through winter or several weeks of wet weather
Good work. How has this turned out? When it snatched on the clay, did you just put the drill into reverse? I did the exact same.recently but didn't have a drill, ended up pulling bigger chunks than planned out the lawn. Either way, filled with top soil and compost so hoping it improves a bit
Hi yes it certainly snatched hard.. reversed the drill a bit then tried again but by bit but trying to avoid snatching. As for progress.. so far so good.. but need to get through winter and it should have drained better meaning less washing out.
@@LawnRight ok thank you. I'll have to see how mine turns out. I overseeded a week or so ago and I'm slightly nervous the heavy rain in the UK over the last few days will have impacted the seed, but will see how it all goes
I don't know if I'd want water draining quickly right next to my home. Perhaps a drain to move the water away from the foundation and have it soak in the far end of the yard, by the fence would be a safer option.
I'd say it's a good idea to be honest.. ctrste a deep wide bore in the worst bit.. fill first with gravel, a bit of gypsum, then topsoil and compost.. then return of seed slightly proud.. watch for drainage pipework 😳
Hi, I have being doing this to a customers lawn with a manual auger bit , slow going but better than nothing, looking forward to seeing an improvement. Thanks for posting 👍
@@jasonhewlett1283 Good work. How has this turned out? When it snatched on the clay, did you just put the drill into reverse? I did the exact same.recently but didn't have a drill, ended up pulling bigger chunks than planned out the lawn. Either way, filled with top soil and compost so hoping it improves a bit
What did you use to "top dress" the lawn as you put it? I'll need to drill the holes first of course, also, do I need that heavy roller or will I get by fine without?
Hi cal.mixture of compost and topsoil.. you can also spring kale some gypsum in the holes too which will also help. The roller is to firm seeds into the ground. If you're just topdressing then a roller isnt needed.. either way you could simply walk it all in
Hi Shaun, this is a great idea which im looking to implement soon. The ground in my garden is an easy 11+ inches of thick clay, but garden is small enough to get this done no problem. Is it worth mixing into the holes of multipurpose soil, compost and sand (which im going to use) some gypsum and then coat the whole lawn in top soil then seed?.. This is my plan as an aerating i feel would not be as effective.. What do you think of my plan? Suggestions? Thanks in advance buddy
11inch of thick clay, almost sounds lucky, Below about 3- 4" of top soil I have a layer of clay that is a of 3.5+ meters deep, found out when installing a soak away for outbuilding drainage, we went down about 1.8m, gave up going any deeper so then drilled a 150mm hole to break through the clay level which was a further 1.7+m down, until we did this the pit just collected and held water, lined the bore hole with a pvc pipe, filled with gravel, then finished soak away as per usual, took the opportunity to add some French drains under garden area into the soakaway while we were at it. every winter our back garden used to become a soggy mess, it's been so much better since, even with this winters non stop heavy rain, but I can see how this method could improve things even further
Hi it worked well. The shaded area did so much better. The open lawn struggled though as the neighbours have s lot of water run off which lands there so more drainage is needed at that point . Customers gonna dig a soakaway
Hey mate, I would love to know how this turned out. We're in NZ and our yard is clay based as well. During winter you can literally see the water running and pooling in the yard. I'm going to try this out in the next month and get it all prep'd for summer.
Nice work, can’t imagine doing this on my clay lawn 🤦🏾♂️ manual aeration was bad enough! Can’t wait to see the results! What is a wetting agent btw, what does it do?
What time of year would you recommend doing this in the UK? I'm planning on doing a lawn renovation in September and this looks like a great way to tackle my heavy clay lawn.
My lawn is about 10 feet away from the house and there isn't a man hole cover in the back garden, its located in the front do I have to worry about hitting any pipes ? I understand there's water pipes, gas pipes but I can't imagine there be put under the garden, can anyone give me some advice?
I tend to agree. Services and utilities I imagine would lead from the front to the street but this is a little beyond my expertise unfortunately as to whether or not anything may bee under the rear lawn sorry.. all I can say is go slow and steady.
Hi. In the description you mention other approaches to clay soil. Do you have videos showing those too? Tried searching but you have many vids! Thanks.
I got knackered just watching the first couple of holes being drilled well done for completing both lawns you are what people want someone who does the job right keep up the excellent work 👍
😁👍 thanks!
Haha, I had just bought an auger bit to try this and started drilling last night. My neighbors were looking at me like I was crazy, but it appears my logic was sound.
Here's to hoping it gets the desired results.
Great video!
Have fun! and the results will speak for themselves... 2 years ago I literally aerated a clay front lawn and to-dressed with compost and their lawn was literally the darkest greenest lawn on the whole street
I took it a bit further and used my compact tractor and drilled 12" diameter holes, filled with stone, covered top 6" with topsoil. Without these holes for drainage, the clay soil does not drain and yard becomes a soggy mess. I thought of starting lawn from scratch and use my tiller to amend soil with compost/manure and more topsoil, but decided on the auger method first.
Also dug a moat all the way around the yard (Resembles waterways in Venice, Italy to a very small degree, but there are no gondolas with small men operating them) and added pea gravel, then dropped in wrapped drain tiles--corrugated plastic /perforated plastic) covered with more pea gravel and then topsoil.. With these two solutions--and a lot of work-lawn stays relatively firm even with Spring deluges. Additionally, I used my commercial-grade aerator and pulled as many plugs as I could. Then I went the organic route and used the liquid soil loosener. No idea if it did anything. I also added a ground level firepit made from a vary large semi wheel that I cut in half. Dug hole, it rained, and hole never drained until I used the tractor's PTO with the auger and drilled hole. Filled with stone. I do not like those planting augers because I've gotten the auger caught on something and the torque from the newer drill violently spun my wrist around. Really surprised the wrist did not fracture: Be sure to use the drills clutch so this does not happen. Incidentally, operating a tractor auger is a bitch, it's dangerous, and quite difficult because inevitably you will break sheer pins in that nasty root/rock/debris ridden clay and occasionally get the auger stuck in the ground--because my auger does not have a reverse. The auger was so firmly embedded in the clay I had to use a 2nd tractor and leverage the auger out of the ground. For all of this, I must really love my lawn or I am not too bright. I think both.
Thanks for the feedback. I have a customer reho used a similar large scale auger who drilled one giant deep hole in the worst part,filled with some grabelnthen soil and compost an dots performed so much better
Your video has giving me enough info to tackle a bit land out the back of mine as i need it to drain be for i roll turf down thnx
No problem and good luck
Another fantastic video full of useful hints, tips and tricks, a big fat thumbs up from me!!
Clay soil problems are that nutrients get bonded in the soil causing the compaction. Humic Acid is a natural chelator meaning it breaks the bonds causing the problem. Aerating works if your willing to do it a several times across your lawn over the first few years along with replacing the clay in the hole with something like peat moss which has a low PH. Ammonium sulfate lowers PH and getting to between 6 - 6.5 on your PH will dramatically help in having a better lawn as nutrients in the soil will be easily released to the roots of your grass. Also using a balanced organic fertilizer 10-10-10 along with supplementing micro nutrients works but it can take several years to fix the problem. Also supplementing Molasses will super charge your micro biology and worms etc. which are great at getting rid of compaction naturally. Best time to use molasses is in the summer with higher temperatures as microbiology is the most active then. Also Bio-char works great also for creating spaces in the soil along with holding nutrients for your micro biology to use...
Thanks, Pete - loving both of your comments. I readily admit I simply don't know it all.. so Im super excited to get detailed replies like this :) I have mentioned a few times about compost, humic acid, biochar and topsoil just to improve things.. now I'm working more toward soil biology too.
Nice comment. Here in Norway i know a couple who had a lawn full og clay. They had a huge load of soil braught in and spread across the lawn, this soil was more than a normal topdressing amount, but they had machines. It solved the clay problem just 1 year later, and i really couldnt believe it. The secret was this wasent any type of soil, it was soil braught in from the woods under massive spruce trees. Years and years of needels falling into the soil supposedly makes the soil very low PH, and this breaks up the clay like magic.
Clever solution! I am gonna try it my self! Thanks for sharing
Have fun!
That’s a great piece you did mate. Very informative and you took the time to show exactly how you did it , well done.I checked several methods to improve clay lawns and this is by far the most economic.
Thanks. I'm sure there are faster better ways to achieve it but yes it definitely helped the lawn considerably
I have very heavy clay soil last summer i took out about 6 inches of clay all over and added a mix of potting soil and top soil to bring it up again. I am now in the process of Aerating the lawn and filling them with sharp sand the holes are not as large as yours so taking much longer than expected I do a section of the lawn each night after work . Hopefully all this work will help with drainage.. 👍
We get lots of worm casting on the lawn and when they get wet and you stand on them they make a right mess and stop water from draining away so easily. So we try and stay off the grass in bad weather.
Shaun for a neat cut on your bucket hole you can use a 2 or 3 inch hole saw .
That's some great stuff! Going to do the same for my fall renovation.
Cheers let me know how you get on!
Very patient work. Well done.
Looks like a job for a longer bank holiday weekend.
I really enjoy your videos. You are so organized and you explain things so clearly. Nicely done!
Thank you so much! 🙏😊
I done this a few month ago. I spaced the holes out every 500mm and then next year I will drill in-between those.
I'm a fabricator so i made a steel box with a hole in for collecting the soil/clay.
How do/did you remember where you drilled?
I'm not an expert or anything but with a lawn that small couldn't you have rotavated it and added compost/manure and gypsum,, levelled it out and reseeded instead?
Yes that would probably have been better but we had to choose the lowest cost method for this customer (plus im really keen to see the results 😁)
@Joe Smith would the pipes not be a bit deeper than 5 or 6 inches.? Im not trying to be smart, just genuinely wondered. I know lines (taking waste) leading from garden out into street pipes are very deep. Mine roughly 5ft.
You can do both. Better surface drainage and drying while also having somewhere for the water to go.
@@LawnRight Is there a followup video for this lawn?
@@31topor yep.. th-cam.com/video/bNh_eisHTPc/w-d-xo.html 😊
I have a garden patch adjacent to my lawn which is the low area as the lawn slopes down to it. My issue is not clay but a hard compacted silt layer. I'm going to auger some 100mm diameter holes down 1m to a sandy layer. I'm going to first use a 50mm diameter auger as a pilot hole. Then I'll fill the hole with fine drainage aggregate and top off with topsoil. I'm picking 3 holes will suffice.
Perfect and should def help. A customer of mine has done just this
Thank you - I have this exact problem and my lawn dies back every winter in huge patches. I'm going to get one of these auger bits and have a go!
Have fun 😊😊
Excellent video, I did this a few months ago on my clay lawn. Best to use a pumping or up and down motion so drill doesn't end up sticking and breaking your wrist.
Hi, does it work
@@IVP2207
It works very well
Good work. How has this turned out? When it snatched on the clay, did you just put the drill into reverse? I did the exact same.recently but didn't have a drill, ended up pulling bigger chunks than planned out the lawn. Either way, filled with top soil and compost so hoping it improves a bit
I'm currently doing this and swiss cheesing an area of heavy clay soil I want to plant in the spring. However I'm also backfilling the holes with a mixture of compost, sulfur(to lower ph), gritty cactus plant citrus soil, perlite, Kellogg soil conditioner and wood chips that I've had as 6 in deep aged mulch. I then topdress the area with more compost and will keep adding compost annually to amend the whole area. I have a similar bulb planter auger. However I used a 7.5amp corded drill that allows me to get all 24 inches of the auger in. A lot of sticky doughy clay gets pulled up when you drill that deep. I don't remove the clay that is pulled up since I want the compost to loosen it up and integrate with amended soil.
Thanks for showing your process 😊
@@LawnRight thanks. I've already broke three bulb planting augers. Hit a root or rock and the welds breaks right off. Need to find better made augers.
Wow, this is dedication; will love to know the update.
I have the opposite problem with my lawn being nothing but sandy loam that will not retain any water for the plants. So I have drilled holes in my yard and filled with liquified bentonite clay to hold water for the plants and the grass.
Feeling a bit overwhelmed with my lawn but after seeing this I am going to get going on it. Will have to do it in sections over maybe a week as it is 150 foot. Brilliantly done, so impressed and I am sure it has turned out just fine in the end.
Adding stuff to the soil will definitely help improve it..good luck 😉😊👍
Really interested in the results of this. Keeping a close eye on your channel.
I was planning on doing this but with a quarter acre, very awesome man
Do you think the deeper the better?
Oh yes.. if you can break through the clay level youll get better drainage
In a way I would love to have such a small piece you could make it stunning but also I would rather loads of land that’s not so pretty. But everyone has their own current situation and I have terrible clay so I’m interested to learn if this will help … thanks for the video
Question is there a video on if this worked? And also what time.of year is best to do thisI'm.looking at doing the same to my lawn as I don't want to rotovate it all and start again as it's not so bad that I feel it needs that level of treatment
Hi Will.. yes I went back ( th-cam.com/video/bNh_eisHTPc/w-d-xo.html ) and it had definitely been better as a result but the shade had led to thinning..and theyve since gotten a dog thats destroyed the lawn sadly. More recently a customer of mine copied my exact steps and I managed to film a short update on that which you can see here. th-cam.com/video/68YoT1tvCkQ/w-d-xo.html so in short..it definitely helps and definitely works..its hard work but worth it..deeper holes are better but watch put for any cables or drains. Fill the holes with a bit of compost, gypsum and the top 6 inches or so with good soil.. some humic acid applied regularly will also help change clay soil over time
.over time surrounding soil will begin to improve too once worms get in.. good luck!
The problem with lawns on new housing developments is there is a tone of rubble left under the turf.
👍
Is just rolled out on top of flattened rubble
Saves money on skips
Interesting Would be good to see how this works out down the line.
Well first time for me. I dont belive it can get any worse than solid clay. So the drainage issue should improve, and as a result the customer should hopefully end up with a better lawn over winter when it typically thins to almost nothing here
Wish I'd thought of the bucket trick when I did this. Was a right pain raking up all the clay bits.
Next time 😊😊👍
Could using a fine gravel then topping up with top soil further improve drainage?
Yep.. Only bottom 3rd or quarter tho with pebbles (just my opinion)
Curious about why not recording the overfeeding?
I'm a new home owner and I'm learning all this for the first time. Made it through my first winter and got here from:
(Patches in lawn)>> need to overseed>> (soil really thick, dry clay)>> need to aerate>> (traditional aerator didn't get very deep yesterday)>> learned about this deep aeration technique.
So going to selectively deep aerate today, and then overseed right after. Hence my question
Hi.. so after the holes.. you can use a rake to rough up the topsoil so there are little grooves like a farmers filed...then seed then cover thanks
I'm doing this can't wait to see results. Good vid
Good luck !
I would love to try the drilling but I know it is basically compacted rubble after 6 inches
Yeah. It's a pain in the whotsit.. This lawn was the same to be honest
Have you tried to make smaller holes first with the narrower drill bit 25X400mm and enlarge them afterwards using the Auger drill bit 50mm x 600mm?
Hi no I've not tried that.. I've really only done it once on that lawn but it does sound like a good idea
@@LawnRight I came up with this idea because I've seen you struggling a lot with the Auger drill bit 50mm x 600mm in that soil. I will try this idea this weekend and let you know if it makes you job easier or not in heavy clay soils. Kind regards!
Great video but a question did you do a follow up video on how well it worked 👍👍👍
th-cam.com/video/bNh_eisHTPc/w-d-xo.htmlsi=XCAgaXgXY5HgLT3C, ☺️☺️
Great video once again much appreciated. I live in Highlands if Scotland any tips for my lawn.
Hi.. so generally you get more rain.. main thing is following all the usual rules, but working harder to ensure good drainage and plenty of sunlight can access the lawn through trimming bush height, cutting back trees etc... aeration/drilling deep holes (avoiding pipes/cables) will help a lot.
How about using a Pro Plugger instead of a drill auger? You'll get a 6 inch depth and cleaner hole. It should work on sticky clay soil.
Yep.. Since this video I got a proplugger. Good bit of kit
Thanks for responding. I've enjoyed watching your videos.
Did you ever manager to provide an update on this lawn?
Hi.. yep th-cam.com/video/bNh_eisHTPc/w-d-xo.html
Can I do this with a proplugger instead or it is not deep enough?
Hi, yes you can honestly do it with antthing that will put a hole in. If its deep thick clay then the ceeper the better.. in my situation it was clay then hardcore.. so whatever you use if it makes a hole and you put soil or compost in or both, its going to improve things... I actually proved this 2 years ago when I aerated a clay lawn and brushed compost in... that was it. The lawn stood out as the best on the street
@@LawnRight thanks!!
I'll do that then. For me it's a loamy clay sandy soil, it's very compacted, full of little stones. A pain
Would perlite work for drainage as the hole filler?
I'm sure some will help for sure
I have the same problem with my lawn and I will try to improve it by following your method, but what about adding sharp sand to a clay lawn?
Compost would be my answer but it'll take some time unfortunately
How would you avoid possible pipes under the ground
Try and find any clues such as manhole covers outside the property to see roughly where they come in. Then go down slowly
What would be a good ferterlizer to put on your lawn in the spring ?
Any should be just fine.. I usually use a 16-4-8
The best hand drills to use for jobs like this is a low speed spade drill or similar. The speed is much slower (usually under 900 RPM) but has the power to power through the soil (assuming your auger than handle it) and the strain on the wrist is minimized greatly. And if your are careful enough there will be no strain on the wrist at all. If you can get one with a hammer function and side handle that would be even better. These are drills that are used to drill through masonry, slowly but surely. Even though slower than regular high RPM drills (usually over 3,000K RPM), the job will get done much faster because it powers through the soil easier. And with less risk to wrist injury.
Hi something like this? www.silverlinetools.com/products/Product/ProductDetail?ModelName=123557. Would you recommend 600 watts or a 1600 watt model? Thanks
@@LawnRight Yes, like that. Either wattage should do.
@@ASpinnerASpinner thank you
Will the drilling creat many many water reservor at back yard?
Hi I'm unsure on this. We did this last year and the lawn has been so much better. New build properties are a nightmare
can one fills the holes with gravel or clay granules? Wouldn't you agree that gravel might be the best as we are talking about drainage?
I'd definitely fill the bottom quarter with gravel but the rest with. Amix of soil and compost with a sprinkle of gypsum thanks 😊
@@LawnRight Indeed, that is exactly what I am going to do. I am planning to do it a different way, and the reason is because I don't have that particular tool (auger) to drill holes. I am going to use my pickaxe to make a few trenches (hope to go 12 inches deep) all over the lawn. My lawn is not big hence it is manageable. Anyway, thanks for the tips.
How do I safely do these if I have underground sprinklers and dont know where the pipes go??
Best to avoid.. or dig around one to see how deep the pipes are and direction so you can avoid .. but def tricky
Buen trabajo ,tal vez hubiera sido mejor cambiar la tierra ,10 cm ?
Yes the more soil the better 😊😊. Thank you
Estás en la zona de doncaster? Yo soy español pero viví 9 años en hatfield ,hace 25 años volvimos a España ,mi esposa es inglesa y sigo todos tus vídeos son muy interesantes 😊😊😊
Hi, every winter my lawn becomes a muddy/squelchy mess. So this weekend I began the process of drilling holes. New build house that seems to be 4-5in of top soil then just clay clay clay under that.
I’ve dug a 2ft hole in corner and I seriously could of made some fine pottery with whats come out the ground. (finest Sheffield Clay!)
I’ve drilled 16 rows of 18 holes and removed all the gubbins. I’m planning to fill them all with compost/top soil mix next week. But I have a couple questions, i filled a couple of the holes with water and they drain incredibly slowly. Is the compost/top soil going to help? I’m assuming once dry weather comes the clay will dry/crack and the water will make its way into all 288 holes?
Secondly, could you recommend a particular gypsum i should add to my compost/top soil cocktail.
Many thanks for the video.
Hi Anto, unfortunately it's a slow long game. If there is considerably deep clay then ground drainage would be the fastest option. Drilling holes will in time slowly improve the upper parts of the lawn, creating a better soil more amenable to the grass roots, making the grass a little more resilient. Repeat this over a few years and then imagine that the upper 189 inches is more soil and less clay. Things will be a little better.
As for gypsum, just horticultural gypsum, something like this one amzn.to/41ymHil.
You can also look to start adding humid acid regularly through the year, and even adding ion some microbes to work on the soil. This soil conditioner will also help to do both amzn.to/3ApQmyp
Can I ask for drainage is it better to go with compost or could you use sand instead?
Compost is best with some soil but it can be sandy soil
This is great, I guess I need to try it but I feel my clay is more than 10inches down! How much would it cost for someone like you to do this on a 3m x 4.5m lawn?
Hi it's likely going to be a days work so it would depend on who you got to do the work and their fees. Consider drilling as deep as possible then drop some gypsum, topsoil and compost in the holes.. intime.. along with regular humic acid and seaweed things should improve in the top so many inches.. sadly if the issue is deeper you may want to look at more solutions
@@LawnRight Have you ever heard the soil bubbling and squelching on it's own? That's what mine does!
@@teaformulamaths certainly sounds like there is water building up under there and its struggling to get away theres a company on youtube called apple drains charlotte. You wouldnt fo wrong watching some of their videos to start understanding how to move water round.
Good job, lot of tedious work with the holes. It seems like there should be a period of time for the holes to have an affect on the area before seeding. Won't the immediate seeding fail if the clay is so heavy/thick? Just my layman impression.
Hi no it should be fine unless incredibly compact
Hi, love your videos. Any thoughts on if this is feasible on 600sqm lawn? If not what alternatives would you suggest. Does 30/70 too soil mix help. Been thinking to add french drains but that would cost significantly through contractor so might do drains myself.
Hi you could start adding gypsum every month or 2 and over 18 months to 2 years see an improvement in the soil.. This is if the soil is sodic (very heavy clay with higher pH)
Love this idea I'm hoping to try it on my lawn to save me rotavating it all. When would you say is the best time of year to do it?
Hi spring or autumn best as it wont be overly wet and boggy but any time really other than a frost cheers
I'm going down the clay lawn from hell rabbit hole and this is a really cool video, thanks for doing it. A couple of questions:
#1 wouldn't a liquid aeration product application help make the job easier (I don't know, I've never done it).
#2 Hammer time! Wouldn't a hammer drill be a better tool than a regular drill. I'm not a tool expert so I could be missing a glaringly obvious flaw in that idea.
Hi absolutely yes to both ideas 😊
why no pictures of the finished product appended at the end? did it not work?
Hi yes it helped quite a bit. I did go back and make a couple of videos there over the following months and it ended up where less water gathered there over winter,meaning less thinning, other than just the thinning due to shade. Definitely an improvement from the previous winter.
hi shaun i tried out useing a iron bar with pointed end for aerating today on soft clay soil it went down about 6 to 8 inches will use a compost sand mix to fill in holes is this great option its only on a 15 by 15 feet lawn the customer do get soggy soil but not water logged .Plus they have had leatherjacks
Hi itll certainly help.. long term though consider hollow tine aeration as this removes soil cores as opposed to pushing soil down creating compaction further down
thankyou shaun no it will not be long Term mate its just the start the top dressing mix going into the holes below add texture plus the particles of the soil to it so by next early spring will hollow tine then more softer underneath then full dressing top soil, sand compost & seed , plus shaun i would like to get a petrol hollow tiner which you can change to solid spikes as will i seen it on one of your videos the camon LA25 for larger lawns this do the trick mate
I have 2 big dogs & the lawn was wrecked before I even moved in. Doing lots of research & this method looks like my next steps going forward as it’s also a new build with clay & drainage issue.
I’ve a few questions if you could help? , I’ve found a brand of grass seeds that are suppose to be non toxic & hardwearing grass for dogs… is this a gimmick?
Second question is about maintenance going forward once done, I’ve also found a urine diluting agent… again do you know if these are just gimmicks or if they actually work?
I’m thinking once sorted regular aerating & watering should help lawn stay green whilst the dogs run around, do you think that would help?
Thank you in advance for a reply :)
Hi Lorraine, even with the best pracitcal care you are more tahn likely to have some urine issues over time (sadly).. the "supposed cures" for dog wee burns all work for some dogs but not all.. its just a case of trying and seeing unfortunately. I dont know about non toxic for the seeds but yes you can get hardwearing varieties, but even so.. with prolonged wear and tear any grass type will evenuially suffer.. so itll be a case of annual maintenance... I have another video coming up about clay lawns very very shortly also.. thanks
@@LawnRight thank you for your quick response! Im fully expecting a lot of initial work & maintenance as it’s the dogs playground, my goal is to fix the soggy, muddy, swamp that I currently have. I’ve been watching more of your videos & they’re super helpful, I’ll look forward to your upcoming video(s)!
Will you be doing an update video of what it looks like now? I think everyone would love to see the results!!
Hi..I popped back there a couple of months ago and took this footage.. th-cam.com/video/bNh_eisHTPc/w-d-xo.html this is just towards the end of winter. So there was obvious shade thinning but customer did say it was a lot better than previous year and hadn't thinned out so much
Would you have a load of low spots
In 12 months time when the compost breaks down? Would you need to Keep topping it up? I need to do something similar to my lawn but not sure what to put in the holes, I thought maybe pea gravel then top soil might be good as I have a really bad issue.
Hi nor really. If you aerate say down to an inch or so compost would be fine but for deeper holes I'd consider some pea grave at lower levels say 6 to 12 inches or more down then a blend of topsoil and compost. You should also consider throughout some gypsum to help break up some clay and some humic acid to help convert it fo better soil over time
@@LawnRight that’s great thanks, much appreciated 👍🏻 my lawn used to be a clay hill before we levelled it and it’s only got about 6 inch of top soil on the clay so it’s a bit of a nightmare at the minute. 👊🏻🇬🇧
Out of interest could you do this with a hollow tine aerator machine if you pick up the cores and then backfill with soil and compost mixture
Hi you can but youre not making deep holes to make big drainage gains. However you will get a etter top few inches
Ive aerated and compost dressed a good number of lawns and they really look so much better ..however this video tackles problems when there is deep clay and water pooling issues
I just did 6 hours on my 45 sq. Feet clay or sandy. Mowed, trimmed, then raked. Sprayed. I could hand cut that little lawn...what a cute little space. You could kill with a tarp and try every type of grass.
😊👍
Could this be done in Winter in the UK during a dry spell?
Hi yes absolutely 😉😉
@@LawnRight thanks
Hi - do you recommend doing when there has been lots of dry weather? Or can the soil be moist?
Hi somewhere in between would be fine
Great video thank you mate 👍🏻. I need to do this on my lawn but just wondering when is the best time of year to do it? Or doesn’t it matter? Just gave my lawn first cut of year and it’s pretty boggy under foot 😢
Hi it doesn't really matter but a little moisture will help get deep holes in
@@LawnRight ok thanks for the reply much appreciated 👍🏻
What would I be looking at to have this done on an 80 sqm lawn roughly? Lawn is well kept already just holds water like nobodies business being all clay
I know some companies wouldn't even do it for lessthan £800.. Others could be hlaf that
@@LawnRightsounds like one to diy despite how back breaking it looks, thought it might be 6 hours work plus the compost sort of thing and hoped for the best given my arthritis, just have to do it in stages i suppose
I don't know, seems coming in with a tiller and then removing and replacing the soil might have been in order here. A larger section no, but these are very small. Just a thought.
Not a bad idea. Very tight access on this one for some machines.
Hi Shaun, awesome video! I’ve been following your channel for a few weeks and you’ve given me the motivation to try and renovate my lawn by myself instead of hiring a gardener (in Switzerland, prices are astronomical).
I bought a Landzie spreader and a scarifier to clean up and feed the soil before seeding, but realized I have horrible clay soil that the previous owners didn’t look after in 10 years. Grass grows a bit but roots cannot establish and with the first heat wave, everything died off despite having watered diligently.
I think I will have to try this deep integration method and an wondering how long it took you to drill all these wholes. My garden is about 170m2 so it’s quite a bit larger (and I will be slower).
Thank you in advance and keep up the amazing work you do with this channel!
Thierry
Hi Thierry and welcome! 👋 that job was one days work..it was also my first attempt so I think further attempts would be quicker. Also longer deeper sugars going down say 2 foot then filled with pea gravel, then filled with a mix of topsoil compost and gypsum and some humic acid would make for a great soakaway in the worst spots
@@LawnRight thanks a lot! My garden sits above a garage so I doubt there’s more than 1ft of “soil” anyway. I can’t hurt anyway, thanks again!
How powerful is your drill? My cordless struggles and just releases the drill bit.
Hi..it did struggle.. I think an sds drill would be better
How did this one turn out> Mine is a new build, I've just spent a fortune on some drainage for the garden but tried this before and it didn't really work
It was fairly good... def a better lawn after a wet winter. This lawn was only 8 inches of clay and then hardcore which made things harder.. that year they got a dog and it's been destroyed sadly so not good at the minute
@LawnRight Lawn Care cheers for the reply mine is still waterlogged even now. Dont think you can realistically expect to have a dog and a nice lawn at the same time, especially small lawns
Doing exactly this in my lawn, very tedious but it seems to help a lot,
You have to be patient…
Thank you for the feedback. Patienece is definitely a virtue
Recently found your videos, very helpful 👌 just a question when you found the hardcore, i trialled a few test holes with an auger. I was around 2-3metres from the back of the house where the patio is as it tends to pool when saturated with a heavy persistant downpour. I found a what seemed a hardcore layer.. got about 6” down to it, but kept the drill and drag and got to a good 18” should i stop at the hardcore layer? Or it ok to keep going as i felt i couldve went the full auger length around 80cm, any help would be greatly appreciated with the heavy clay soil my area is in ☺️
As long as there's no utilities or cables go down as much as possible.. A customer of mine used a post hole borer and went down about 2 or 3 fest at about 6 spots on his lawn where it was worse.. Bottom half with pea gravel and grit sand.. Then a sprinkle of gypsum and then topsoil with compost in.. Now his lawn actually drains really well.. It still gets wet but doesn't die off any more
@@LawnRight thank you very much for your help and advice, very much appreciated. With the weather set fair this weekend i will be busy with the auger 😁 really enjoying your content, massive help as a bit of newbie to the gardening world ❤️
Sorry if I missed that what did you spray at the end on the lawn
Just a wetting agent to aid seed germination
Will adding gypsum to the holes help with reducing the clay?
hi yes it will help break the clay particles up
Interesting idea. I have just brought a 80mm x 600mm auger for my drill to turn my compost 😂. Set the drill to screw function torque 1 if you can so you don't snap your wrist! I also have clay soil and this video has given me the same idea for my lawn to do late autumn. Interested to see your results.
😁 will provide updates over t9he coming weeks and months #cantwait
I'm doing something similar, making holes, based on another YT video I came across before yours. They put some shredded rubber in the holes. I'm thinking about putting scoria instead (tiny pebbles/rocks). This is to improve water drainage as I find in heavy rain it becomes a bit sploshy to walk on (rather than major pooling). What do you think?
Sounds good!
What a good idea and video explanation. I’ve got clay below 300mm of top soil, my lawn is suffering with a bad leather jacket infestation and the drainage is only making it worse. Do you think this may help drilling out the clay below the top soil?
Hi if you're able robots worth trying.. I'd also get some gypsum and compost and topsoil down and look at repeating yearly
I have just started this process and can only drill down around 4 inches before I hit solid clay and the drilling stops. Will this depth be acceptable for it to work
Hi anything's better than nothing.. so you cant get any deeper?
@@LawnRight I tried but the ground is too hard. I have the larger auger from the link you suggested. Do you think the smaller one that you use in the video would be worth purchasing and using instead? Thanks for your advice!
You work hard. Fair play.
Hi, how has the lawn faired this winter? Did the drilling fix the issue? My lawn is sat on clay and always has drainage issues, aside from paying £1000’s to have it all dug up, I’d love to think this would help!
Hi..the technique definitely helps 100%.. the deeper the better and backfill with compost, gypsum possibly a bit of gravel deeper down and good soil on the top.. this customer ended up with a dog thats obliterated the lawn! They're considering their next move
@@LawnRight thanks for the reply. I’ve just ordered an 800mm auger bit which arrives tomorrow. I’ll give it a shot. At this stage I have nothing to lose other than time.
Thanks for the videos, very interesting :)
Could you give an estimate of how much soil & compost did you use per square meter/feet including top dressing?
Hi I'm sorry I cant really remember.. just had enough in the van.. it does go a long way though
Nice video, did this fix the muddy lawn?
Hi thanks.. yes it helped a fair bit, however the customer got a. dog and things have never been quite the same since then - not a lot left
Do you want the clay to be slightly wet or can it be soggy?
Hi I dont imagine it would make too much difference other than how much mess is made. Some moisture is advantageous but too much would make things quite swampy
I have a similar issue.
Would sand, compost and topsoil be a good combination?
If mixed thoroughly yes
My lawn has sprinkler system. Every time I dig a hole to plant a bulb, I spike a line. Can’t use this method. I think gypsum is the solution.
Oh dear.. how deep is the system? Maybe you could just aerate with a hand aerator or drill bit down 2 inches
Any update on this lawn?..very interested
Hi so far so good.. its germinated fine and performing well. The shaded area is going thin as expected so the customer is going to change its use.. the real test i suspect will be through winter or several weeks of wet weather
@@LawnRight thank you very much for the update.
Good work. How has this turned out? When it snatched on the clay, did you just put the drill into reverse? I did the exact same.recently but didn't have a drill, ended up pulling bigger chunks than planned out the lawn. Either way, filled with top soil and compost so hoping it improves a bit
Hi yes it certainly snatched hard.. reversed the drill a bit then tried again but by bit but trying to avoid snatching. As for progress.. so far so good.. but need to get through winter and it should have drained better meaning less washing out.
@@LawnRight ok thank you. I'll have to see how mine turns out. I overseeded a week or so ago and I'm slightly nervous the heavy rain in the UK over the last few days will have impacted the seed, but will see how it all goes
@@sparky124578 yeah me too.. done a good number of seeding jobs last few weeks.. 🙏🙏🤞🤞🤞
I don't know if I'd want water draining quickly right next to my home. Perhaps a drain to move the water away from the foundation and have it soak in the far end of the yard, by the fence would be a safer option.
What are your thoughts on the petrol auger version? Do you think this will be too aggressive/ too large a hole? Appreciate your advice
I'd say it's a good idea to be honest.. ctrste a deep wide bore in the worst bit.. fill first with gravel, a bit of gypsum, then topsoil and compost.. then return of seed slightly proud.. watch for drainage pipework 😳
Love this idea
Have you ever tried liquid gypsum?
No I havent but Ive studied it quite a bit. That would definitely be a good answer as well to apply (thanks for the comment, and reminder 😁🤞)
Hi, I have being doing this to a customers lawn with a manual auger bit , slow going but better than nothing, looking forward to seeing an improvement. Thanks for posting 👍
@@jasonhewlett1283 Good work. How has this turned out? When it snatched on the clay, did you just put the drill into reverse? I did the exact same.recently but didn't have a drill, ended up pulling bigger chunks than planned out the lawn. Either way, filled with top soil and compost so hoping it improves a bit
@@sparky124578 Hi, I haven't seen an improvement yet as we have had little rain for months, probably seen a change into early winter.
What did you use to "top dress" the lawn as you put it? I'll need to drill the holes first of course, also, do I need that heavy roller or will I get by fine without?
Hi cal.mixture of compost and topsoil.. you can also spring kale some gypsum in the holes too which will also help. The roller is to firm seeds into the ground. If you're just topdressing then a roller isnt needed.. either way you could simply walk it all in
Hi Shaun, this is a great idea which im looking to implement soon. The ground in my garden is an easy 11+ inches of thick clay, but garden is small enough to get this done no problem. Is it worth mixing into the holes of multipurpose soil, compost and sand (which im going to use) some gypsum and then coat the whole lawn in top soil then seed?.. This is my plan as an aerating i feel would not be as effective.. What do you think of my plan? Suggestions? Thanks in advance buddy
Sounds good!
11inch of thick clay, almost sounds lucky,
Below about 3- 4" of top soil I have a layer of clay that is a of 3.5+ meters deep, found out when installing a soak away for outbuilding drainage, we went down about 1.8m, gave up going any deeper so then drilled a 150mm hole to break through the clay level which was a further 1.7+m down, until we did this the pit just collected and held water, lined the bore hole with a pvc pipe, filled with gravel, then finished soak away as per usual, took the opportunity to add some French drains under garden area into the soakaway while we were at it. every winter our back garden used to become a soggy mess, it's been so much better since, even with this winters non stop heavy rain, but I can see how this method could improve things even further
Just wondering how this worked with this past winter?
Hi it worked well. The shaded area did so much better. The open lawn struggled though as the neighbours have s lot of water run off which lands there so more drainage is needed at that point . Customers gonna dig a soakaway
How long did that take?!
It took me a full day but porb would be a but faster now
Hey mate, I would love to know how this turned out. We're in NZ and our yard is clay based as well. During winter you can literally see the water running and pooling in the yard. I'm going to try this out in the next month and get it all prep'd for summer.
So far so good mate and had a good few heavy rain showers so far 😊 the real test will be over the next winter especially if its like last winter
@@LawnRight Shweet, We're in lockdown again so no buying anything. I'll take some pics before I get started and see how it turns out. Cheers
@@LawnRight have you done follow up video to see the result after a year ?
@@patoss92 hi yes I did.. do a quick search for clay lawn sorry I'm just out at minute.. it went well but then they got a dog and destroyed it sadly
Nice work, can’t imagine doing this on my clay lawn 🤦🏾♂️ manual aeration was bad enough! Can’t wait to see the results! What is a wetting agent btw, what does it do?
Thanks! It just helps keep water available,prevent soils from going hydrophobic (repelling water), and aids seed germination
What time of year would you recommend doing this in the UK? I'm planning on doing a lawn renovation in September and this looks like a great way to tackle my heavy clay lawn.
Yep that's a great time. Spring or autumn. In autumn you'll then help reduce many winter issues with water so good timing 👍😊
My lawn is about 10 feet away from the house and there isn't a man hole cover in the back garden, its located in the front do I have to worry about hitting any pipes ? I understand there's water pipes, gas pipes but I can't imagine there be put under the garden, can anyone give me some advice?
I tend to agree. Services and utilities I imagine would lead from the front to the street but this is a little beyond my expertise unfortunately as to whether or not anything may bee under the rear lawn sorry.. all I can say is go slow and steady.
@@LawnRight hey buddy thanks for getting back too me so quickly. 👌
how are the results? please update
Hi I went back there a while back here was the update th-cam.com/video/bNh_eisHTPc/w-d-xo.html. Thanks
Hi. In the description you mention other approaches to clay soil. Do you have videos showing those too? Tried searching but you have many vids! Thanks.
Hi no videos as yet.. apply humic acid regular to help.. takes time though.. a good year for improvements.
@@LawnRight thank you.