Grass

Discussion in 'General Gardening Discussion' started by Jeremy, Jun 16, 2011.

  1. Jeremy

    Jeremy Apprentice Gardener

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    Hi people,

    I am new here but need advice as I am a total novice when it comes to gardening. Anyway my problem is that i am living at my girlfriends house and the garden has always been the same until one day i decided to take it upon myself to grow some plants and to have a lovely garden.

    I discovered that it used to be covered in grass but that the grass was taken away and a lining put down with gravel on top and left like this for years.

    So I decided to remove all the gravel and lining and want to just grow flowers. My problem is that once i lifted everything off there seems to be a fair amount of grass roots appearing from under the soil.

    So my question is-

    a) how to get rid of the grass roots - weedkiller?
    b) The mud/soil is like concrete so do i just buy compost of spread over the mud/soil?
    c) do i need any lining/sand/gravel in regard to help with drainage?

    Your help in this matter will be greatly appreciated :WINK1:
     
  2. JWK

    JWK Gardener Staff Member

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    Jeremy, is it really grass roots or roots from nearby trees? Either way they need to be dug and broken up. I don't know of any weedkiller that will kill off grass roots (normal practise is to spray grass whilst it still have leaves).

    You need break up the mud/soil compacted layer and incorporate some organic matter (compost or manure).

    Is there some problems with drainage? Do you mention it because the area is wet and the soil like mud or is it a clay? If so then yes you need to do something about drainage. Let us know what the problem is.
     
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    • Jeremy

      Jeremy Apprentice Gardener

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      Hi JWK,

      Thanks for the reply unsure in regard to drainage as before the garden had gravel over it and then under that was lining. Drainage was no problem but i was thinking that once the garden was the way i want it (flowers blossoming/blooming) and covered in compost/manure then what would happen to it then?

      Do i give it a go with the compost or do i need to do anything else as dont want all my hard work to be suddenly washed away.

      The soil is well compacted but slowly going through chucking out the grass roots.

      Cheers for advice
       
    • Lorna

      Lorna Gardener

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      Jeremy,

      It would be cheaper for you to buy a load of topsoil than many sacks of compost. Look in the gardening classified ads in your local paper, or maybe have a look in the yellow pages. And keep your eyes open when driving about - sometimes you see topsoil advertised for free if people are doing a building project and they need to get rid of the topsoil. Check it's not full of stones or roots, though. Responsible commercial firms will sieve it before selling.
       
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      • JWK

        JWK Gardener Staff Member

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        It won't wash away Jeremy, unless you are on a steep hillside and there was torrential rain (this sort of thing rarely happens in the UK) Once the roots of your new plants get into the soil it will stabilise it anyway.

        :dbgrtmb:
         
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