On 2013-04-17 14:44:53 +0100, MichaelD said:

Hello everyone,

I recently bought a house with a 30x90ft garden, which was massively
overgrown:

[image: http://imageshack.us/a/img580/1193/gardenold.jpg]

I have since spent quite a bit of time pulling out all of the old bushes
and trees, burning as I go. As you can see, I've certainly made
progress:

[image: http://imageshack.us/a/img27/5903/garden2b.jpg]
[image: http://imageshack.us/a/img6/6974/garden3u.jpg]

However, I am now moving towards being in a position whereby:


- There are lots of roots in the ground from the large bushes / small
trees
- I have attempted to remove the bramble roots, but not done a great
job - lots left in there / hidden
- I want to remove all of this, and then lay grass!


My plan is to hire a mini excavator (it's about 800cm wide - will fit
through the door in my garange!) and pull up the remaining large roots
(e.g. against the fence on the left, and over on the right).

I plan to use the excavator/digger to pull up the small amount of grass
that exists, and also level the ground a bit more.

I then plan to get a heavy duty (13 horse power) rotorator, and use it
across the whole area. I hope that this will pull up any roots / weeds
/ stones which are under the surface, so that they can be easily picked
up and removed.

The rotorator should also leave the ground in a good condition to lay
grass seed... I hope.

I wanted to check with you guys regarding this - have I missed anything
or am I going about anything the wrong way? I am aware a rotivator is
going to blitz certain roots (e.g. the brambles), but I am unsure how
else to get rid of something dotted hidden across a garden of this size.
Obviously the mini digger will identify some bits...

Please do advise / help - I was hoping to get the digger this weekend
and do most of the digger work, with the rotivator the following
weekend. I can only spend weekends on this due to work, and we have
some extra help (probably 3-4 of us each day).

Does this all sound achievable?

The simple answer is 'no'!
Do you actually want a grass rectangle with no plants in it at all
other than the grass and a couple of trees? I ask because it seems as
if you've pulled out some nicely matured shrubs which probably just
needed a tidy up next autumn! My first comment on this probably
doesn't apply to you, if that is what you're aiming for, but the first
advice usually given to new gardeners/home owners, is not to do
anything until you've seen a year's growing and flowering in your
garden. I would think there is a danger to the fence if you intend to
use an excavator to pull out roots. And the rotavator will chop the
bramble and nettle roots into lots of little pieces, each of which will
re-grow, it will turn over soil but it won't weed for you when you're
talking about large clumps of root. Using it for that purpose could be
dangerous for you and leave you with a large bill at the hire company.
As a general note to other new gardeners, it's usually better to ask
the questions before starting! I'm actually having a bit of a problem
wondering why you've destroyed the garden at all unless, as I say, you
just want a green rectangle without a flower to be seen!

--

Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon
www.helpforheroes.org.uk