Tilling the garden for a new lawn

That's a serious garage @Mollydog !

 

I don't know how 'normal' people manage in life without some form of workshop! A good sized workshop was one of my main priorities when I moved house, along with a big garage for my military vehicles.

Great work on the lawn preparation. I really enjoy watching big projects come together. At least you can get deliveries close to where you need them. In my last house, I had to barrow tons of hardcore through my garage and workshop, before having to carry it up two sets of steps in the tiered garden.

 

I hope you've heeled that soil in or slight trodden or used the light roller ? Its going to sink / settle if not . I like your lute , you doing a fine job anyway are you seeding or turf?

 

@CarolineL

We had a conventional one car garage we used as an extra junks room staked full of things we really never used or needed

So when I got my Elise in 2010 I decided I needed not only a garage for the car but a workshop too, as a temporary measure the first year I bought a 2M x 4M tent to keep the Elise in over the first winter



Wasn’t really ideal but kept the rain off it, when it didn’t drip of moisture

The second year I bought a 3M x 6M marque and that has stood the test of time, wind and rain has had no effect on it , over the years I’ve had to replace the canopy a couple of times due to UV light perishing the canopy but that’s about it, and had been doing all my maintenance on the Elise in it







The marque was/is well peged down





From 2016 I was dithering how big should the garage be and where should I build it, behind our bungalow, where I had the marque or right at the back of our garden, at the back of our bungalow yeas ago I had the builders lay a concrete compound for our at the time large dogs, now they had passed away the compound wasn’t being used for anything so I made up my mind to build the garage on the compound

My original plan was to build as much as possible myself, having had a bad back I got tradesmen in with the heavy bits of the build and did as much as poss myself

Planning what I was going to be building started in 2018, I remember one day while in Italy in 2019 I was scanning the web and came across a timber merchant called Mole Online selling timber I was looking for , so with my mobile I was organising and purchasing the timber from Italy

that December I took hold of the timber ready to make a start in the new year and we were hit with covid and that prolonged the garage build

Its a good 4 years reading of my ups and downs building my garage at:

Building my timber garage/workshop | Retro Rides

Makes good read if you have nothing better to do

@ArmyAirForce

I didn’t know what I was missing without a workshop, it’s one thing having somewhere to keep a car under cover but to have a workshop for anyone who loved DIY is a necessity

It was really convenient when I had the small tipper come round to the back garden tipping the soil, it made easy work of spreading the soil, the last load in bags is a bit of a killer and the rain isn’t helping, I was hoping to have moved all the soil by tomorrow evening but as is I still have 4 bags full of soil need moving

@Perki

Yes I’ll be using the roller once I get the soil near my post marking and expect there to be some shrinking , I’ll see how much has bedded down before deciding if to get extra soil before seeding (I’m going to be seeding)

An update on my lawn rake, I came to the conclusion that with the 4 1M x M12 rods it was making the rake a bit too heavy for my liking, so as it was raining here I couldn’t do much in the garden so did a revamp of the rake, I fitted brackets using pop rivets and then one by one took out the rods, how much lighter the rake is now it was well worth the extra effort, not got round to fitting the handle to it yet











PS, sorry I don’t know what is meant by “I like your lute”

 

A lawn 'lute' is just another word for the type of rake you have built.

 

thank you Bob,

 

You are an Olympian … running rings of perseverance around us all … Chapeau!!!!!

 

@LawnAndOrder. Thank you

On to making a handle bracket on the rake



Then working out where just off centre location was





I wanted the one end to slightly tip down, by rotating the handle round this could be the furthest edge from me or the closest edge to me

I’m not really happy with this bracket to hold the handle but will do for now till I get round to making a better one or buying one









trimed one side of the SS handle to allow the handle to swing low



I managed to empty a further 2 bags before end of evening last night



only 2 bags to empty today,



This morning I took the rake and filled in the holes the rods were poking through with hot glue, to stop soil filling the tubing while using it, I wedged in parts of a bin liner to not having to fill the complete tubes with hot glue













Works ideal, it’s lightish but not too light and the long handle means I’m not bending my back too much raking it back and forth



First time ever of using a lawn rake, I’m sure I’ll get better with practice



This is as far as I got this evening



With only half a bag to go it started to rain heavy so called it a night

 

I might need one maybe two more bags of top soil to finish off the area I’m seeding, Lynda and me have decided not to seed the area around the big cherry tree and it’s little offsprings, we are going to use that area as a resting place with a bench chair or something to sit on under the tree(s)

I’ve placed more soil in the middle and been over it with a garden roller and rake, I know it will settle down even more eventually, so my plan is get the seeds sown and next season start building up the parts that have settles too much

I’ve ordered a roll 2M x 100M of 18gsm garden fleece off eBay



My plan is to use it pre seeding to stop the dead leaves falling on the soil preventing the seeds from landing on soil

Any opinions on garden sprinklers? I have one of these types, but mine sits on a tripod



which is good for established lawns but I think for seeded grass maybe a mist sprinkler would be best, softer on the soil and seeds

 

Not much (any) work in the garden today, it was raining, I just love the rain



who needs a garden sprinkler

 

The garden fleece arrived, it didn’t take long



Where I’m overseeding the grass is/was a vibrant green but also sparse in places,



And after mowing and scarifying, the area doesn’t look like there’s much grass left in it









Any opinions and advice on my next step, i.e. what would be a good choice of seed, once seeded, would it be better to top the grass seeds with topsoil or compost, also at what point to spread the fertiliser, I’ve bought a few mist sprinklers from Temu and a water timer to keep the area moist

I just need a bit more topsoil the this area of the garden





Then I’m ready to seed the new area too

As always options and advice is very much welcome

 

After your multi-faceted, “no stone unturned” approach, the two most important factors remaining are the choice of seeds (which you mention) and, above all, the choice of mower (which perhaps you don’t - I am not home at the moment and don’t have as much time as usual to sift through material).

As time, effort, or funds appear to be no object, both choices or any relevant advice depend on the finish you want, taking into account the stress your lawn may have to weather, depending on children, games, dogs.

Tell us something of the options you are contemplating.

Even though most of us would possibly not consider taking things quite that far, it would be interesting, when all is complete, and purely for reference rather than indiscretion on our part, if you were to say how long the project took and how much funding it required.

All the best over the last hurdles – you must be smelling the stable; may you soon enjoy the scent, not of hay, but fresh grass!

LawnAndOrder

 

Being retired and not driving to Italy this year I’ve defiantly had lots of time on my hands this summer, as for budget, there is always a budget to keep to,

I defiantly didn’t think I’d be spending over £700 for topsoil, but if not bought the garden wouldn’t of looked right to me with a big slope to one side

One sad thing I do know is that when we’ve past away and new owners buy our bungalow they will not know (care) the efforts and cost we’ve gone to to get the garden looking half decent and more than likely uproot everything and do it to their liking

After the extension was built (2004) we had a pro gardener come in and sort out the garden after the builders had finished turning it in to a building site

When we moved in around 38 years ago now, the garden was a gardeners paradise, must have had around a dozen trees, three lawn areas with different levels, a rocker and a raised patio to the back kitchen door

We came along and to build the extension we had to take out a very lovely tree and minor small trees and bushes

Our neighbours informed us the first couple who bought the bungalow (new) in 1962 were very keen gardeners and the wife set out all the trees and bushes in the back garden, she was also responsible for our and our neighbours silver birch tree in our front garden, she planted them

These are some of the trees I had to trim back to be able to build my garage









As can be seen, it didn’t take long for the trees to get back







The trees in the background back to normal growth



then the second owner followed in the footsteps of the first owner, then when the bungalow was 24 years old we were it’s new owners, until we had the extension (18 years after moving in) we kept the garden looking more or less as the first owner had designed it, if the first owner saw it now I’m sure she would turn in her grave

I’ll try to itemise the larger priced items and tools/items bought for the lawn (or upkeep)

Timber

Edging timber 5x 50mm x 150mm x 6M £154.30

Timber Pegs 20 x 50mm x 50mm x 400mm £35.85

Gravel boards 8x 25mm x 150mm x 3.6M £52.99

Timber £243.14

++

Lorry load (2x 4 Tonnes) topsoil 50% & grit 50% £477.6

7x 900Lt fen topsoil @£40 + £10 delivery £290

Topsoil £767.6

For the lawn (no seeds yet)

Garden fleece 2M x 100M £35.85

Evergreen 4 in 1 lawn food £24.10

£60


Tools bought for this project (not counting ones already in my possession)

Hand held seed spreader £10 wicks



Scott seed spreader (SH) £20



Garden roller (SH) £10

Aldi rotavator (SH) £40



John Deere lawn mower 43R (SH) £100



Forester Master shredder (SH) £250



DIY Mild steel lawn rake approx £ £50

DIY aluminum lawn raker approx £38

2x rakes (SH) £10





Costway Scarifier £149.95



Petrol leaf blower (SH) £10

Watering timer £10.50



Mist sprinkler head x 4 £6



The grand total so far is approx £1775.19, then there is the grass seeds

There are also the bits and bobs not accounted for

This could of been done a lot cheaper, just £40 for the second hand rotator to get rid of most of the roots then just buy the hand held seed spreader and grass seeds & lawn feed

I’ve been doing lots of googling regarding grass seeds, a large majority are directed at or made by Americans so not sure if what they say id applicable to here in the UK, so still open to grass seeds opinions

 

Gardening is expensive isn't it @Mollydog ! But you got some good secondhand bargains like the shredder. Always useful

 

For grass seed have a look at Johnsons Lawn Seed Uk oldest lawn seed company years ago, when based in Boston Lincs, they supplied Wimbledon and Wembley among others, with grass seed.
In Boston Lincs there is now Grass Seed & Lawn Seed | Buy online | UK Supplier - Boston Seeds
While I was growing up in Boston everybody bought Johnsons seeds and used the shop in the centre of town. Johnsons went out of business around 2000 and were split up and sold off, general seeds went one way and the grass seed business ended up with the above website.