I came across this website and realized it is a wonderful resource. I am purchasing a house in Maple Ridge and my backyard is going to be sand / rocks dirt that is grated. I therefore have many questions: I read a posting about someone in my similar case, and he indicated that his is tilling compost in with the sand and rock for a kind of bio-base. How thick should this be. I understand it gives the grass above it additional benefits (although I don't know what they are). If I try to law down a lawn in March / April (the 2nd best time apparantly), other than watering, what else can I do to help my new lawn be successful? Any other websites I can go to for assistance / reference is apprecaited as well. Thank you.
as you live in Maple Ridge, you can order Sand Turf from Highland Turf farm in Pit Meadows. Sand Turf allows water to get to the roots, rather than turf grown in soil that can become hardpacked, and the grass roots won't get the water. They have information sheets on how to prepare your soil. They also sell soil. The best time we were told is before May. We just had ours done, but we had a landscape company come in and put in drainage and filter cloth, sand proper soil etc. Then they laid the turf. At the same time consider putting in an irrigation system. Makes things easier for you and less wasted water. You can do everything yourself , you can purchase all the irrigation items directly from Terasen Waterworks, the same place the landscapers use. You just need the time and the back for that kind of work.
Thought I had better mention that the new lawn we just put in from the above mentioned company is full of POA, what a mess. So perhaps if you do get turf you better ask for a guarantee from whoever you get it from that it is POA free. Poa is something I found out that no one wants in their lawn, as it spreads and soon takes over your lawn. I have attached a photo to show the difference in the lawn. This photo was taken a week ago, things have tripled since then. It does not look too bad in this picture, like someone has erased some spots. Jim Weed advises that the only way to remove it is to cut it out, and in our case that would take days, and would be the majority of the lawn.
The benefit of sand is the good drainage that it provides. The drawback is that it has a low Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC). Clay and humus has high CEC and so holds on to nutrient cations and to water. It is the small size of the clay and humus particles and their negative charge that gives them a high CEC. Humus has a higher CEC than clay. Zeolite also has a high CEC but it may be more expensive that compost and it has a lower CEC. In some areas where the soil is just rock and gravel, not much sand even, the standard practice is to put down a layer of clay before the topsoil and sod. That practice would depend on your rainfall. So adding as much compost as you can afford would seem the best way to ensure a good lawn.
