Hi,

We've already taken up our path and we're planning to take up the lawn.
Basically we're wanting a blank canvas. My girlfriend is keen on getting
professionals in to finish the job and I'm keen on not spending loads of
money unnecessarily. I just wanted to ask the assembled brains here what
the best course of action would be.

How long will it take to take up the lawn and is it a job for an amateur?
Are there any machines that can take out stones from the soil (whole garden
is crawling with them)? How long will it take for the new lawn to bed in?

And the really expensive bit - laying the path. It's about 25ft long and
about 2ft wide and we're planning on slabs over sand. We've been quoted
£900 for this (£600 for labout - 4 days). My girlfriend's thinking is that
if it takes a pro 4 days to do this then it'll take us even longer. My
thinking is that it can't be THAT hard can it?!!! And we can do it in
stages anyway - dig out the trench, add the edging, fill the sand, add the
slabs. Is that feasible?

Any advice greatly appreciated,

Phil