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Ideas for levelling an uneven sward?

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DanielCoffey:
I would like to pick your collective brains on the most effective way of levelling an uneven sward that we are responsible for on our new property.

The area I am looking at is about 750m2 of former paddock and it was used by horses until the end of 2016.

Since it is deep clay soil they have left deep holes all over it from the weight of their hooves on the wet clay in the winters. It is covered by moss, grass and mixed low flowering stuff with sparse rushes and is now inside my new fence line.

During 2017 I mowed it with a mulching mower when the weather permitted and the sward has thickened considerably once it was no longer being grazed or trodden on. The rushes have reduced too. It is in significantly better condition than the other side of the fence which is still badly trodden clay with poor grass due to the presence of the horses.

The issue is not what my 750m2 is covered in - I am happy for the mixed sward to remain - it is the uneven surface. This makes it hard to mow because the mower front wheels drop down into the hoof holes and the blade bogs down on the grass and moss.

I am considering the following to remedy the surface...

EITHER very heavy top dressing with sand and light soil and waiting for the grass to grow through. This would require a vast quantity of material to be delivered and spread...

OR rotavate the heck out of it for the whole of this season (yes, I have a two-wheel tractor with large rotavator) and then reseed the entire surface in "flowering lawn mix" very late in the autumn.

OR just leave it, struggling with the mower until hopefully the sward thickens so much it closes the gaps over the holes.

If I decide to rotavate it, I do have two questions for the horsey types among us. Given that the paddock on the other side of the fence is in active use by horses I would assume that using any form of herbicide on my portion would be totally out of the question, yes? Also, what would be the likely response of the paddock owner if I were to sow Yellow Rattle to help weaken my side?

We are under no time constraints at all here and I would rather do it right.

Opinions please?

sunshineband:
This is only my personal view... I am sure there will be lots of schools of thought!

Maybe rotovate the worst area and reseed as you suggested, bearing in mind that almost everything already there will regrow after rotovating anyway. This would enable you to see how well this goes.

Take the weather forecast into account though as rotovated clods set like concrete in dry conditions and if you are to have a level surface you will need to rake over at the very least.

Not sure if that helps but it is what I'd do.  ;)

DanielCoffey:
Multiple rotavator passes was my first thought too. The rear-tine rotavator I have will bust up any clay clods without issue but I will give the surface a light pass with a part-filled roller when I have reseeded it.

sunshineband:

--- Quote from: DanielCoffey on May 21, 2018, 20:16 ---Multiple rotavator passes was my first thought too. The rear-tine rotavator I have will bust up any clay clods without issue but I will give the surface a light pass with a part-filled roller when I have reseeded it.

--- End quote ---

Good luck. Hope it works

DanielCoffey:
Phew - you were not joking when you said clay soil set like concrete when dry!

I tried to go over an area near the house where repeated passage by a tracked digger had squashed dips that collected water when it rained. The raised centre was fine but all I could do with the track lanes was loosen the rocks and hardcore that were in the top layer, throw up a load of dust and skid over the compacted clay pan underneath. I'll have to wait till we have had some rain the previous day.

An hour of work and I managed to make one pass over about 400m2. I'll stone pick next then do it again once it has had a wetting.

I have not touched the grassy paddock area yet either as it too is dry and the grass is getting long with flowering stalks. I'll do a mower pass first on that lot. I am glad I don't react badly to pollen.

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