Lawn, moss and nuclear option?

ey_up

Hi all,

I have a lawn that has lived most of its life under the shade of a large willow. We have now decided the willow is to go which will leave us a lawn area of 15 - 20 sqm that is nothing but moss.

What is the easiest option to get this back to a grass lawn? I cannot afford new turf at the moment. Is there a way to really get rid of the moss (I am not bothered about existing grass as there is none of it left anyway)?

Is such a size area too large to succesfully start a new lawn seed?

Cheers

wallbash

No area is too big to start a lawn with seed.
We have decided to have a new lawn , few weeks ago we had the lawn 'killed' Its now a sickly yellow .
After xmas the area will be rotovated and leveled.
Early spring , depending on the weather we will have the turf down. But if had a bit of patience we could easily thrown some seeds down.

gamston

turf is the way to go
seed is not cheap, and takes time to come up
get good drainage by spiking the area before you start

DaftyDuck

Seed will be much, much cheaper than returfing - a tenth the cost or better, and easier too. You will probably have to improve the drainage/soil condition, whichever you do.

If the area is well spiked, the drainage should improve, and the Willow going will give much better light. Seed will give you a moderately green lawn in a couple of months and, if sown in April, by September you'll have a near-perfect lawn. If it is really solid moss, I'd use a weedkiller to rid the lawn of it, then spike, then seed.

(Edit: I actually planted some seed out of season a month ago, and have a green(ish) lawn in that area now. NOt bad for December. I also picked some raspberries yesterday! Being coastal Kent helps!).

ey_up

Thanks guys. Looks like spring will be my start time.

glasgowdan

I would recommend turf too. Seed will not take in early spring and will not create what could be called a lawn until July, and only if you water it religiously. 20m2 turf will only cost around £40. I suggest you apply glyphosate to the whole area in early april. Hire a rotovator for a day 4 weeks later and spend some time flattening the area with a rake and by treading it all. Then lay the turf. It'll be good within 4 weeks of that.

jc808

My garden is ridden with weeds - im just clearing it now. Should I rotovate in Spring or will weedkiller suffice - im a newbie to gardening so pls be gentle

wallbash

Look at #2 . I am ( have ) killed everything . Grass is a wonderful yellow colour . rotovating early next month.

Question is how much money are you prepared to spend OR how much physical work do you want to do. ?
My wallet is bigger than my muscles.

Yorkie1

jc808 wrote: »

My garden is ridden with weeds - im just clearing it now. Should I rotovate in Spring or will weedkiller suffice - im a newbie to gardening so pls be gentle

Do not rotavate before you've killed the weeds, or you'll just chop them up into lots of little bits ...

jc808

OK, so:

Dec: Clear garden (Done)
Feb: Lay weedkiller
Mar: Rotovate and level, spike for drainage
Apr: Sow lawn from seed

Look after from there

Is this a plan?

wallbash

With the mild weather I would get out there with the weed killer now . Could repeat if necessary in February.