Thinking about redoing this lawn from scratch. What do you think?

Hello folks,

I'm considering doing a hard reset on my back lawn, killing it off entirely, and then reseeding anew.

Here's what we're looking at;







Since moving in I've been dealing with removing a brick BBQ that was in the corner and a huge concrete slab that as under it. As you can see that is all gone now leaving a corner that is in need of new soil and seeding!

Elsewhere the lawn isn't looking in good shape. There are lots of weeds and things like clover growing throughout. I did lay down some EverGreen 4-in-1 to try and kill off some of the weeds and give the grass a boost. The results...weren't great;





It simply created these dead patches while lots of weeds continued to grow unaffected.

Anyway, seeing as the corner is going to need some new soil and seeding, I'm thinking it might be a good opportunity to kill everything off, including all the weeds, and seed the lawn anew. This would have the added benefit of knowing that the same grass seed is used across the entire space (whereas there's a good chance I might end up with quite different looking grass in that corner because I have no idea what the rest of the lawn is made up of).

Interested in your thoughts!

Thanks.

 

A very warm welcome to the forum.

So so sorry but even I can't waive a magic wand. Yes a picture speaks a thousand words. You have such a wide selections of soils. Sound drastic but it will work. Give the whole area a good digging over, perhaps hire a good cultivator. Then cover the area with a good quality compost. Leave for a few days, then dig the plot over again. Leave to settle. Now tread the area, so as to firm the soil. Using if possible an Ash rake. This used due to its width. Using the back of the rake level out the soil. Perhaps once again, treading the area. When a fine, firm tilth is obtained, ether seed or turf.

 

Hi Temmy.

I'll admit I'm not a great fan of lawns - yes they have their place - but a plain expanse of green is not my cup of tea .

If it were me, I'd be thinking more along the lines of installing a nice border to cover up the old BBQ area and disguise the fence. Something that you can see and enjoy from the house.

In terms of the lawn - I'd keep the areas that are in reasonable condition and then border around these. My own lawn is full of weeds - but as long as it is cut and green - IMHO it looks fine.

 

The reason the weed and feed failed was the application was not even and some weeds are resilient.
You might just get away with a liquid weed as it’s now quite late in the season so you don’t want a summer feed with a weed killer and as the colder weather approaches this effects the herbicide.
The choice is yours but you don’t want to raise the lawn height up against the brickwork or fence if you plan on adding soil from scratch.
A lot depends on the weather for seed where as laying turf if you started fresh is more flexible temp wise.

 

Well, I think we're definitely heading towards a hard reset of the lawn.

After getting rid of the concrete slab the BBQ had been using, I unearthed some old foundations next to it a few millimeters below the surface (where surprise, no grass was seemingly able to grow!)



This is turning into quite the project, which I'm fine with. It'll take me a while to clear this and remove the new concrete and bricks but I think afterwards I'd like to kill off everything and start from a fresh slate. I want to also use this opportuntiy to better level the garden.

What would be the recommended way to kill off all the existing grass? Chemicals? I was thinking about laying tarpaulin over everything and letting it all break down and decompose.

 

To be honest I would simply remove the whole lot and have it removed and start fresh. It’s almost a job for a little mini digger.