Hi,

Im new to this forum and was hoping to get some tips.

My girlfriends garden was a bit of a dump when she moved in, and now its getting towards summer I thought I would have a blast at doing it up for her.
There was a massive tree in the garden thats roots are nearly up to the house, this was cut down about two months ago. Obviously the garden was covered in sawdust. Ive cleared all of this up (about 15 bags full of it), and Ive tidied up some bushes and removed chicken wire and a wire fence running down one side of the garden.

Since the photo I have also fitted bamboo to the rear fence and the new gate, this is for privacy and to stop the dogs barking at anyone that goes past.
There is a small concrete flagged / patio area at the back. I will get some pictures up when the sun comes out for five minutes.

My plan is to dig up all of the soil with a rotavator, attempt to level it iff with top soil / sand. Put a new lawn down. Put a fence up around the lawn area. Possibly make a rockery at the far left corner. Also, to trim the hedges along the fence but leave them there for privacy.
My concerns a

The roots of the tree, these branch out everywhere, will they break the rotavator? Will they soak up all of the moisture from the grass? Will they make the lawn too uneven?

The weeds, if I go over the lawn with a rotavator, will they grow back through the new lawn? What can I do to stop this?

Heres the pic I took in April whilst cleaning the all the mess:



Thanks for your time.

Matt.