gardening help

hello im new so need lots of help

we have a garden thats about 200 m square

its full of weeds and very uneven so we had a landscaper out and he said he can just dig it up and lay turf over it and all the weeds would die ? is this right or what do i need to do

please help i need all i can get thx

 

[hr]
yes thx for that it is the smaller of the 2 :0
its all uneven and weeds everywhere just need to know should we kill it all 1st then dig the lot up
and then turf it ?
and will it be ready for the summer all the help would be good

 

Hello there and Welcome. :WINK1:

 

Good evening Welsh_ and welcome to the site. DO NOT let this guy near your garden, he is not a landscaper if he just wants to turf over weeds. Where abouts in Wales are you?

 

Hi Welsh,

Firstly, welcome to the forum!

I am a self employed landscape gardener. Last year we had a contract to turf 2400sq M of very uneven land. I would back up everything Shiney has suggested, seems like sound advice. The chap who gave you the advice of turfing over the weeds is suggesting the typical bodge job... and a bad one at that.

On our job aside from using weedkiller, we had a JCB perform the clearance and levelling, and then reapplied weedkiller after... but on a smaller scale, we would have ensured we had dug out far more root before the second application of weedkiller. The land we turfed was an extension to a cemetary, so in the long run... its only going to be dug up again.

Again, get a few quotes from local companies. If your still struggling... give me a call

Best of luck

 

hi all and thx for info i live in carmarthenshire[hr]
ok i would like to say thx to all who are helping here im now more confused than ever in what to do :0

our garden is say 22 meters long and around 9 meters wide its uneven and full of weeds and grass now what is the best way to sort it out so the kids can play on it by the summer ?

here are some options that we have had from people -

take the top layer off and take it away and dig it up and put weed killer down and plant seeds---

put weed killer down kill it all then dig it up and level it then plant seeds ---

can you very kind people give me the right way to do it and the cheapest way

so we can give it a shot

im from carmarthenshire if anyone is near

 

Actually, again Shiney, your advice seems pretty solid.

The quick answer:

The right way would be just as Shiney has described in the last post
The Cheapest way would be to seed, rather than turf, and do the work yourself.

The long answer:

You will be saving a CONSIDERABLE amount by doing this yourself, however, it is heavy work, especially if turfing. Getting someone in will save you the backache... it all depends on your personal situation... i.e. if you are physically able to carry out the work.

Your area is in the region of 200sq M. So your going to need 200 rolls of 1sq M turf... which will cost approx:

£1.75 per roll = £350

or £25 for cost of seed for the whole area.

There is also the cost of waste removal. It all depends on the people who you get in. Some may have a waste carriers licence and will get rid for less, whereas others (like myself) would have to get in a skip... which cost a small fortune these days (approx £150 for a 8yrd builders skip)

Of course there is then the labour cost... which would be eliminated if you carried out all the work yourself.

I would prepare to expect prices in the following regions:

TURFED BY SOMEONE ELSE - £1200-£2000
TURFED BY YOURSELF - £400-£500
SEEDED BY SOMEONE ELSE - £900 - £1600
SEEDED BY YOURSELF - £150-£250

You will find that quotes from different compainies vary greatly. Also, be aware that there are many different qualities of turf, ranging from around £1 a roll for bog standard meadow grass to up to £4 for high quality putting green turf.

You will need something around the £1.50-£2.00 mark considering you will need fairly hard wearing turf for you kids!

If you need any more advice, just ask

 

ok this is getting better now
we are going to kill it all first and then dig it all up we also going to put chippings down
can you tell me what depth i need to dig for this i think we will do it 10m x 5m
can we use timbers around the edge say h 90mm x w 50mm to keep it in ??? help needed
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
and we are going to seed so less cost there and do it ourselves.:thumb:
with all your

 

It all depends on what you want. If you wish for the chippings to be the same level as your lawn, then you could dig down about 2 inches, lay out weed suppressant, and throw back on around 2 inch of chippings (2 inch is 5cm or 50mm). If you wanted a little step down to your lawn, then no digging would be required.

a few tips:

You could always throw the dug out soil to where you are going to seed... that would save on waste removal.

Use retaining boards to hold back the chipings from the lawn. On my own garden, I use decking boards fixed with screws to vertical stakes hammered into the ground. The decking boards look fairly decorative compared to ordinary planks of wood. Remember to add additional treatment, as the wood will be in constant contact with moisture.

Buy your chippings loose (rather than bagged) where possible. Works out far far cheaper. The only thing is that you need somewhere for the wagon to dump it.

You will need between 4 and 5 ton of chippings for an area of 50sm M (5m x 10m)

Good idea