New lawn on a budget

paddy's_mum

Good preparation is the key to a good lawn whether you use turf or sow seed. A roller is the best bet to get an even surface.

You can obtain what is known as hardwearing lawn seed. Once the seed is scattered as evenly as you can manage, very gently rake it over. You are aiming to give it the lightest possible covering, not burying it under a layer of soil.

My tip for keeping the birds off is to use sheets of scrap clear polythene, laid over the newly sown area and held down at the corners with old skewers or home-made 'tent peg' bits of stick. Once you see that the seed has germinated, remove the polythene. Old net curtains got from charity shops do just as good a job as the plastic. Either method makes a birdproof barrier but doesn't prevent air and light getting to the seed to promote germination. Hope that helps.

colchambers

Wow, what a terrific response. Many thanks to everyone who has posted you've all been so helpful. At this rate I'll know everything there is to know about laying a lawn. You've all made me feel a lot better about what I've done so far and what I can do.

After reading your responses I have a couple of questions.

1. Where can I rent a lawn roller and how much should I expect to pay?
2. How much should I water the seeds. I have done a trial 1m square patch and water it every night. I just don't know how much water I should use and if there is a way to tell if I have watered too much?
3. When trying to tread down or roll the soil should I water the ground first to make it softer or leave it dry?

also I like these smilies!!
:easter: :easter_ba

Woby_Tide

having recently turfed 150m2 of garden due to being put off by prices from gardeners/turfing companies

(I avoided seed thsi time due to time constraints)

1. you can hire rollers from pretty much any hire shop. We borrowed one from HSS online recently, was £24 for the week including insurance(as it was online we were meant to get £5 off, as it happened on return they charged me for 2 days hire, even though it was 6 1/2, and gavce me a refund so was about £18 for a week, you fill it with water to get the weight so easy to pick up and drop off).
2. with seed as long as the ground looks damp it will b eok, with turf it's harder to judge as you need to dampen two layers
3. a roller isn't actually recommended as it compacts the soil too much. it's main use is to highlight the pits and troughs in the garden so you can level it.Once you level if you roll again then you should rake it again to ensure the top layer is nicley turned to acceot the new seed or turf