Hi, I have a small front garden approx 60 sq.metres and wish to make it into
a lawn (We already have a fair sized rear lawn). At present it contains
various bushes, shrubs and plants which will all have to be taken out.

Having done that what is the best way to proceed? I hear various advice.
Should I put a membrane down to discourage weeds coming through, or apply
strong weedkiller etc?

Any advice gratefully received as I have never attempted this kind of thing
before.

Regards
John

"John" wrote in message
. uk...
Hi, I have a small front garden approx 60 sq.metres and wish to make it
into
a lawn (We already have a fair sized rear lawn). At present it contains
various bushes, shrubs and plants which will all have to be taken out.

Having done that what is the best way to proceed? I hear various advice.
Should I put a membrane down to discourage weeds coming through, or apply
strong weedkiller etc?

Any advice gratefully received as I have never attempted this kind of
thing
before.

Regards
John

I have no lawn, so don't have 'hands on' experience....
However, found these:
http://www.crocus.co.uk/alanshowto/makingalawn/ (turf or seed from AlanT)
http://www.ukgardening.co.uk/project_newlawn.asp (turf)
Jenny

John wrote:
Hi, I have a small front garden approx 60 sq.metres and wish to make it into
a lawn (We already have a fair sized rear lawn). At present it contains
various bushes, shrubs and plants which will all have to be taken out.

Having done that what is the best way to proceed? I hear various advice.
Should I put a membrane down to discourage weeds coming through, or apply
strong weedkiller etc?

Any advice gratefully received as I have never attempted this kind of thing
before.

Regards
John

Dig it all over and put seeds down now before the weather gets too
cold, or do it next year. Some people dig over, then wait for weeds to
come through then kill them, then put down seed but it depends how
susceptable the soil is to weeds.

wrote:
John wrote:
Hi, I have a small front garden approx 60 sq.metres and wish to make it into
a lawn (We already have a fair sized rear lawn). At present it contains
various bushes, shrubs and plants which will all have to be taken out.

Having done that what is the best way to proceed? I hear various advice.
Should I put a membrane down to discourage weeds coming through, or apply
strong weedkiller etc?

Any advice gratefully received as I have never attempted this kind of thing
before.

Regards
John

Dig it all over and put seeds down now before the weather gets too
cold, or do it next year. Some people dig over, then wait for weeds to
come through then kill them, then put down seed but it depends how
susceptable the soil is to weeds.

My periscope always pops up when people start talking about anti-weed
membranes. Except for some limited and specific requirements, they're
actually a bad thing: they'd certainly be bad news in making a lawn.
I'm afraid they're one of those things, like turf, and buying plants
too big, which have been promoted by "instant gardening" telly
programmes.

You probably won't need to use a weedkiller, either; though it would be
a help if you've got a lot of deep-rooted things like dandelions. The
trouble with these weeds is that they grow again from bits of root left
in the ground after conventional weeding -- and rotovating turns them
into a nightmare. If there are only a couple of dozen, it's simpler
just to dig them out. And if you're planning to dig the plot over
properly, you get them out as you go along, however many there are, so
no need for weedkiller.

It's best to follow the rules laid down in the websites mentioned
upthread; but it's surprising what short cuts you can sometimes get
away with. It depends whether you want a good job or a good enough job.
If the area is covered with shrubs and other plants, you may find that
getting them out is near enough as good as digging over. If so, simply
raking very thoroughly (I do mean _very_) may be all you need to do. I
suggest getting a good big strong rake: even if you never use it again,
it will have been money well spent, because it will make the job easier
and the results are going to show for years.

--
Mike.

"John" wrote in message
. uk...
Hi, I have a small front garden approx 60 sq.metres and wish to make
it into
a lawn (We already have a fair sized rear lawn). At present it
contains
various bushes, shrubs and plants which will all have to be taken
out.

Having done that what is the best way to proceed? I hear various
advice.
Should I put a membrane down to discourage weeds coming through, or
apply
strong weedkiller etc?

Depends quite a bit on the quality you want and how patient you are. A
lot of trade offs here (Rough and ready to a good but time and work
consuming job). It's a small area so if you want a quality job and you
can tolerate a long time with no lawn. Then this winter dig it all
over, removing as much unwanted vegetation as you can. Don't make too
much of a meal of the weeding - you're going to spray once or twice in
the spring. Keep an eye on the soil texture and drainage over the
winter and fix any problems when the soil is fit to work on in spring.
Spray off with a 'Glyphosate' based weedkiller as soon as you see a
substantial cover of weeds. Dig over again or rotavate, wait until the
next lot of weeds grows and spray them off.
If you've got this done before the end of April you'll be able prepare
a 'seedbed' and sow your seeds. Keep an eye on the weather forcasts
for spring sowing because you're approaching the time when you might
expect a long dry spell after sowing and that's bad. I prefer to sow
in late summer just before the August downpour, if you chose that
option you'd have loads of time for cleaning, levelling anf firming
the seedbed. Loads of info on the web about seedbed preparation and
sowing. If it's to be a good sturdy general purpose lawn that stays
green in dry weather don't be afraid of mixtures containg the modern
dwarf perennial Ryegrasses.
For a very high quality ornamental patch you might want to choose a
finer mix but it might be less tolerant of drought and will need a bit
more maintenance to keep it good.
HTH
--
Rod

My real address is rodthegardeneratmyisp

In article . com, Mike
Lyle wrote:

wrote:
John wrote:
Hi, I have a small front garden approx 60 sq.metres and wish to make it
into
a lawn (We already have a fair sized rear lawn). At present it contains
various bushes, shrubs and plants which will all have to be taken out.

Having done that what is the best way to proceed? I hear various advice.
Should I put a membrane down to discourage weeds coming through, or apply
strong weedkiller etc?

Any advice gratefully received as I have never attempted this kind of thing
before.

Regards
John

Dig it all over and put seeds down now before the weather gets too
cold, or do it next year. Some people dig over, then wait for weeds to
come through then kill them, then put down seed but it depends how
susceptable the soil is to weeds.

My periscope always pops up when people start talking about anti-weed
membranes. Except for some limited and specific requirements, they're
actually a bad thing: they'd certainly be bad news in making a lawn.
I'm afraid they're one of those things, like turf, and buying plants
too big, which have been promoted by "instant gardening" telly
programmes.

You probably won't need to use a weedkiller, either; though it would be
a help if you've got a lot of deep-rooted things like dandelions. The
trouble with these weeds is that they grow again from bits of root left
in the ground after conventional weeding -- and rotovating turns them
into a nightmare. If there are only a couple of dozen, it's simpler
just to dig them out. And if you're planning to dig the plot over
properly, you get them out as you go along, however many there are, so
no need for weedkiller.

It's best to follow the rules laid down in the websites mentioned
upthread; but it's surprising what short cuts you can sometimes get
away with. It depends whether you want a good job or a good enough job.
If the area is covered with shrubs and other plants, you may find that
getting them out is near enough as good as digging over. If so, simply
raking very thoroughly (I do mean _very_) may be all you need to do. I
suggest getting a good big strong rake: even if you never use it again,
it will have been money well spent, because it will make the job easier
and the results are going to show for years.

I remeber asking the head of my local authority highways department how
they turned mounds of earth beside new motorways into grassy banks. "We
just scatter seed," he said.

"Any preparation?" I asked. "Any raking or weeding?".
"No," he said.
"Surely you water it?" I asked.
"No," he said. "It just grows."

Many thanks for lots of good advice

John


"Rod" wrote in message
...
"John" wrote in message
. uk...
Hi, I have a small front garden approx 60 sq.metres and wish to make it
into
a lawn (We already have a fair sized rear lawn). At present it contains
various bushes, shrubs and plants which will all have to be taken out.

Having done that what is the best way to proceed? I hear various
advice.
Should I put a membrane down to discourage weeds coming through, or apply
strong weedkiller etc?

Depends quite a bit on the quality you want and how patient you are. A lot
of trade offs here (Rough and ready to a good but time and work consuming
job). It's a small area so if you want a quality job and you can tolerate
a long time with no lawn. Then this winter dig it all over, removing as
much unwanted vegetation as you can. Don't make too much of a meal of the
weeding - you're going to spray once or twice in the spring. Keep an eye
on the soil texture and drainage over the winter and fix any problems when
the soil is fit to work on in spring. Spray off with a 'Glyphosate' based
weedkiller as soon as you see a substantial cover of weeds. Dig over again
or rotavate, wait until the next lot of weeds grows and spray them off.
If you've got this done before the end of April you'll be able prepare a
'seedbed' and sow your seeds. Keep an eye on the weather forcasts for
spring sowing because you're approaching the time when you might expect a
long dry spell after sowing and that's bad. I prefer to sow in late summer
just before the August downpour, if you chose that option you'd have loads
of time for cleaning, levelling anf firming the seedbed. Loads of info on
the web about seedbed preparation and sowing. If it's to be a good sturdy
general purpose lawn that stays green in dry weather don't be afraid of
mixtures containg the modern dwarf perennial Ryegrasses.
For a very high quality ornamental patch you might want to choose a finer
mix but it might be less tolerant of drought and will need a bit more
maintenance to keep it good.
HTH
--
Rod

My real address is rodthegardeneratmyisp