Soggy lawn

[AiryFairy1991]

My garden has been sorely neglected for years. We bought the house as a renovation project two years ago and was too busy with the house (and then too busy napping while pregnant) that we’ve done nothing out there.

I’m slowly but surely sewer ding the paths and tried to tackle our lawn too but it’s insanely soggy! My feet sank about a foot down —slight exaggeration—. I’ve raked it to get rid of all the leaves and moss but I’m in Scotland so you can imagine how delightfully rainy it’s been recently (and even some snow last week). Any tips for a total gardening novice?

That should say weeding the paths, first too too always proof read your posts! 🤦🏻‍♀️

OK, it is probably best to keep off it whilst it is waterlogged, as walking on it will only compact the soil even more and make it worse.

You will need to tackle drainage and there are several ways to do that. One is to aerate the lawn by going over the whole thing and spike it with a garden fork, wiggling it about to make holes. You can also brush sand into the holes to help with drainage. Another is to dig a soakaway, which is a long trench at the lowest end, a couple of feet deep, and filled with stones & gravel.

If all else fails, you could turn part of it into a bog garden with ferns etc, and maybe even a pond in the future. That would help to drain the rest.

My grass is v wet at the mo but I live in Cambridgeshire where it is generally v dry. I agree with all of the above. And...I can't generally cut or tidy my grass until the end of April because I'm north east facing. For the first time I've put bulbs in it and whilst my grass still needs a haircut it looks a bit prettier.

Definitely let it drain naturally for a bit before attempting much maintenance