Preparing clay soil for grass

[marne]

If the blec stone rake is what other know as power box rake or harley rake you will do fine. 

Make sure it's halfway dry. 

You will get a fabulous seedbed, they shine on mini loaders. 

Done it countless times with excellent results. 

They are outstanding at levelling but half an acre will take 1-2 days on a mini. If you only want to loosen 1 inch in 1 pass you're gonna be fast. 

A walk behind may work for loosening the soil but bad for levelling an area that size. 

Only use a stone burier if there a lot of stones and debris on top, other wise, like dumper stated, avoid it. Levelling afterwards is plain pain. Anyway, they have their place. Don't go too deep with a harley rake in your case, the first inch is good to go. 

[dumper]

A stone rake is not a box rake you can hire 2.4 m version to go behind a tractor  makes large areas easy 

[AndrewS]

I’m likely not far from you in Banchory and have done something similar earlier this year to transform around 0.75acres of over-compacted moss bearing ground into knee deep sward.
Really chuffed with the outcome. Not plain sailing but I’ve learned a lot along the way.

 

Highlights:

Researched soil type via James Hutton Institute - great resource.

 

Had soil analysed. Found pH of 5.2, organic matter around 8% and severely depleted in N, P & K.

 

Alleviated compaction with a 24” subsoiler pulled perpendicular to the (gentle) fall line every 5-6’

 

Loosened the top soil with a stone burier.

 

Applied ~400kg agricultural gypsum to chemically soften the clay pan

 

Applied bio lime

 

Applied 10T of spent peat-based compost from a local potato grower

 

Reseeded with a carefully considered mix of 20+ grasses, legumes, herbs and wildflowers from Cotswold Seeds.

 

Applied chicken manure based fertiliser which is particularly high in N and P (phosphorus is vital for good root growth).

 

Relatively early days but in the past 4 years, it was a struggle to grow grass beyond 3-4” high, roots penetrated the ground by 1” max and the soil, when dug had no discernible odour - it was basically dirt. Aside from supporting the new growth, where I have had cause to dig it the smell is reminiscent of a forest floor; it’s alive again!

 

Feel free to PM me if you’d like any more  detail.

 

All the best.

[AndrewS]

Edited October 19, 2023 by AndrewS
As it is now pic added

[trigger_andy]

12 hours ago, AndrewS said:

Amazing work! Whats the plans for the land now? 

 

[AndrewS]

Thank you.

 

I love the idea of having sheep cut the grass, and produce food for the freezer in the process…

 

To do that sustainably and responsibly, I first wanted to prove to myself that I could grow grass. If it survives the winter, I’ll be confident to bring livestock in next spring. 
 

It was formerly part of an 11 acre small holding and I’ve re-registered the garden as an agricultural holding so we’re pretty much good to go 👍🏻

 

 

[Stere]

Nice would be a shame if all the effort was only to  grow   lawn grass faster, that then it  just  needed mowing more often but makes more sense to improve it for grazing.

 

Guessing a max of 2-3 sheep on that area?

Edited October 20, 2023 by Stere

[AndrewS]

49 minutes ago, Stere said:

Nice would be a shame if all the effort was only to  grow   lawn grass faster, that then it  just  needed mowing more often but makes more sense to improve it for grazing.

 

Guessing a max of 2-3 sheep on that area?

Exactly!

Likely accompanied by a few chickens.