wrote:
songbird wrote:
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.

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

Â* i would really rethink this. Â*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).


He didn't say he was doing that. Only that he's putting
in a new lawn, apparently starting the work at the end of
summer.

read the above again...

"more questions to come on growing veggies, etc."


songbird

Thanks all. At this moment in time the plan is only for a lawn. We have divided the land at the back of the house into three sections; 50% total area, 25% and 25%. The 50% area will be lawn. That is our first priority so that we have somewhere for our little one to play, have a barbeque and all that usual stuff that families do in the garden. Once that's complete, the other half (or two quarters) will be for chickens and raised beds, both areas about the same size.

One thing at a time, though. I see a garden as a life-long work in progress. I appreciate being given ideas and will store them for a later date, but for now I just need to make sure that I'm going about things the right way to ensure a successful lawn.

Thanks again for helping me out with your responses.

TeaBag wrote:
Thanks all. At this moment in time the plan is only for a lawn. We
have divided the land at the back of the house into three sections;
50% total area, 25% and 25%. The 50% area will be lawn. That is our
first priority so that we have somewhere for our little one to play,
have a barbeque and all that usual stuff that families do in the
garden. Once that's complete, the other half (or two quarters) will
be for chickens and raised beds, both areas about the same size.

One thing at a time, though. I see a garden as a life-long work in
progress. I appreciate being given ideas and will store them for a
later date, but for now I just need to make sure that I'm going about
things the right way to ensure a successful lawn.

Thanks again for helping me out with your responses.

Just an additional thought. I'd highly recommend that you keep undeveloped areas
weeded if you plan to grow things there and would prefer not to have weeds. If
you let weeds grow, and go to seed, they will continue to re-appear for years to
come. Chickens may take care of many of the weeds, but other garden uses would
benefit from being kept clear of weeds to lessen weeding in them when they
become gardens. Mulch can be very helpful in this effort.

Thanks Bob. That sounds like some good advice. I think the weed situation could be an on-going battle as there's quite a bit of untouched, natural land nearby which has alot of vegetation.

I've read that once a lawn is established, it's much harder for weeds to take hold. Is that right? It would make sense as they'd have to penetrate the grass with their dense roots.

TeaBag wrote:
Bob F;982308 Wrote:
Just an additional thought. I'd highly recommend that you keep
undeveloped areas
weeded if you plan to grow things there and would prefer not to have
weeds. If
you let weeds grow, and go to seed, they will continue to re-appear
for years to
come. Chickens may take care of many of the weeds, but other garden
uses would
benefit from being kept clear of weeds to lessen weeding in them when
they
become gardens. Mulch can be very helpful in this effort.

Thanks Bob. That sounds like some good advice. I think the weed
situation could be an on-going battle as there's quite a bit of
untouched, natural land nearby which has alot of vegetation.

I've read that once a lawn is established, it's much harder for weeds
to take hold. Is that right? It would make sense as they'd have to
penetrate the grass with their dense roots.

Harder, but they still show up. I just walk around my lawn with a hand sprayer
of weed-b-gon once in a while, and spritz the few that do show up. Again,
getting them before they go to seed makes a huge difference.

Thanks again, Bob. The weeds that I've sprayed have gone yellow and limp now. I'm assuming that they;re now dead and that they can now be removed. Should I remove them all or just dig them in? Or perhaps just remove the bigger ones?

TeaBag wrote:
Bob F;982374 Wrote:
Harder, but they still show up. I just walk around my lawn with a
hand sprayer
of weed-b-gon once in a while, and spritz the few that do show up.
Again,
getting them before they go to seed makes a huge difference.

Thanks again, Bob. The weeds that I've sprayed have gone yellow and
limp now. I'm assuming that they;re now dead and that they can now be
removed. Should I remove them all or just dig them in? Or perhaps just
remove the bigger ones?

Don't rush it. Give the chemical time to complete the job. Then do whatever
seems appropriate. Turning them under shouldn't be a problem. If you are not
going to plant till fall, you need to think of what happens until then, because
without some preventative, the weeds will come back all summer. If there are
seed on the dying weeds, removing them should help a lot, but you will still
need to mulch the area to slow more weeds from popping up, and quickly pull
those that do.

You could plant lawn now if you can afford watering it, depending on your
climate. If you still have significant rains, like I do in Seattle, it might do
well.

On May 2, 11:45*pm, songbird wrote:
wrote:
songbird wrote:
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).

He didn't say he was doing that. *Only that he's putting
in a new lawn, apparently starting the work at the end of
summer.

* read the above again...

* "more questions to come on growing veggies, etc."

* songbird- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Maybe you should read it again:

"Area - about 600 sq. metres (although we'll only be laying a lawn on
about 200 sq. m of it to start with) "

You'd have to be incredibly stupid to lay a lawn on the
whole thing only to rip it up to plant a garden in part of it
later.