Laying Lawn over weeds? The last resort! Advice Please

Hi, i posted a few questions on here about a year ago about my uneven, weedy lawn and got some good advice... problem is, after rotavating,raking,digging and the use of thousands of types of weedkillers i have come to the conclusion that i have the hardest,toughest, most ballsy weeds this side of Pluto...proper little scrappers!
dont get me wrong, sometimes my motivation has failed me and ive let them get a headstart, but i literally have hundreds of different weeds in my lawn (well i dont know why i call it a lawn as i cant see any grass) and after the missus latest outburst i am going to plunge straight to the last resort and just lay new turf!!
I am going to dig up as many weeds as i can, rake the ground level, then get 5 tonnes of topsoil (8m x 7m), trample it down by walking on it then rake it again, water it, lay my new turf, then weed and feed and mow it constantly!

I know you will probably tell me there are better ways of doing this (and by all means feel free)

But im determined just to bite the bullet and get new lawn down...

Can anyone please tell me that what ive said im going to do will stand a fighting chance of succeeding? and is there any ideas, advice or modifications of what i plan to do that you can give me?

All comments greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance

Yours hopefully...Victim of Domestic abuse..by WEEDS

 

greenthumb will know what weedkiller and fertilizer to use (and they are pretty cheap)

http://www.greenthumb.co.uk/

fill in the section on the left, and they will contact you and quote ...

they don't mow lawns, but they apply fertilizers/weedkillers and rotivate aerate if needed

the problem with weed and feed, is that some of them only target specific weeds ... I used the evergreen 4 in 1 recently for a small garden .... the moss was killed and some of the broadleaf weeds are turning black .... the others are unafected, so I will have to add a different one later to sort them (if mowing does not sort the problem)

 

Thanks. What about laying a new lawn over my weed infested area? granted i am going to dig up as much as i can, but if i chuck the topsoil down, lay the turf and then make extra effort to maintain it will all the weeds just sprout through and make my time and money spent a complete waste?

 

get greenthumb to give their opinion before spending additional money .... could work out a whole lot cheaper that starting again, and their advice is for free

with the proper lawnfeed/weed killer, you could have a lush lawn in a few weeks time

mow at least once a week aswell, and apply lawn feed 3-4 times a year .... thats what I do, and all the lawns I tend to are lush, green and thick

in autumn, scarify and aerate, then add a winteriser lawn feed ... I tried the winterser lawn feed for the 1st time last year in autumn, and I can say that the lawns where I have used it is looking a lot healthier than those that I never used it on

 

Dim advises getting a company in
To be honest, it would be a LOT cheaper than buying Five tons of topsoil and enough Turf
Also if you do what you suggest, the weeds will just grow on through evenutally unless you have also prepared the ground using weedkiller first IMHO

Jack McHammocklashing

 

If you are going to put a new lawn in iwould put a landscape fabric put a good six inch of steped in then seed and fert with 20.20.20 and get ready to mow your socks off coz it wull grow like mad then over seed ether early autum or spring second fert drop down to7.7.7 for normal growth

 

Not if it been hand dug to remove tap roots then lay a none purmable taxtile you can get soil from farmers with certif and its cheaper thsn you think then top dress in sping when you over seed

 

As John (JWK) says , it depends on what weeds you are covering with your topsoil ..If they are annuals they would not grow though, but perennials such as Dandilion.. Docks..Neetles and Thistles, would need to be dug out as they will just grow through..
Do you know what weeds you have, and is this a large area of lawn?
It theory the purmable textile idea would work , but I personally would favour weed removal, if you remove perennial weeds , topsoil and turf you would then have a lawn .. You could then if need be, weed control as needed ..
Hope this helps

Dave

 

Thats right wot your saying dave there is no short cuts to perfection but there will slways be human error that when afyer hard labor of rrmoving taproot put a barrier im place then you know that the only weeds should be woodie nightsjade and fat hen whilst seed develops atfer that only annuals wot will be held off with good lawncare like dims main cost is soil and fabric after thst is peace of mind because there nothing to burt up through from ypur old lawn

 

tried and failed with lawns now i just cut out the stress and go staight to chipping /pepples

 

Cooper, Can you post a photo of what you're dealing with? Looking through your other threads you don't say the quality of soil? Have you improved it in anyway other than levelling.

If you're happy with your lawn's level and it is quality soil then as much as it pains me to say it (I prefer organic methods) your cheapest bet will easily be greenthumb. Go with Dim's advice and get them round to have a look. If you're happy for fert and weedkiller to be applied then one single visit from a greenthumb franchisee should work out cheaper than you can buy the fert and weedkiller for.

 

Sorry I missed the size (8x7m) in your first post .
I sure on a small area like that there cannot be that many perennial weeds to cope with . Then if you are turfing that will eliminate the annuals germinating ..
As mantioned by others a photo would be good ..
Dave

 

Thanks for all the replies.. im not fussed on the cost of this project, i just want a quick nice lawn... i know that may be a fools way..but if theres a chance that when i dig up weeds, throw on topsoil and lay turf that all the weeds wont just sprout through then i really want to try this method.. im willing to put in a lot of maintenance and effort when the lawn is laid...but if its guarrenteed to just grow through my new lawn then obviously i wont do it.
ive attached some pics as requested..oh the shame!
those couple at the back left are about 4-5ft tall!!
thanks to everyone again!

 

I strongly disagree with this advice. 20:20:20 is far too strong for seed, and I don't think a balanced N-P-K is particularly beneficial to freshly sown seed either. I also would not use 7-7-7 for normal growth (or indeed any balanced fertilizer) as in the growing season it is primarily Nitrogen that is required.

And I definitely would not use any form of landscaping fabric under a lawn.

I also think it is getting very late to be seed-sowing a lawn, particularly if it is in an area with a hosepipe ban (turf is going to be bad enough with only a 28-day grace period for watering) - we might get a wet Summer of course, but its a gamble.