Best lawn solution

danrv

FreeBear said:

8" or 200mm of hardcore is a good solid base for a patio - That has been done well... 

Yes. Sufficient hardcore for that area but strangely only light gravel for the other section in the corner.
Suits me anyway as it’s easier to prep for topsoil.

danrv

princeofpounds said:

For a smallish garden like yours turf is great. But don't skimp on the preparation underneath just because you're covering it up, it will be key to how the turf settles in and sustains itself. You should turn over and break up your soil, 10-15cm deep if you can - compaction is a killer for grass. 

Just picking this up again. 
Got rid of most of the hardcore and just clearing loose stones and turning over. 
Still some stones and gravel though and just wondering how clear it needs to be.
Someone mentioned about drainage and how stones could help. 
This area is about half the lawn. The rest will just have to be maintained.

Eldi_Dos

If you are going to turf I would get order in early as many people may be looking for it to repair lawns after the summer we have had.

greyteam1959

Don't try & lay turf until at October.
You will be just wasting you money as it is far too dry yet.

twopenny

The amount of stone to leave depends on the type of soil.
It doesn't look like clay as it isn't cracking.
Are you going to lay some soil on there before the turf?

When you get to making the lawn it's worth leaving soil around the fence edges, about the width of a hoe. This means you can cut the lawn easily, no strimming, and clean up the soil edging quickly with a hoe. It looks smarter too.
Otherwise you get long bits of grass growing along the fence line and keep snapping the strimmer line against the panels and posts which is irritating.

ashe

I'd leave very little stones if any at all

new build lawns do really badly because they're full of them

your photo looks absolutely littered with them. Some stones can help for drainage but you don't want a gravel pit

stones can rise to the top and give a lumpy lawn, hit mower blades and stunt grass growth 

turf can take a lot of care as well so be ready for that if going down that route, needs a lot of watering. Friend went the turf route lasted year while I seeded. His lawn looks worse than before whereas mine looks great. Birds can be kept out with netting. 

danrv

twopenny said:

Are you going to lay some soil on there before the turf?

Will lay topsoil down before turf or seed.
Was hoping to use seed as turf’s a bit pricey. 

danrv

ashe said:

your photo looks absolutely littered with them. Some stones can help for drainage but you don't want a gravel pit

Yes. Still a lot there. 
Got some whole bricks and large rocks out so it’s just loose soil and stones/gravel remaining. 
A rigid rake would help. 

Eldi_Dos

danrv said:

twopenny said:

Are you going to lay some soil on there before the turf?

Will lay topsoil down before turf or seed.
Was hoping to use seed as turf’s a bit pricey. 

A lawn lute/ lawn leveller would help get topsoil spread and with de-stoning.

Mistral001

I would just pick up the stones that are on the suface.  There seems to be a lot, so you need to do it by kneeling down and picking them up  by hand square foot by square foot.  What you are trying to do is to make sure that there are no stones that would hurt a kids knee if they fell on the lawn while playing, or one that could be thrown up by a lawnmower.  It will probably require raking the ground after picking up the stones and then picking up any stones that are brought up by the rake and repeating as necessary.