TeaBag wrote:
....
Apologies for all the questions, but I really am new to this (plenty
more questions to come on growing veggies etc. but first things first!)
Thanks in advance for any advice you could possibly give.

it can be overwhelming when considering all
the possible options... but...

i would really rethink this. putting a lot
of money into establishing a grass lawn and
putting down sod only later to go over it and
put in gardens is a large waste of money and
effort (along with time wasted).

instead work on observing your property and
how it drains and how the light goes. figure
out if you'll need to bring in more topsoil
for certain areas and where you might want
ponds or other features. if some areas are
not drained well you might want to use those
as natural water catches or even ponds, if
there are springs, seeps, etc. or you may
want to install drainage or shape the ground
to direct water flows. this kind of planning
is much better done before you do a lot of
other work on the lawn as then you can bring
in trucks of topsoil or other materials without
damaging other things (saves much work later).

so overall, sitting down with someone who
does garden designs would really help a lot and
likely keep you from wasting a lot of money on
sod, weed killers and time spent killing weeds
that you may later just go over with a garden
plot, pathway, pond, patio, etc. anyways.

also, nice to include in garden plans, are
things like irrigation plumbing for hose hook
ups and even electrical runs if you are going
to be doing a gazebo or other garden feature
that might need power (water pumps, lights,
refrig, etc.).

where i am at none of this sort of thing was
done before putting in gardens, it makes any
projects three to five times the work because
i have to go around and bring in materials a
wheelbarrow at a time or the soil is so ill
suited i can't even grow certain crops, or
the drainage is poor so i have to contend with
flooding, etc.

oh and having a way left that a truck can
get in is very nice to have later. you
never know if someone may come up with a free
load of bricks or ... it's nice to not have
to haul it in a wheelbarrow or bucket at time.

do yourself big favors and take the time now
to figure it out before wasting the time and
money on sod and weed killers.

you can mow the weeds on a regular basis and
that will be good enough until you know more
about what else you'll be doing. by then you
may have a perfectly good looking green area
that requires little additonal care other than
regular mowing because it's been selected from
the weeds and grasses that are already in your
area that are suited for the climate and soil.

once you know where you really do want garden
plots or actual grassy areas then you can
concentrate on those (hopefully much smaller
areas) for getting rid of the rocks, leveling,
weed killing and sodding/seeding in again.

if you take the time and hit the library there
are many books available along with many things
online to help with various topics. still i
think it helps to talk to someone who does garden
design for a living as then you can likely avoid
a lot of future problems and you may discover
during the conversations that you and your
partner/family has different ideas about what
to do, so it's good to figure that out beforehand
as i really dislike getting a project going or
done only to find someone later coming in and
digging it back up again or mowing it down or...


songbird