Eastry is a village about two and a half miles south-west of Sandwich, on the Roman road north from Dover towards Richborough. Dover District's landscape assessment places it in a landscape of gentle ridges and valleys running north-east to south-west, where settlements tend to sit on the higher ridges with wide views across farmland. For a garden, higher and more open ground usually means more sun and more wind, and so more drying out.
The same assessment describes the geology of the area as bands of head brickearth lying on upper chalk, with narrow ribbons of dry-valley (Nailbourne) deposits following the same direction. Soils are generally well drained, calcareous and silty, deeper in the valley bottoms and shallower on the valley sides in places. As general guidance, a lawn on shallow chalky soil has little reserve of water, so it stresses early in a dry summer. Cut a little higher from June, avoid scalping, and do not chase the colour back with heavy feeding. Autumn overseeding into a lawn that has thinned out over summer is a good way to rebuild density, and our guide to lawns on East Kent soils goes through what chalk does to feeding and watering.
Chalk-based soil is alkaline, which is worth remembering when you pick products. Moss-killers and fertilisers sold for acidic soils behave differently on a calcareous lawn, and a product labelled for general use is not automatically right here. If your lawn is mossy despite the free drainage, the cause is more often shade, a low cut or a build-up of thatch than waterlogging, and a proper scarify is the fix.
Eastry itself is a mix of building types. The assessment describes some recent housing sitting alongside older flint buildings and large farmhouses, and there are windmills in the village, including a converted upper mill. Wikipedia lists the Grade I parish church of St Mary the Virgin and records that the parish includes the hamlets of Heronden and Selson. Newer estate gardens tend to be small with thin topsoil over compacted subsoil, while the older plots around the flint cottages are often larger and more variable. Either way, the first question is how the ground drains and how much traffic the lawn takes, and hollow-tine aeration answers the compaction part of that.
A steady seasonal routine suits this open, quick-drying ground well. Our annual plan spreads feeding, aeration and overseeding across the year, so the lawn is strongest when the weather is least kind to it.
What we do in Eastry
- Scarifying Lift moss and thatch so water, air and feed reach the roots.
- Hollow-tine aeration Pull out cores to relieve compaction and let the soil drain and breathe.
- Overseeding Put new grass into thin and worn areas.
- Lawn restoration Scarify, aerate, overseed and feed in one planned visit.
- Lawn maintenance Regular mowing and general lawn work between treatments.
Prices are the same everywhere we work. A typical 100 m² lawn is £135 for a Lawn Refresh, £230 for Lawn Recovery and £325 for Lawn Restoration. Pay for the year and save 10%.
Questions
Why does my Eastry lawn go brown so quickly in summer?
The local geology is brickearth over chalk, with soils that are well drained and in places shallow on the valley sides. That drains fast and holds little water. Mow higher, water deeply but rarely, and expect the grass to recover when rain returns.
Is chalky soil a problem for a lawn?
Not a problem, but it needs the right approach. Chalk-based soil is alkaline and free draining, so feeding little and often works better than one big dose, and moss-killers made for acidic ground are not always suitable.
I have a large garden on the edge of Eastry. Can you restore a whole lawn?
Yes, a full restoration is a sequence: assess the ground, scarify, aerate, overseed and then feed. We look at drainage and shade first so the plan suits your specific plot.