Gardener recommending putting lawn on a "membrane" is this right?

I agree, sort off. But...

I'd rip out the weeds now. There'll be seeds on them and by pulling them out now you might minimise the number of seeds scattered.

Then I'd wait til spring, and see what comes back. That's when I'd spray it.

 

Having experience of landscapers in the past I can guarantee they are out to make money and most will tell you anything to line their pockets.

If I may give an example....

The creation of a two tier bed below, around the pole carrying cables and a mains sewage inspection manhole - where the owl stands in the last picture. This was back in 2008. I was estimated £5000 by a landscaper but I paid £1200 to a recommended local man (not a landscaper by trade) including the cost of the wooden sleepers.







The plants and the maturing bed were down to me. Picture 2015.


I had a similar experience when the 60ft fence needed replacing. I can't remember the quotes now, but again a local man was a lot cheaper than a landscaper.

I agree with the others here that most of what has been suggested is unnecessary and the last guy's suggestions are closer to what I feel would be needed. Perhaps you could ask neighbours or work colleagues if there's anyone they could recommend. I would also suggest you get a written quote (not an estimate) before the work is started.

 

Pre-emergent weedkiller?

 

There used to be a product years ago, I think it was called verdone, that killed all vegetation, including seeds, and lingered in the soil to prevent anything else growing.

I haven't heard of it for years and years so I don't know if it maybe got banned.

As a related aside, this gets me wondering if someone used something like that in my front garden, which might explain why even after more than ten years here, I can't get anything to grow out there. The back garden is lush, but the front is just a barren wasteland apart from the front hedge.

 

It can / does still work weed killer sprayed now or later , I have a patch of ground on the garage site next to me which I've turned into a bog garden , I sprayed it very late last year November nothing happened then as soon as it started growing early spring it all turned yellow and died . My dad mentioned it to me before it works .

 

What weedkiller did you use @Perki

 

Said he would have to leave it a few days after applying before laying the turf just to kill anything that may be left in the soil.

 

It's a professional glyphosate based weedkiller Gallup 360 .

 

Verdone was rebranded and is now known as Weedol.

 

Weed killer doesn't work like that its needs a leaves on the plant to take in the weedkiller, unless a residual weedkiller is used but that for paths/driveways etc it effectively kills the soil no good for establishing a lawn.

Using membrane under a lawn seem crackers to me never heard of it . I did a turfing job last spring 300 metres , the client wanted the old lawn removing mainly cause he didn't want to wait so we hired a turf cutter and used skips , you could go down this root ?

Personally I'd try spray it now or spring tidy it up when it dies ( I would rotavate it but its not totally necessary ) get some top soil to level the area or raise it , using your feet recompact down ( NO Wacker plate ) and lay turf or seed it .

Is that patch the only badly infested weed area ? if it is clear it by hand and you could just lay the turf on top of the existing lawn like JWK has mentioned I don't personally recommend it but the turf will take .

 

I was just wondering as I understand its not very effective this late in the year, but its the only one I know of that you can replant over after a few weeks.
Which is why I suggested waiting until next year now.
But it could be done without weed killer by just doing a very thorough cleaning of the soil.
I find lots of weeds mostly die out when you start mowing, but then the others tend to move in.

A lot of that weed looks like annuals to me.

 

It would be fair to mention that the Weedol brand covers all manner of various weedkillers and that particular attention should be paid to the product you select, ensuring that the necessary characteristics meet the requirement.

 

Do they still do a residual weedkiller? Most retail products are based on glyphosate now, which is not a residual herbicide. It is a systemic herbicide. That is, it acts on growing plants to mess with their internal chemistry. Glyphosate rapidly breaks down to harmless starches when it comes into contact with soil bacteria so it doesn't linger around.

 

Weedol is just a trade name it appears to be a name that is used for more than one type of weed killer, they do one called pathclear which stops new weeds germinating from 3 months.
They have a couple of others based on glyphosate and also a lawn weed killer.
All called weedol.

 

After an ongoing battle with bracken, having tried Round-up and SBK which didn't touch it, I bought Gallup 360. It's the only systemic killer that cleared it. Weedol for lawn weeds works, it cleared a patch of purple clover this year.