Lawn Advice Required Urgently

I am in the process of completely renovating my garden in my new house which has been left to grow seriously wild for over a year.

The lawn is extremely weedy, as are the flowerbeds aorund the edges.

Ideally I want to turn the whole area into a weed-free area of flat and healthy soil before marking out a new patio area, flowerbeds, vegetable patches and then lay turf down for a new lawn.

WOuld anyone advise using 'Round-up' to achieve this? ANd if so, will this harm future prospects of planting?

I have considered spraying the Round-up, leaving it to work properly then uprooting the weeds and repeating this process as many times as necessary before rotavating the whole area and flattening the soil.

Is this a wise course of action? I really want to get started ASAP so any help from you guys would be greatly appreciated!

ALso, when is best for me to lay the new turf?

Cheers,

Matt

 

Would not go overboard on the Round Up, somewhere on the label it will have instructions for the best and safest way to use it and this will probably include a maximum number of applications during a certain time period.

Studies have shown that the active ingredient in Round Up, Glyphosate, can sometimes bind itself to soil particles and be present in the soil for some time after application if overdosed. Over use of the chemical could also produce glyphosate tolerant weeds.

 

Thanks Lorne Green, I think you're right. I will just rotovate the lawn and pick out the weed/grass debris by hand.

 

I am not saying don't use Round Up, when I read your original post I read it as you were planning to keep applying it till everything was gone. I have cleared an area of turf with Round Up and seeded afterwards (would have used turf but it was not my garden and cost was an issue) and the results were very good but I only applied it once.

I would also be wary of putting new turf down at the moment, I see one of the big water companies already threatening water shortages and where one goes the rest will be queing up to follow. New turf will not survive without adequate water. We are having quite a dry spell here in South Wales and I have noticed many lawns that have been down a few years started to show signs of drying out, so new lawns without established root systems will find it harder to establish.

Don't know which part of the country you are in but if you are in the middle of this dry spell I find it easier when the soil is dry to remove weeds.

Any further questions please ask away most of my mates have a connection to turf in one way or the other and if I can't answer it I am sure one of them will have an opinion.

 

Can you not get a selective herbicide? I've got loads of the stuff, but I'm in the trade. Surely a selective can be bought at a garden centre?
If you rotavete a lawn then the weeds will just re-grow and you'll be back where you started.