new house, bad lawn, please help...

Hi I have a fairly new build house. It has a small lawn approx 20m2 at the rear. Although it looks fairly green at first glance, when mown, you find a variety of problems.

There are quite a few bare patches and quite a lot of broard leaf weeds. There are a few bits of moss and there seems to be a kind of surface stringy weed that covers the whole area. (you don't notice until you get close, it kind of sits on top of the earth.) The soil seems pretty good and plants grow with no problem but there is a lot of rubble in the soil that the builders obviously just threw there and covered up. The grass itself seems of a poor quality (rye) but i don't really know a lot about lawns.

My inclination is to dig the whole area over, get out as much rubble as possible, put down weedkiller and then lay some good quality turf on top but i've no idea if this is the right way to go about things!?

Can someone please offer some advice on the best way to go about getting a nice lawn..

Many thanks, Mark

 

I can sympathise with you, Mark - I had exactly the same problem.

To be honest, if you're up for it, the drastic moves you suggest are actually the best in the long run. Now is a good time to get started, as turf is ok to lay in early spring, (or autumn). Main thing is to make sure that as well as the rubble, you get the full tap-roots of the weeds out.

Here's a useful link to the RHS guid on laying a new lawn

http://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profiles0900/lawns_seed_turf.asp

 

I think that you've hit the nail on the head there Mark.

For a great lawn I think that starting from scratch is the best idea.

 

Hi mark. Not many folk i know, go for the throat of the problem. they pussyoot around with treatments and chemicals and quick fix cures. But you've gone for the best option. Dig it up and start again. Good luck.

 

Mark I agree with the others - get rid of as much rubble and perrenial weeds as possible. Prepare the soil well if necassary get in some top soil and once prepared turf.

A big job but it will pay off - anything else will not sort the underlying problems.

 

Thanks for the tips, seems i'm on the right track. About to get stuck into some hard digging but wondering what kind of turf i should look for. Again i've no real idea other than i know to avoid rye and meadw grass. (is this because the grass roots are not tight and allow weeds room to root?) I really really don't wanna be spending all summer digging out weeds!

Cheers

 

really not sure where to go with this...i'm digging over small patches, do i need to take out all the old grass along with roots and the mossy areas or can i just dig out all the weeds and then rotovate the grass/ moss? All seems incredibly time consuming at the moment.

Also, are most rotovaters able to work when the area has a lot of small rubble pieces?

Thanks for any advice.

Mark

 

If it was me I would remove all the grass, weeds and moss and start a fresh with new top soil.
Top soil I would use is a 50/50 mix, 50% soil and 50% sand.

Rotovater one with lots of power and keep on going over the soil till you get a fine thrift (well the best you can).Once you have done that have a rest for 2 or 3 days. :D

 

This may help.

http://www.buffaloturfsupplies.com.au/preparation.htm


http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/basics/techniques/lawns_layingturf1.shtml

 

Thanks

I've begun turning over the area and removing moss, weeds and old grass....its hard work but should be clear to rotovate next week. Is a 26mm depth gonna be good enough? Looked at HSS and thats the only one they do.

Two other things...do i need to put any weed killer treatment on the area (theres bound to be tap roots i missed....can anyone suggest a good turf supplier localish to Nottingham and how much should i be paying?

Cheers, Mark