Hi, I am knew to this forum (and gardening) so please forgive me if this is written in the wrong place, I have searched but cannot find a solution to my problem.. I am hoping someone could offer me some advice?

I have recently moved into my first house which has a 'garden'.. I say 'garden' because it is more like a small overgrown meadow! My first task was to cut the grass and privets back. The first time i cut it was about a month ago with a strimmer, but i would bet that it hadnt been cut for a good few years before that as the grass was at least 2ft long, contained moths, toads and god knows what else! My girlfriend and i went on holiday the weekend after i cut the grass and on returning home 2 weeks later, we found it had hrown again to about a foot in length! Now this grass isn't nice looking. it's thick and straggly and is more like grass you would find in a wild, overgrown field, than someone's back garden. There are weeds everywhere and the ground is not level.. My question would really be - Can I take off the top couple of inches, maybe a foot to kill the grass and weeds and use what i have dug out to level the ground? I would like to get the garden looking half decent before the winter and maybe next year look at making it actual look good!

I cannot use any kind of weed killer in the garden because I have a dog, I am on a fairly tight budget so the more cost affective the better really. However, I am more than willing to do a lot of manual labour and digging in order to get it sorted.

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated!

Ryan

If it hadn't been cut for a good few years, it wouldn't be grass, it would be scrub and bushes by now!

Grass expects to grow and flower each year before dying back for the winter, so can easily grow to 4ft high within a couple of months.

Soil is full of weed seeds, and more will be blown in - getting rid of weeds is a perennial job, like washing up or cleaning the house, not something that you do once.

I've a feeling that you probably do not like gardening, although clearly you would like a garden that looks tidy. I suggest you march noisily through the grass to disperse your toads, then strim it, then mow it with your mower on its highest setting. It will look pretty revolting, with white lower stems of grass, but green shoots will regrow quickly. Repeat the mowing every week through to the autumn. By then, it will look a lot more like your idea of a back garden, and you can think about the next step.

On Sat, 20 Jul 2013 20:09:12 +0200, kay
wrote:


bluemoon 1502;987924 Wrote:
Hi, I am knew to this forum (and gardening) so please forgive me if this
is written in the wrong place, I have searched but cannot find a
solution to my problem.. I am hoping someone could offer me some advice?


I have recently moved into my first house which has a 'garden'.. I say
'garden' because it is more like a small overgrown meadow! My first task
was to cut the grass and privets back. The first time i cut it was about
a month ago with a strimmer, but i would bet that it hadnt been cut for
a good few years before that as the grass was at least 2ft long,
contained moths, toads and god knows what else! My girlfriend and i went
on holiday the weekend after i cut the grass and on returning home 2
weeks later, we found it had hrown again to about a foot in length! Now
this grass isn't nice looking. it's thick and straggly and is more like
grass you would find in a wild, overgrown field, than someone's back
garden. There are weeds everywhere and the ground is not level.. My
question would really be - Can I take off the top couple of inches,
maybe a foot to kill the grass and weeds and use what i have dug out to
level the ground? I would like to get the garden looking half decent
before the winter and maybe next year look at making it actual look
good!

I cannot use any kind of weed killer in the garden because I have a dog,
I am on a fairly tight budget so the more cost affective the better
really. However, I am more than willing to do a lot of manual labour and
digging in order to get it sorted.

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated!


If it hadn't been cut for a good few years, it wouldn't be grass, it
would be scrub and bushes by now!

Grass expects to grow and flower each year before dying back for the
winter, so can easily grow to 4ft high within a couple of months.

Soil is full of weed seeds, and more will be blown in - getting rid of
weeds is a perennial job, like washing up or cleaning the house, not
something that you do once.

I've a feeling that you probably do not like gardening, although clearly
you would like a garden that looks tidy. I suggest you march noisily
through the grass to disperse your toads, then strim it, then mow it
with your mower on its highest setting. It will look pretty revolting,
with white lower stems of grass, but green shoots will regrow quickly.
Repeat the mowing every week through to the autumn. By then, it will
look a lot more like your idea of a back garden, and you can think about
the next step.

I'll add to what Kay has said that if you really want to get back to
bare ground and then dig things over to level the patch, you can, even
with a dog, use weedkillers carefully. Get some Glyphosate (Bayer
brand do a pure glyphosate; avoid other brands like Roundup). Once
your dog has had a run outside, spray the area with it (the
instructions tell you how to mix it up - don't be tempted to make it
stronger than they tell you). Choose a dry, sunny day and spray away.

Keep the dog inside until the spray has dried - at the moment, a
couple of hours should do it - as once it has dried, it's safe for
pets.

You may want to repeat the treatment a fortnight later.

Then just be patient while everything dies. Then you can happily dig
everything over. Leave things thru to the autumn; respray with
glyphosate if you need to but otherwise just pull up and dispose of
any weeds that grow.

Then research preparing the ground for seeding a lawn. Do the prep.
Sow a load of seed and you're away.

--
Cheers, Jake
=======================================
Wilting just a little at the east end of Swansea Bay.

On 20/07/2013 19:09, kay wrote:
bluemoon 1502;987924 Wrote:
Hi, I am knew to this forum (and gardening) so please forgive me if this
is written in the wrong place, I have searched but cannot find a
solution to my problem.. I am hoping someone could offer me some advice?


I have recently moved into my first house which has a 'garden'.. I say
'garden' because it is more like a small overgrown meadow! My first task
was to cut the grass and privets back. The first time i cut it was about
a month ago with a strimmer, but i would bet that it hadnt been cut for
a good few years before that as the grass was at least 2ft long,
contained moths, toads and god knows what else! My girlfriend and i went
on holiday the weekend after i cut the grass and on returning home 2
weeks later, we found it had hrown again to about a foot in length! Now
this grass isn't nice looking. it's thick and straggly and is more like
grass you would find in a wild, overgrown field, than someone's back
garden. There are weeds everywhere and the ground is not level.. My
question would really be - Can I take off the top couple of inches,
maybe a foot to kill the grass and weeds and use what i have dug out to
level the ground? I would like to get the garden looking half decent
before the winter and maybe next year look at making it actual look
good!

I cannot use any kind of weed killer in the garden because I have a dog,
I am on a fairly tight budget so the more cost affective the better
really. However, I am more than willing to do a lot of manual labour and
digging in order to get it sorted.

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated!


If it hadn't been cut for a good few years, it wouldn't be grass, it
would be scrub and bushes by now!

Grass expects to grow and flower each year before dying back for the
winter, so can easily grow to 4ft high within a couple of months.

Soil is full of weed seeds, and more will be blown in - getting rid of
weeds is a perennial job, like washing up or cleaning the house, not
something that you do once.

I've a feeling that you probably do not like gardening, although clearly
you would like a garden that looks tidy. I suggest you march noisily
through the grass to disperse your toads, then strim it, then mow it
with your mower on its highest setting. It will look pretty revolting,
with white lower stems of grass, but green shoots will regrow quickly.
Repeat the mowing every week through to the autumn. By then, it will
look a lot more like your idea of a back garden, and you can think about
the next step.


You haven't said how big your plot is

Thank you for all the advice given, I have read and understood it. The area is triangular in shape, 8m wide going to 3m wide and 13m in length. It's not that I don't like gardening, more that I've never had a garden to do any gardening in! To be honest I find it quite exciting that I have a nice challenge on my hands. At the moment it's just a bit overwelming because there is so much that needs doing, it's difficult to know where to begin! On Friday i cut the grass, yesterday I trimmed the privets back by about 2ft on each side of the garden, today I will take about 3ft off the tops of them as they are probably in excess of 10ft tall. At the moment you can't really see any leaves as they've been cut back so much. I'm guessin that if I keep trimming them back, then the leaves will learn to grow at the point where I've trimmed back to and the bushes will become more tame?

As for the ground.. It is uneven to the point that I would imagine it could be quite difficult to push a lawn mower over it. On top of that, since cutting the grass on Friday, I have found various lengths of wire mesh, a hammer, a gardening trowel and numorous pieces of wood have pushed through to the surface which the previous owner must have lost within the growth. I feel digging it up and levelling it out is my only option here. I'm thinking that if I take 6'' off the top then I will unearth any other hidden tools and wood, also I will be able to level the ground to make it easier to cut the grass with a lawn mower. So with that in mind, would the recommendation be to spray the area with glyphosate (as suggested by Jake) before I do any digging? In which case would I be able to use the soil that I have dug out to level the ground with since the glyphosate should of killed the grass and weeds or have i misunderstood something here? In which case I will get rid of what I have dug out and get fresh top soil to put down. I am just trying to work out the most cost effective way of doing it. Again I understand that the garden will need maintaining in order to keep the weeds out as it will be near impossible to kill ALL of the weeds and any seeds which have blown in, only there is a fair bit of work which needs doing before I get to the stage of 'maintaining' as appose to actually getting the garden in order. I will look into getting grass seed or turf nearer the end of summer but or now I will take it 1 step at a time..

Again thank you for all the advice given. I know it must be a pain having a complete beginner ask potentially obvious questions but I appreciate and take in all the advice. Thanks 😊

""" I know it must be a pain having a complete beginner ask potentially
obvious questions"""

There are only a few here who were never beginners, but knew everything from
the start.

Mike



"bluemoon 1502" wrote in message
...


Thank you for all the advice given, I have read and understood it. The
area is triangular in shape, 8m wide going to 3m wide and 13m in length.
It's not that I don't like gardening, more that I've never had a garden
to do any gardening in! To be honest I find it quite exciting that I
have a nice challenge on my hands. At the moment it's just a bit
overwelming because there is so much that needs doing, it's difficult to
know where to begin! On Friday i cut the grass, yesterday I trimmed the
privets back by about 2ft on each side of the garden, today I will take
about 3ft off the tops of them as they are probably in excess of 10ft
tall. At the moment you can't really see any leaves as they've been cut
back so much. I'm guessin that if I keep trimming them back, then the
leaves will learn to grow at the point where I've trimmed back to and
the bushes will become more tame?

As for the ground.. It is uneven to the point that I would imagine it
could be quite difficult to push a lawn mower over it. On top of that,
since cutting the grass on Friday, I have found various lengths of wire
mesh, a hammer, a gardening trowel and numorous pieces of wood have
pushed through to the surface which the previous owner must have lost
within the growth. I feel digging it up and levelling it out is my only
option here. I'm thinking that if I take 6'' off the top then I will
unearth any other hidden tools and wood, also I will be able to level
the ground to make it easier to cut the grass with a lawn mower. So with
that in mind, would the recommendation be to spray the area with
glyphosate (as suggested by Jake) before I do any digging? In which case
would I be able to use the soil that I have dug out to level the ground
with since the glyphosate should of killed the grass and weeds or have i
misunderstood something here? In which case I will get rid of what I
have dug out and get fresh top soil to put down. I am just trying to
work out the most cost effective way of doing it. Again I understand
that the garden will need maintaining in order to keep the weeds out as
it will be near impossible to kill ALL of the weeds and any seeds which
have blown in, only there is a fair bit of work which needs doing before
I get to the stage of 'maintaining' as appose to actually getting the
garden in order. I will look into getting grass seed or turf nearer the
end of summer but or now I will take it 1 step at a time..

Again thank you for all the advice given. I know it must be a pain
having a complete beginner ask potentially obvious questions but I
appreciate and take in all the advice. Thanks 😊




--
bluemoon 1502

On 21/07/2013 11:46, bluemoon 1502 wrote:
Thank you for all the advice given, I have read and understood it. The
area is triangular in shape, 8m wide going to 3m wide and 13m in length.
It's not that I don't like gardening, more that I've never had a garden
to do any gardening in! To be honest I find it quite exciting that I
have a nice challenge on my hands. At the moment it's just a bit
overwelming because there is so much that needs doing, it's difficult to
know where to begin! On Friday i cut the grass, yesterday I trimmed the
privets back by about 2ft on each side of the garden, today I will take
about 3ft off the tops of them as they are probably in excess of 10ft
tall. At the moment you can't really see any leaves as they've been cut
back so much. I'm guessin that if I keep trimming them back, then the
leaves will learn to grow at the point where I've trimmed back to and
the bushes will become more tame?

As for the ground.. It is uneven to the point that I would imagine it
could be quite difficult to push a lawn mower over it. On top of that,
since cutting the grass on Friday, I have found various lengths of wire
mesh, a hammer, a gardening trowel and numorous pieces of wood have
pushed through to the surface which the previous owner must have lost
within the growth. I feel digging it up and levelling it out is my only
option here. I'm thinking that if I take 6'' off the top then I will
unearth any other hidden tools and wood, also I will be able to level
the ground to make it easier to cut the grass with a lawn mower. So with
that in mind, would the recommendation be to spray the area with
glyphosate (as suggested by Jake) before I do any digging? In which case
would I be able to use the soil that I have dug out to level the ground
with since the glyphosate should of killed the grass and weeds or have i
misunderstood something here? In which case I will get rid of what I
have dug out and get fresh top soil to put down. I am just trying to
work out the most cost effective way of doing it. Again I understand
that the garden will need maintaining in order to keep the weeds out as
it will be near impossible to kill ALL of the weeds and any seeds which
have blown in, only there is a fair bit of work which needs doing before
I get to the stage of 'maintaining' as appose to actually getting the
garden in order. I will look into getting grass seed or turf nearer the
end of summer but or now I will take it 1 step at a time..

Again thank you for all the advice given. I know it must be a pain
having a complete beginner ask potentially obvious questions but I
appreciate and take in all the advice. Thanks😊




Hi Bluemoon,

May I strongly advise that you don't get rid of the top 6" of topsoil,
however weedy it may be. Topsoil is a precious commodity. Far better
that you take Jake's advice to spray with Glyphosate (in the temporary
absense of your dog) to clear as much weed as possible. It will take a
while for the growth to die, so don't try and pull up the weeds before
they've withered, otherwise you will have wasted the Glyphosate. You
may need a second application of Glyphosate if you have really stubborn
weeds.

Eventually, you will be able to dig over the ground and remove unwanted
roots, rubble and rubbish. In the meantime, treat yourself to a copy of
Dr. Hessayon's The Lawn Expert, which will tell you everything you need
to know about replacing your lawn, including the pros and cons of seed v
turf.

Oh, also welocme to uk.rec.gardening, which is where you have ended up
and where your questions are being answered. Gardenbanter is merely the
conduit that led you here. Do let us know how you get on.

--
Spider
from high ground in SE London
gardening on clay

On 21/07/2013 11:46, bluemoon 1502 wrote:
Thank you for all the advice given, I have read and understood it.
The area is triangular in shape, 8m wide going to 3m wide and 13m in
length. It's not that I don't like gardening, more that I've never
had a garden to do any gardening in! To be honest I find it quite
exciting that I have a nice challenge on my hands. At the moment it's
just a bit overwelming because there is so much that needs doing,
it's difficult to know where to begin! On Friday i cut the grass,
yesterday I trimmed the privets back by about 2ft on each side of the
garden, today I will take about 3ft off the tops of them as they are
probably in excess of 10ft tall. At the moment you can't really see
any leaves as they've been cut back so much. I'm guessin that if I
keep trimming them back, then the leaves will learn to grow at the
point where I've trimmed back to and the bushes will become more
tame?

As for the ground.. It is uneven to the point that I would imagine
it could be quite difficult to push a lawn mower over it. On top of
that, since cutting the grass on Friday, I have found various lengths
of wire mesh, a hammer, a gardening trowel and numorous pieces of
wood have pushed through to the surface which the previous owner must
have lost within the growth. I feel digging it up and levelling it
out is my only option here. I'm thinking that if I take 6'' off the
top then I will unearth any other hidden tools and wood, also I will
be able to level the ground to make it easier to cut the grass with a
lawn mower. So with that in mind, would the recommendation be to
spray the area with glyphosate (as suggested by Jake) before I do any
digging? In which case would I be able to use the soil that I have
dug out to level the ground with since the glyphosate should of
killed the grass and weeds or have i misunderstood something here? In
which case I will get rid of what I have dug out and get fresh top
soil to put down. I am just trying to work out the most cost
effective way of doing it. Again I understand that the garden will
need maintaining in order to keep the weeds out as it will be near
impossible to kill ALL of the weeds and any seeds which have blown
in, only there is a fair bit of work which needs doing before I get
to the stage of 'maintaining' as appose to actually getting the
garden in order. I will look into getting grass seed or turf nearer
the end of summer but or now I will take it 1 step at a time..

Again thank you for all the advice given. I know it must be a pain
having a complete beginner ask potentially obvious questions but I
appreciate and take in all the advice. Thanks 😊




Right so you've cut the grass back, and probably made it into a heap
somewhere, if it's still lying where it was cut you might be able to
burn it where it lies, but if you heap it you will get a load of white
smoke, wont keep your neighbours happy,
Don't wast your money on any weed killer till we have had some rain and
you have new growth of several inches for the weed killer to work on.
Some form of Roundup will be your best bet, Don't spray in the heat of
the day, wait till evening, don't spray if there is much wind blowing as
your neighbours may not like it on their ground..
As for your dog, you can let it back onto the ground next day
Glyphosate (Roundup) will take about 2 weeks to work allow a bit more
for a full kill.
Don't waste your money on respraying till you have dug over the plot.
I wouldn't think of digging till we have had some good rain, in the mean
time keep checking for debris, netting etc and remove it.
Don't think of getting rid of the top 6 inches of your soil, that is
probably the best of the soil. the deeper you go the less humus etc it
contains,
When it's suitable just take your time and dig the plot over burying the
top plant matter,
I presume you know how to dig, if not have a look at
http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/basic...digging1.shtml.
That should do you for the time being, and if it stays dry then draw a
scale plan of your plot and start thinking of how you want the garden to
look when finished.
David

On 20/07/2013 19:09, kay wrote:
bluemoon 1502;987924 Wrote:
Hi, I am knew to this forum (and gardening) so please forgive me if this
is written in the wrong place, I have searched but cannot find a
solution to my problem.. I am hoping someone could offer me some advice?


I have recently moved into my first house which has a 'garden'.. I say
'garden' because it is more like a small overgrown meadow! My first task
was to cut the grass and privets back. The first time i cut it was about
a month ago with a strimmer, but i would bet that it hadnt been cut for
a good few years before that as the grass was at least 2ft long,

Mostly grass is easy though you might want to try regular cutting first
before nuking it and starting again.

contained moths, toads and god knows what else! My girlfriend and i went
on holiday the weekend after i cut the grass and on returning home 2
weeks later, we found it had hrown again to about a foot in length! Now
this grass isn't nice looking. it's thick and straggly and is more like
grass you would find in a wild, overgrown field, than someone's back
garden. There are weeds everywhere and the ground is not level.. My

Initially I would just cut it high regularly every couple of weeks for
the first season and then spot weed or dig out the bad weeds.

question would really be - Can I take off the top couple of inches,
maybe a foot to kill the grass and weeds and use what i have dug out to
level the ground? I would like to get the garden looking half decent
before the winter and maybe next year look at making it actual look
good!

Regular mowing is probably your best bet then. Levelling an uneven lawn
is highly entertaining for the spectators if you haven't ever done it
before. Small errors can be fiddled out by top dressing in autumn.

I cannot use any kind of weed killer in the garden because I have a dog,
I am on a fairly tight budget so the more cost affective the better
really. However, I am more than willing to do a lot of manual labour and
digging in order to get it sorted.

If you want to scrap and start again then hit it with glyphosate and
keep the dog away from it until it dries (largely because of the wetting
agent). If you want to kill selectively the broadleaved weeds then
Verdone and keep the dog off it for three or four days after.

Or just spot weed. I find a 12" screwdriver useful for removing old
weeds from a lawn - and also pretty handy around the house. You can also
get a narrow pointy trowel from the likes of Wilko, or an expensive
dedicated tool from a GC but the screwdriver is much more versatile and
a heck of a lot cheaper.

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated!


If it hadn't been cut for a good few years, it wouldn't be grass, it
would be scrub and bushes by now!

Grass expects to grow and flower each year before dying back for the
winter, so can easily grow to 4ft high within a couple of months.

Soil is full of weed seeds, and more will be blown in - getting rid of
weeds is a perennial job, like washing up or cleaning the house, not
something that you do once.

A selective weedkiller will get most of them fairly reliably and the dog
only needs excluding for a short while after application.

I've a feeling that you probably do not like gardening, although clearly
you would like a garden that looks tidy. I suggest you march noisily
through the grass to disperse your toads, then strim it, then mow it
with your mower on its highest setting. It will look pretty revolting,
with white lower stems of grass, but green shoots will regrow quickly.
Repeat the mowing every week through to the autumn. By then, it will
look a lot more like your idea of a back garden, and you can think about
the next step.

I agree that regular fortnightly mowing and a top dressing in autumn
would be the easiest way to regain control with minimal effort. If there
is an out of the way spot for your toads and grass snakes then leave a
patch well away from the house and put your compost heap of grass
cuttings there to rot down. It makes good compost.

Next if you want to have a fine uniform lawn of a softer grass cultivar
would be nuke it with glyphosate allow 2-3 weeks to die off until tinder
dry make a firebreak against any hedges and then torch it when tinder
dry. You could plant some spuds for Xmas now as a way to break up the
soil and a fruit tree in late Autumn.

Dig over removing any obvious weed roots, improve the soil a bit, (sand
for clay and humus for sandy soil) rake to level and plant preferred
grass next spring. You probably want a play lawn rather than a bowling
green. Fine grasses are much higher maintenance. Last time I looked
Wilkos had about the cheapest loose grass seed in smaller amounts.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown