Where to start???

Hello all.

I'm new to the forum and am looking for some advice.

Me and my girlfriend moved into our new flat 3 months ago when the garden was all around 3ft tall and mainly consisted of dandelions.





I strimmed it all back and applied 2 courses of glycophosphate (I believe it was called) as I wanted to kill everything and start again.



The garden has now grown back fully but it is all just thick weedy growth rather than the lush grass I'm looking for.





I'm now thinking that the best way to go about it would be to kill it all again and lay turf over the top, would this be wise?

By sorting the grass first am I doing things backwards as I also want to build some timber planters for fruit and veg and do a bit of sculpting of the general area?

Having just moved out of my parents this is my first gardening experience so please try and keep it simple

Thanks.

 

Its quite a lot of hard work to make a nice lawn. I had to start from scratch when I bought my house just over 2 years ago. I had no option because the ground was depleted and compacted. My lawn is now in its second year and looking not bad, but its ongoing work.

In view of that, if I were you I'd concentrate on getting the structure/layout how you want it first. That way you wont be trampling all over newly laid lawn while you work on your raised beds etc, and also you'll have less lawn to have to make.

 

Agree with clueless! Get your structures in first. Decide what sort of garden you want, if you're having a greenhouse, pets or kid friendly, garden furniture etc. Then you can sort the lawn. Plenty of people on here can help with that when you're ready. Meantime, you could spray it again or the weeds will just spread.

 

Thanks for the advice people!

The area to the left of the gate (seen in pic 2) I have earmarked as a border for plants so have removed the 3 slabs nearest the fence. I will pop out later and get some small fencing and any other bits I may need.

Would I need a membrane of some description? What should I fill the area with... A topsoil compost mix?

 

The garden is south-west facing an from what I know the soil is a loose stony type.

Yeah I plan to get the whole garden in a ready to plant state before getting too carried away.

 

Digging in well rotted manure never hurts either!!

 

Slow progress so far-

 

Any progress is good progress !

 

Plants I honestly have no clue about, I'm just looking for something small that will add a bit of colour to the garden to be honest.

Preferably nothing that cats would enjoy digging up either as there seems to be an awful lot in the area.

 

You could put some herbs down that side if it is fairly sunny. Rosemary, lavender, some thyme etc. Many of them are evergreen too so it won't look bare in winter. They are easy to keep from taking over too. Except mint, which WILL go mad so best planted in a pot. You can then fill in any gaps with colorful bedding plants. Maybe some clematis in the back grown up the fence on some trellis. Real you have lots of choice!

 

Well this has been on hold a while as I broke my wrist :( hoping to get back into it soon

 

Ouch!! I hope you feel better soon! Is it your dominant hand?

 

Fortunately not, haven't been too bad whilst being in the cast but back up the hospital tomorrow to hopefully be given the all clear.