Advice needed on how to seed the lawn and level the surface

manan.shah.82

Hi,

We moved to a new house few months ago and need advice on how to grow lawn in back garden.

Previous owner didn't maintain the garden at all, to be honest it was bit of a jungle. We had garden clearance last weekend to get rid of the all the unnecessary plants and now we want to seed the grass/lawn.

Problem is current surface is very uneven so I need to first level the surface but in current state there is a bit of grass and patches in the garden.
Can I dig the garden with digging spade, which removes the current grass as well and then level the surface and see the lawn?

When I level the surface can I use the same sand which was digged out, which will have grass or should I need to buy new garden sand and use it (not sure if I can buy from any store or not)?

Also other day I saw lawn seeds in Asda and it was written once you have levelled the surface just sprinkle the seeds and water it..is that so easy and simple to grow lawn/grass?

I'm completely newbie so please advice me.

Thanks.

furball

It's a heck of a job digging over the lawn or scraping the grass off. I would cut it back on the lowest setting with a mower then you can see where the lumps and bumps are. I would scrape off the bumps even though the soil will be exposed and fill in the dips with soil. Then reseed. The other options are hire a turf stripper to take all the turf off. Or hire a rotavator to dig it over. BE CAREFUL if you use either of these methods to check for stones and rocks and branches in the grass. You will still have to scrape off the lumps and fill in the dips after the turf stripper or rake level after a rotavator. If it helps just keep in mind that it might look bad now but a weekly cut throughout the summer works wonders. By the end of September you won't recognise it.

manan.shah.82

Hi,

I think you are right, it will be a quite a lot of work if I dig the whole garden.

I'll be better off if I remove the bumps and put some soil in the dips. Can I use the same soil which I removed from the bumps (it will have some grass) or should I buy some new soil?

Any advice on seeding a new lawn for the areas where there isn't any lawn/grass?

Thank you

wallbash

as I posted in a similar thread yesterday

quote

Ok . I have ( just in time for the hose pipe ban ) had a new lawn . It is now 8 days old !

Guy came just before Xmas and sprayed the old lawn , which then died.
Late February the ground was rotovated , twice.
Last week the ground was raked to remove dead 'stuff'
Then leveled. Turf's layed ( green side up)

Now I have watered for 90 mins every day

Lawn looks wonderful .......... but I am praying for April showers.


So my vote is to kill , then rotovate.
If the ground is well rotavated and then left to dry a little, leveling with the back of a rake is fairly simple.

You have first decide how much time/effort and money do you want to spend. Deciding also how good a new lawn do you require ??

We felt that it was time to have the 'perfect' lawn , so time and money was splashed out.

furball

I wouldn't use the bumps that you shave off as it will have grass in. If you are making a flower border or flower bed around the garden then edge the lawn dig the borders, this takes a while as you have to pull all the naff grass and weeds out but is very satisfying. Then when the borders are done you should be able to use some of that soil for filling in the holes. Sorry to post pics again but i did my garden a couple of weeks ago. Before and after pics. 5 days hard graft and a skip.

TallGirl

I have bare patched I tried to seed but the birds must have eaten seeds as they have not germinated for 2 weeks. Put some more down but if nothing happens I might have to resort to turf. How long does it take for grass seed to germinate please.

wallbash

As always it depends . But with the currant temp and you did keep watering the area . I would expect to start seeing something by now.

manan.shah.82

Thank you guys for all your advice.

I have already spend quite a lot in the house this year and £250 for just garden cleaning so I wanted cheap option or some thing which I can do my own....

I'll go with your advice and hopefully I'll post some good news in few weeks time.

Thanks again.

budgetdiyer

I'd use the soil you've removed from the peaks to level the dips (it wont matter if they have some grass in them since you want it as lawn anyway!)

If your struggling to get the seed to germinate (if the temperatures dip for example) after watering cover the grass (and peg down) clear plastic sheeting over the area.

Farway

I second budgetdiyer, but it does depend if you want grass or bowling green

If just grass, just level it off, use the bumps to fill in hollows. You may finish up with mixture of grass, but if you just want something green then who cares?

The birds will eat the seeds, normal advice is sow 3 times as much, birds eat a third, a third fails and a third grows

Netting over the area would help prevent bird breakfast feast

And, yes it really is that easy to grow grass from seed, but not so easy to grow a bowling green

TallGirl

Just got back from an overnight stay and my grass as finally come up. Will keep watering and put more down as the birds eat it. Hopefully my two big Maine coons will keep the birds off or I shall look at the net option. Thanks for the advice