Hello everybody,

I am a complete beginner and would really appreciate some advice.

I have recently bought a property with a garden which needs quite a lot of work. The back garden had a thin strip of lawn with a jungle of shrubs, trees and plants on the one side and a large concrete path on the other. At the end of last summer I attacked the shrubs and reduced their depth from about 2 metres to just under one and last weekend I broke up the concrete path. The plan is to expand the lawn so that I have a large lawn in the centre with two small flowerbeds running on each edge.

I haven't got a lot of money to spare and don't think that I can afford to buy a whole load of turf. My problem is the following. I have one side of the garden (where the shrubs were) which is a flowebed. This is raised slightly above the level of the lawn and is currently full of roots and weeds etc. The other side (the old concrete path) is on a lower level from the lawn ranging from 2-12 inches and is made up of sand and topsoil. I would like to have a nice lawn by the summer.

Any ideas on how to achieve this in the most cost efficient way?

Thanks

Mark

muellered_2000 wrote:
Hello everybody,

I am a complete beginner and would really appreciate some advice.

I have recently bought a property with a garden which needs quite a lot
of work. The back garden had a thin strip of lawn with a jungle of
shrubs, trees and plants on the one side and a large concrete path on
the other. At the end of last summer I attacked the shrubs and reduced
their depth from about 2 metres to just under one and last weekend I
broke up the concrete path. The plan is to expand the lawn so that I
have a large lawn in the centre with two small flowerbeds running on
each edge.

I haven't got a lot of money to spare and don't think that I can afford
to buy a whole load of turf. My problem is the following. I have one
side of the garden (where the shrubs were) which is a flowebed. This
is raised slightly above the level of the lawn and is currently full of
roots and weeds etc. The other side (the old concrete path) is on a
lower level from the lawn ranging from 2-12 inches and is made up of
sand and topsoil. I would like to have a nice lawn by the summer.

Any ideas on how to achieve this in the most cost efficient way?

Thanks



Sow grass seed.

Many thanks for this elaborate response. I had hoped for something a little more helpful like the best way to prepare the ground prior to sowing, the best time of the year to do it, what to do with my flowerbed full of roots etc. Would appreciate it if someone could help.

Thanks

It depends on how energetic you are feeling, but a rotor till will make light work of turning over your soils. The plan would have to be to try and make the soils as uniform as possible across your area so take some from one side and move it to the other and vise versa. Though obviously the best way to do it would be to by in some top soil. There are also soil amendments out there that you could mix in with the soil to try and give it some structure. Once you have your ground ready then start to think about what grasses you want.

P.S use a sharp spade or even an axe to chop up your roots and then use a strong steel rake to pull them out.

Turf Doc,

Thanks for your help. I guess the grass will have to blend in with what I have already otherwise it won't look great. Any advice on how to identify what grass I have at the moment?

If I sow in 2 weeks time will this be ok?

Thanks

Well to be honest with you it won't look great for a while. If you are going to over seed the best time to do it is in sep / oct time giving the new grasses a chance to take a hold for the big spring flush so your lawn will probably be out of commission for this year. The seeds will grow but your coverage will be average. To identify grasses you need a guide with pics but most lawns are rye grasses. They will have glossy undersides to there leaf sheath and will have a reddish tinge and the leaf will also be folded going into the leaf sheath. At least I think that’s right! If you’re going to seed get to it ! Do it now other wise swallow your pride and empty some dosh out for turf. You can check out http://www.barenbrug.co.uk/new.php for seed selection advice and if you do decided to turf then check out www.turfshop.co.uk
Good luck

"muellered_2000" wrote in message
...

turf doc Wrote:
P.S use a sharp spade or even an axe to chop up your roots and then use
a strong steel rake to pull them out.

Turf Doc,

Thanks for your help. I guess the grass will have to blend in with
what I have already otherwise it won't look great. Any advice on how
to identify what grass I have at the moment?

You probably have poa anna same as most lawns these days

came across an excellent site today just up your street. http://www.bayercropscience.co.uk/wh...c=244&con=1036
its set up for agriculture but will still help you identify your turf species.