All grass gone

Hi

As suggested by some of you i have totally dug out all existing grass from my garden. It took about 4 days, my back hurts and i got enough builders debris out to build an extension. Anyway it's done, now just a couple of questions if anyones got a minute....

The gardens fairly slopey in all directions so getting it flat is not really an option...all the same should i use a roller to compact the soil? (have already raked it)

By removing the entire layer of grass, roots etc, have i caused any damage to the soil structure which should be treated before i lay the turf?

The ground was incredibly rubble strewn and at times some of the weed tap roots just broke off. Should i treat the area now with something or lay the lawn, let the weeds grow and use round up on them when they have big leaves?

Should i put any sand/ compost on the soil before i lay the turf?

Any reccommendations for a turf? Don't want anything ornamental nor does it have to be too hard wearing. Just average. I'm in the Notts area if anyone knows a good local supplier..

Sorry for long post, just wanna get this down now!

Cheers, mark

 

Hi mcmac74, Well done you. sounds like you've done some hard graft. Re the soil now, you could do the pre lawn dance, taking small shuffly steps on your heels. This would probably be easier than rolling. No to sand and compost, You could lay your turf. and keep moist, stay of it for about a month to let it settle. Then mow at regular intervals on a high cut to start with. Ref the weeds, large tap roots could be dock or maybe dandelion. No point in waiting for them to re-appear, let them grow and then zap them. The way to do it, is either with one of those weed touch sticks. Or using glysopahate (round up) poke weed into the neck of a 2 litre pop bottle which you have cut the base off of, and spray into the bottle. Unless you have a lot of them in which case you could wait for them to appear, but remember bare soil attracts air borne seeds that will grow very quickly, which will mean re pre paring the soil. And besides which, with the domestic round up, avail at GC's. you may need a few applications. Others may well advise other methods of going forward for you, Good luck, you've done well so far

 

Thanks compostee

Will buying a particular turf help prevent weed regrowth? I'm really not sure how many weeds i fully got out. I dug down almost 2 feet in places but still didn't get to the tap root and the builders rubble was too dense in places. Bit of a nightmare. I have over 70 full bricks and a skip full of random stone and rubbish. Bet i only scratched the surface....

Mark