Doing lawn from scratch

Cpu2007

I recently started working on my back garden and want to plant vegetables, some fruits,other type of plants too.
The garden isn't small but not that big either, it's big enough for what I want to achieve.

The problem is that the grass it's extremely patchy and not the soft grass I want(so you can sit on it).

The surface isn't even, i was thinking about making it even but then thought that this might not worth it.

The intention is to make a lawn from scratch, have sections where I can plant strawberries,mint and some vegetables.

The best option I feel needs to be embraced is digging; I did dig a bit but found it very difficult, as there were a lot of stones underneath.

What is the best way to get my loan ? are there tools or services that are not too expensive and get this done ; I live in the manchester area.

Thank you

wrightk

Can you hire a rotovator for a day? They are hard work but will easily pull up the ground. I've done a lawn in this way before. Its never perfect as a rotovator will make the ground very spongey and you need to work hard in raking it all to as level as you can get it,seed it give it a dressing of topsoil and if possible roll it, then keep off it until the ground resettles.

I did this in parts of our garden, although the levels were so bad (about 2 or 3 ft difference) i've created separate sections of garden, raised bedding area etc to account for that difference and constructed a path flowing inbetween to move rainwater away.

The grass i created on the left (which was very uneven to start with) gets a battering (kids) and initially grew well but id imagine you will fair a lot better (unless you have leylandii growing right next to it or a mountain of kids play things!)

Once fully established give it a spray with verdone once a year (i've found this the best for lawns) and after cutting, once a year give it a aftercut feed with a lawn conditioner

Cpu2007

A rotovator sounds like a good idea but I have a few questions about it:

I read on this forum, that these sort of equipment smashes the terrain and although roots might get extracted, pieces of weed and previous lawn can still grow.

2nd question is, will this machine work well on a ground that has a lot of stones and some bricks too ?

THank you

I_have_spoken

Artificial turf could be an option?

wrightk

Cpu2007 wrote: »

A rotovator sounds like a good idea but I have a few questions about it:

I read on this forum, that these sort of equipment smashes the terrain and although roots might get extracted, pieces of weed and previous lawn can still grow.

2nd question is, will this machine work well on a ground that has a lot of stones and some bricks too ?

THank you

The answer to both of your questions is yes. If you have a major weed problem,using a rotovator can under some circumstances make that situation worse. What people think qualify as a major weed problem is usually nothing that cant be cured with a bit of TLC. a good quality lawn weed killer (i use verdone) will kill just about everything but grass

The rotovator will pull up all sorts, bricks, stones etc. It gets bumpy and you have to hold on tight but as you go remove the larger stones/bricks. You will be left with a fine soil that can be raked over and levelled.

You wont have a perfect lawn, not for the first year anyway as you will need to treat any weeds and feed what you have seeded once it has established

Your other option might be to hire/buy a turf cutter. Remove the existing toplayer of turf, fill out any voids/uneveness. Give the rest a good scratching with a metal rake,seed and dress with topsoil

Cpu2007

wrightk wrote: »

The answer to both of your questions is yes. If you have a major weed problem,using a rotovator can under some circumstances make that situation worse. What people think qualify as a major weed problem is usually nothing that cant be cured with a bit of TLC. a good quality lawn weed killer (i use verdone) will kill just about everything but grass

The rotovator will pull up all sorts, bricks, stones etc. It gets bumpy and you have to hold on tight but as you go remove the larger stones/bricks. You will be left with a fine soil that can be raked over and levelled.

You wont have a perfect lawn, not for the first year anyway as you will need to treat any weeds and feed what you have seeded once it has established

Your other option might be to hire/buy a turf cutter. Remove the existing toplayer of turf, fill out any voids/uneveness. Give the rest a good scratching with a metal rake,seed and dress with topsoil

Thank you wrightk for explanation the functionality of a rotovator.
Sounds like what I need then.

If I understand this correctly, the following approach could be used:

Use the rotovator,dig everything and try to level it as best as you can.

-start lawn seeding

-use a good weedkiller from time to time,that kills weed and doesn't do anything to grass or other plants.

Do you think the approach above will be good?
In terms of time, you said a year; I have been reading about lawns and saw people mentioning that after seeding,lawn can start growing after 4-5 weeks.

thank you

glasgowdan

Don't use weedkiller on young grass seedlings as they won't cope. If you try and rotovate the lawn and seed right away you'll find the weeds grow and suffocate the grass seed once it germinates. EITHER, rotovate, rake out level and leave it bare for 4 weeks, then kill the weeds that appear, rake again and seed, OR, rotovate, rake level and lay turf.

If you seed the lawn it will be a useable lawn within 3-4 months or so, if done during the growing season and kept damp in the evenings with a sprinkler.

If you turf, you can use the lawn within a few weeks, you get a nice covering right away and if weeds appear through it they can get a spray once a year. Tur'f not as expensive as you might think; my local farm based landscape supplier does it for £1.50 per m2.

wrightk

Cpu2007 wrote: »

In terms of time, you said a year; I have been reading about lawns and saw people mentioning that after seeding,lawn can start growing after 4-5 weeks.

thank you

The points you've made are fine the only thing you will find a nightmare is settlement of the soil. as soon as its tilled and you step on it it will sink so it might be worth working at sections at a time. If you know someone with an old lawn roller that will help too because after you've seeded it you can give it a good roll so it wont compact anymore and move to the next section

above is correct however as glasgowdan has said you've got to let the lawn establish itself before you spray it with a hefty weedkiller.When it starts to emerge leave cutting it until its at least around 10cm then only take the top off. avoid cutting it right down for at least a year, just give it a trim. It will encourage the finer grasses that aren't established to come through.Even when it is fully established There are some who advocate cutting right down so the grass is right down to its yellowy shoots.i never agree with this. I spray most of our lawns once a year with verdone weed killer around this time of year and give it an after cut lawn conditioner once a year also

glasgowdan

I agree, I hate close-cut lawns. They either end up mossy, weedy, or to keep them green and healthy you have to spend a LOT of time raking, feeding, aerating, feeding, watering etc...

A nice healthy lawn with grass 3-4 inches high feels great to sit in and doesn't require much other than a cut every 2-3 weeks.