Hello one & all,

Bit of a lurker, now turned poster!

I have recently moved in to a lovely country cottage, bordering on farmland, in East Anglia. I have inherited about an acre of land which is mostly composed of tough, clumps of meadow grass and plenty of weeds. The situation is made even worse by the fact that the last owners rode a hefty tractor over it, making deep ruts all over the place which have now grown over!

Anyhow, I have a smaller rear 'lawn' and a long, large front area of land. Given the expanse of land and the extent of work probably needed to bring it up to a useable standard, I would like to tackle it in parcels, the smaller rear lawn being the first. I intend this to be our formal type lawn, not putting green standard, but at least level and an area where we can sit and relax as a family. The front area, I intend to merely lay to grass/meadow flower and have a childrens swing in, etc., as long as that bit looks neat & tidy.

With regards to my rear lawn, having read a few other posts on a similar topic, my intention was to,

1. Kill off rear lawn;
2. Rotorvate/cultivate rear lawn to soil;
3. Trample down/heel soil & try to level;
4. Leave and pick out any weeds appearing over winter/spring;
5. Seed a new lawn in Springtime.

My question really, is how should I go about this since I have very limited knowledge of gardening. Is this the wrong time of year to begin to tackle this project? Will the Glyphosate have time to succeed in order for me to rotorvate/clean before ground becomes hard & freezing?

Any views, pointers or tips greatly appreciated!

(btw, can pics be posted up on this BB?)

On 28/09/2013 18:00, FlipFlop wrote:

Hello one & all,

Bit of a lurker, now turned poster!

I have recently moved in to a lovely country cottage, bordering on
farmland, in East Anglia. I have inherited about an acre of land which
is mostly composed of tough, clumps of meadow grass and plenty of weeds.
The situation is made even worse by the fact that the last owners rode a
hefty tractor over it, making deep ruts all over the place which have
now grown over!

Anyhow, I have a smaller rear 'lawn' and a long, large front area of
land. Given the expanse of land and the extent of work probably needed
to bring it up to a useable standard, I would like to tackle it in
parcels, the smaller rear lawn being the first. I intend this to be our
formal type lawn, not putting green standard, but at least level and an
area where we can sit and relax as a family. The front area, I intend to
merely lay to grass/meadow flower and have a childrens swing in, etc.,
as long as that bit looks neat & tidy.

With regards to my rear lawn, having read a few other posts on a similar
topic, my intention was to,

1. Kill off rear lawn;
2. Rotorvate/cultivate rear lawn to soil;
3. Trample down/heel soil & try to level;
4. Leave and pick out any weeds appearing over winter/spring;
5. Seed a new lawn in Springtime.

My question really, is how should I go about this since I have very
limited knowledge of gardening. Is this the wrong time of year to begin
to tackle this project? Will the Glyphosate have time to succeed in
order for me to rotorvate/clean before ground becomes hard & freezing?

Any views, pointers or tips greatly appreciated!

(btw, can pics be posted up on this BB?)




Can you get a tractor onto it?
If so then see if you can get as local farmer to plough it and rotovate it.

On 28/09/2013 21:33, David Hill wrote:
On 28/09/2013 18:00, FlipFlop wrote:

Snip
Can you get a tractor onto it?
If so then see if you can get as local farmer to plough it and rotovate it.
It might be worth getting hold of a copy of RESTORATION AGRICULTURE by
Mark Shepard, also can be found on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kb_t-sVVzF0 Not a follower myself, but
maybe, just maybe it will give you some hope. All you have to do is get
over the harsh American accent.