On 10/08/15 16:19, nikirushka wrote:
Big. The garden itself is an outer edge corner plot, 130ft down the
longest side and roughly 100ft along the back; the lawn covers roughly
2/3 of that and I want most of it gone.

Well, assuming around 8 to 9000 square feet of lawn, removing the top 2
inches of soil means you will have to move around 50 tons of soil
(depending on what sort of soil you have - see
https://uk.answers.yahoo.com/questio...060225AAm2MHo).

I've certainly got the space for composting, I've got areas where the
grass clippings and plant cuttings etc get chucked anyway.

Glyphosate might be a better idea, I did wonder about that - but, I have
to be careful of the plants as well as I have rhubarb and raspberries
growing at the edge of one bit of it, and the back portion (there are
three distinct areas within the lawn, not physically separate though)
has three fruit trees growing in it.

Is it possible to cover the plants with polythene sheet along the edge
where you are spraying? Don't worry about the fruit trees if they have
no leaves near the ground. Glyphosate is not absorbed through wood, so
even if you get the trunk wet, no damage will occur. Even so, if you are
going to spray, make sure it is a day without any wind, and no rain due
for at least 6 hours. And if you do get glyphosate on the leaves of
wanted plants, you can save the day by immediately washing off the
glyphosate with a good spray of water from a hose.

--

Jeff