Need advice in replanting a lawn

[morpheus]

Hi,

We just moved in and I am tearing my hair out looking at the back garden.

Its small enough, about 36m squared and I want to start anew, here are my ideas....

The grass on it is atrocious, the previous occupants were obviously not concerned with it too much. The grass isnt overly long, but its all patchy brown and green and its all stalky looking with the odd massive broad leafed thistle type weed interspersed.

The garden slopes gently down from left to right and theres a depression about 2 square metres in the back right hand corner (as you stand with your back to the house). There are no plants at all, no shed, nothing but a big square covered in this stunted, browny, greeny, patchy, stalky grass.

I am a novice when it comes to gardening, I would like to rip up the grass thats down and level the garden a bit better especially in that corner before replanting really good wholesome fresh green grass.

Would it be correct to fill the depression with stones and gravel before levelling it and cementing in a foundation for a barna shed? Thats where we want the shed to be.

Was considering stripping off the grass in large sods and piling them upside down to let the existing crap die off before breaking the soil up and somehow spreading it around better, dont know how bad the ground is for stones etc, will only find out when i dig it.

I may rotorvate it if thats a good idea? but whats the best way to kill off the existing grass? The sod flipping method I suggested? I basically want to start the new garden with an empty canvas.

How would you go about all of this?

thanks.

 

[moneygrower]

It would be worth your while finding out why the grass is in that state before you go spending money on new turf, for example if you have a drainage problem the new grass will go the same way.

 

[mich]

you have my sympathy as i was in the same situation. You are better off in my view starting from scratch and now is a good time to do it. Kill off the grass now with a weedkiller. Then after a week or two when the lawn is a bit barer hire a rotovator and spend a saturday afternoon ploughing up you garden. Then rake it up, if its a newish build there will be a lot of rubbish to take out. If the drainage is poor then add a horticultural sand. Rake it over. Level it out. You can then plant your grass or buy it in rolls. The latter is more expensive but it provides a very quick solution.

Before you do all this you should draw a plan, look at where the sun shines in the morning or evening and plan around that ie patios and borders. It sounds like a lot of work but it will be worth it and it wont be as expensive as you think

Hope this helps.

 

[morpheus]

Thanks for the reply,

I had a look a few days ago and our neighbours on both sides (we're in a terrace) have lovely green lawns, the back garden in our place just has an uncared for appearance, I want to match their gardens. Also looking to introduce some wildlife into it, even if its just the odd bird or too, so would probably like to plant one or two small trees.

Regarding drainage, well that seems fine, even after last few nights of rain it was just a little soggy this morning. That usually drains away later in the day, the estate is on a hill (thus the lawn gently sloping left to right) so theres enough drainage as far as I can tell.

Im looking for any pointers about how to undertake this task, where to start, what planning, equipment, supplies I might need to consider.

 

[maxjam]

I have a problem with my garden, I have massive weed growth in it and looking to clear the whole thing out. I have a plan and all now but have a couple of questions.

Ive put in drainage, proper pipes buried in the ground leading to a large sink hole filled with stones and gravel which works great now so my garden drains properly in all weather. the new weeds loved this and took over my previously cleared garden

I started to put in a gravel path and have that half completed. this weekend i hope to tackle the weeds, but ive two choices: 1. Strimmer, 2. Roundup.

Strimmer i assume will remove the heavy foliage which I can then rake up, roundup will kill off the weeds entirely but not happy using chemicals on the ground. heres my question: what happens the the weeds if I strimmer them? do the roots starve and die off or will the pesky things spring out of the ground again?

would a combination of strimming, raking and then roundup on whats left be a better method of weed annhilation?

thanks folks!

 

[demoivre]

would a combination of strimming, raking and then roundup on whats left be a better method of weed annhilation?

Yes, strimming alone won't get rid of the weeds so you will need to spray what's left. Gallup is a lot cheaper than Roundup ( I only discovered this recently ) , but will do the same job.