Hello. I'm new here but would like some advice Me and my wife have just moved into our first house together. I previously lived with my parents, and although they had a large garden, it was my step dad who always took care of the garden. I'd just do the odd bit to help out. But now i have my own garden and own dilemmas. I'm in a bit of a pickle as to what to do with my garden. It's a bit of a mess and it looks like the previous owners had stones put down. But the grass and weeds have grown over the top of these. I haven't discovered wether these were over the whole garden or just around the edges. there's definetly more around the edge and uncovered. But the center of the gardens also seems to be on stones. I was wondering if people could help me and give me some advice on what to do. My parents have given me advice but they haven't actually seen the garden yet. I have a few pictures so you can get a better idea of what i mean. Oh also there seems to be some small bush, tree stump and roots in the center of the right lawn. Just 1 more thing. We've just getting a new puppy which also adds complications... I look forward to your responses, any input is gratefully appreciated. Cheers
Hi Chris, welcome to Gardeners Corner. Good idea to start with a piccie so we can see what you have there. Not much is it!! Still, it can only get better with a bit of TLC - if you're up for it. Getting rid of the existing plants( weeds) for starters so you can see what lies underneath. When's the pooch arriving? Other members will be along soon, have a browse while you are waiting, Jenny namaste
Thanks for the reply and welcome. Nope it's a small garden. But we're in an ideal location. With a canal, forest and lots of fields literally out our front door so ain't all bad :-D We have the dog already. She's been here a week. I was hoping to get the garden sorted before, but getting the rest of the house sorted was priority as we didnt have much with it being our first house. Starting with the weeds is a good start, as I've only strimmed it so far
Welcome to GC Chris. When a lawn is in such bad condition it will take a while to retrieve it using weedkillers and fertilisers. Having the dog, it is probably not a good idea to use these. So, I think the best way to go (the quick fix) is to dig the whole lot up including the stumps and get rid of a lot of the gravel, some of it you could dig in to help drainage. Then level it and put turf down, this will be more dog friendly too. If you do use turf, don't forget to keep it watered everyday, when it hasn't rained of course.
Yeah Turf was my first thought. Doing half the garden at a time and hoping the dog doesn't ruin it haha How much does Turf go for? I saw some down BnQ the other day. Is it reasonably easy to do? Do i need sand to put underneath?
I've never turfed my gardens Chris, I've always grass seeded which in my opinion gives a better finish, but in your case that's not really feasible with a dog around. So I have no idea how much it costs. If you look at the older threads here in the 'Lawns' forum you'll find some explaining how to go about laying turf etc. It's not difficult to lay but will take time.
Cheers for the feedback again. I think i will look at getting it turfed. One side at a time. I don't want to spend too much on the garden as we live in a military house, so could move anytime. But should be here for a few years to come and i don't want a crap garden to have BBQ's in as they can be a great social point in the summer
Thanks for the reply Kristen. Weedkiller was the original plan until i found all the stones under the whole lawn. We had already bought the weedkiller (not sure if it's safe for pets as i bought it before we got the dog when we first moved in) and the grass seeds. I don't mind a bit of work, keeps me outside in the sun :-) Plus i only work 4 days a week at the moment so i get a 4 day weekend every other weekend, so time ain't too much of an issue Going to start digging the smaller lawn tonight i think. Need to get rid of that random root/stump in the middle too
The instructions will say about pets, if not the company's website ought to have the full details. I did wonder if the gravel had been an edging strip - between lawn and path - and had got blurred over the years. If its all over the lawn then perhaps the previous people just put some topsoil on top of the gravel that was there - that would never make a good lawn! If you want to replace it you need to dig it over (to the depth of a spade/fork - so called "one spit depth"), remove all the weeds / grass etc. Then level it off with a rake. Then make a seed bed: to do that you walk on it in your wellies/boots shuffling forwards placing the heel of your right foot in the curve of the instep of your left, and then moving your left forwards half-a-foot so that the heel of your left is the in the curve of your right. That will break up all the clods etc - you need to do it a day or so after rain when the soil is drying out - if you pick the right time the soil will crumble but not stick to your boots (if its bone dry the clods won't break at all!). This will be easier if you are on sandy soil, harder if you are on clay. Then rake it over to get it smooth, and pick up any large stones. There will probably be humps and bumps and I find the easiest way to sort them out is to drag a ladder over the area - tie a rope to the rungs at each end. If the ladder skates over the surface put some weights on it - building blocks or similar. Drag in front-to-back and then left-to-right and you should wind up with a surface as smooth as a table Then you can sow grass seed, or lay turf. Turf will be instant, but will need watering until it has established. Seed will establish very well in the Autumn - best time IMO as the weeds will be shutting down for winter, the grass will get established over Winter and by Spring will be strong enough that the weeds won't get much of a look in (and you can treat it with most lawn weedkillers once it is 6 months old, again check packet for exact details) You need to beg/borrrow a seed spreader (garden centres often loan them out to people buying grass seed). The really cheap ones are a pain because they let so little seed through. Get a large plastic bag/sack, split it down one side so it opens out, or use a tarpaulin. Fill the spreader with some grass seed, run it over a measured length of the plastic/tarpaulin 10 or 20 times - until plenty of seed is on the sheet. Carefully tip the sheet into a bowl and weigh the grass seed. You can then work out (if your maths is not good just ask here!) how much seed the spreader sows (per sq.m.) on each pass. My really cheap one needs 20 (I kid you not!) passes to put on the recommended amount of grass seed. Hopefully yours will be about 4 passes, so you do two passes front-to-back with the spreader offset half a width on the second pass, and then you do a similar number of passes cross-ways left-to-right, so that in total you have put on the right amount of seed. I put a bucket, or similar, at each side of the area. I push the spreader aiming for the bucket at the far side. When I get there I move the bucket to the side by the offset I need, turn the spreader round, overlap it half the width of a strip, then aim for the bucket on the far side. Rinse and Repeat !! You can choose grass seed mix to match your garden (shade, hard wearing, bowling green!!) and personally I would buy it online as my local garden centre is expensive and has very little choice. I bought some grass seed from Boston Seeds last year, and I think it has looked fantastic this year I have only bought turf once, I drove to the Fens and bought it "off the field" as they were lifting it. A very depressing experience - 20 acres of bowling green flat, absolutely perfect, lawn! From My Blog Turf will be more expensive, probably offer less choice of "types" of grass and in my personal opinion very un-environmentally friendly. Either way, the soil preparation is the same, and the best time to sow grass seed is "soon", so if you decide to go that route the timing is perfect
Mum......I'm not usually nosey. Thanks Chris, I was just interested as I used to live near the Army base in Colchester, Essex and thought perhaps you may be in the same area.
An Army base or an Army prison?? lol Well today the sun is shining and i'm going to start the garden! Wish me luck!!
Well, a bit of both really. Yes, good luck with the garden, pictures would be good later please. We always like to see how things progress.
