New lawn on a budget

colchambers

I'm brand new to MSE so if the post is in the wrong place or something then please help me out.

My wife and I moved into a brand new house just over a year ago and I have finally got round to sorting out the garden. Due to the aforementioned new house we couldn't afford the turf we were going to put down and so I am trying to turn a literal ex building site into a lawn. So I am looking for any advice about sorting it out on the cheap and with as little hassle as possible.

We just want a lawn, nothing fancy like a rockery or paving slabs going through it or anything so it should be relatively easy.

I am planning to sow the lawn in stages rather than all at once. Primarily so that if I make a mistake it won't affect the whole garden. So far I have just started preparing the top of the garden by digging it up, removing the weeds and large stones etc and levelling it.

Just to paint the picture the tools I currently have are:

• Long Garden Fork (with one prong missing - it broke! )
• Garden Gloves
• Plastic bowl for the stones and weeds
• Rake

The current problem I have at the moment is that there are loads of small stones in the dirt. removing them by hand would take ages and I can't think of anything (cheap) to sieve them out with. My solution is to plant the seeds any way and just tread the soil and stones down so nothing sticks out. Then once the grass has grown, if the stones are still a problem I can lay some top soil or something over and let the grass grow through it leaving the stones covered. This is just a thought but is a simple solution for now.

Just in case you haven't realised by now, I am not much of a gardener!

Anyway, I would very much appreciate some tips on the quickest and easiest way to lay my own lawn on the cheap! I'm sure you seasoned professionals will know it all.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Colin

milkydrink

I don't know for sure........but a roller might be good to get a nice flat surface first off. Perhaps you could hire one?

Then just turf it. bit by bit if necessary. Then you shouldn't need to worry about the stones:D ??????

I would tuft it bit by bit if it meant I didn't need to remove the stones by hand:beer:

Turf is pretty cheap anyway(unless you have a very long garden), start from the back & work your way towards the patio.

If you put seeds down, you might still have the stone problem & I think you need to net it or the birds eat them.

Kim.

angchris

to get rid of the small stones why not check out the missus`s plastic washing basket and give it a whirl, the holes might be just big enough to let the teeny tiny stones and dirt out but keep all the biggish ones in there iyswim you could wander around your garden filling up your washing basket with earth looking like a complete nutter shaking it but just tell the neighbours if they look at you weirdly that you are panning for gold :rotfl:

Poppy9

Check out the hire shops to see if there is a machine you can hire quite cheaply for the weekend to give you a good surface to sow.

I've re-turfed and re-seeded my lawn. The re-seeding was cheap and easy to do the resurfing was quick but much pricier. Both now look the same 8 years on - that's what children do for your grass!

Ask for advice on which seeds to use, I think a gardner friend told us to use a mixture of two different seeds for better coverage and tough wearing if you have children.

Sharra

We seeded our lawn from scratch last year (it was just piles of weeds before). We dug it over and took out all the big stones and just chucked loads of seed down. We did tie some plastic bags on the washing line to keep some of the birds away, (im not sure how well it worked) but we have a good thick lawn this year (apart from where the dogs have wee'd *sigh*).
We just bought the seed from B&Q - I think it was described as for a 'family lawn'.
The only thing I really wish we had done, was to hire/borrow a roller. We made do with walking over it and flattening it that way - now when we cut the grass its very noticeable that its not properly flat.

bambam00

I have on 2 occasions (and intend to do again in my new house) sew my lawn from seed. So long as you have dug over this gives enough air into soil for a good sewing. I know the cost of hiring a roller is sometimes a little expensive but depends on what size your garden is. Previously I have had / found a flat piece of board and used this to flatten. It takes a while having to keep move it and walk up and down it, and you may look a little silly. But does the job, flattens the soil. Then after you have flattened and got a reasonable even surface rake it very lightly to disturb the surface and sew your seed.

You can get it from garden centres or ebay all much of a muchness. Be sure to pick the best type of seed for the area you intend to cover. Dont use a standard seed for a shaded lawn you will end up with moss and patchy lawn. Read the instructions for sewing carefully, as so many people use far too much. Expect it to be next year before you see a lush lawn. The more you mow the quicker it thickens.

Dont worry about little stones (if they are stone chip size) these will gradually sink into the soil and the grass roots will push them down. They actually help with driainage and will give your roots opportuinity for healthy growth.

Im no expert gardener but have done this a few times and the result is just as good if not better than a turf lawn. Its sooo much cheaper too

Have fun !

lil_me

We did lawn from seed last year with seed from the £ shop, also left the small stones. Worked well.

Pink.

Hi colchambers,

Welcome to MSE

You should get even more help on the Greenfingered Moneysaving board so I'll move your thread over there.

Pink

geoffpompey

whilst i was putting a new path down in my garden i knocked up way 2 much concrete so i filled up an old plastic waste paper bin put a pole in the middle. after it had set i made a handle out of a shovel handle & hay presto a free roller!!

p.s. a little tip!!
make sure the bin is round because pushing around
a square one is no good 4 your back!!:rotfl:

Kaz2904

I got our garden sieve from wilkinsons for £2ish. I would recommend you check out your local old style hardware store if you are lucky enough to have one we got our seed from there and it only cost £2.50 per kilo. I need to get more this year because the gnomes in my garden have wrecked it. -well my kids say it's the gnomes!

geoffpompey

i did hear that the further south you go the harder it was to contol the garden gnomes!! i believe the kids! you should be more worried about all the caravans heading your way this week,taking another wrong turning and using you lawn to turn around.