Grass.....advice needed!

Paul. W

Paul. W

Paul. W

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Joined
29 Dec 2009
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522
Im wanting to sort out the grass in the back garden. The grass currently there is awful. Its patchy and rubbish. Its only a small area however, probably about 4m squared

The soil isnt great either, and I imagine its going to be quite clay-ish underneath the first few inches. The drainage of it is bad as well.

Im wanting to do this as cheap as possible really. I dont perfect golf course grass obviously, I just want an even lawn!

So, will it be as simple as digging up the garden to about 4/6 inches deep, throwing grass seed down, covering it with top soil, then watering everyday?
 
It's quite easy to turn grass around, if you dig it over what you have will just re grow.

Dig out weeds, cut and rake out all the moss and thatch, sprinkle low areas with topsoil, seed bare bits, treat all over now, if it's clay use a fork to make drainage holes like a waffle and fill with ballast sand, then just maintain and feed properly.
 
If you really want to go to town and the drainage is quite bad, then it's fairly easy to put proper drainage in, just requires some elbow grease. If you google lawn drainage you should see how to put in some perforated corrugated drainage pipe either hooked up to your drains, or into a soakaway.

Basically dig out a main channel to the drain/soakaway, then put a few branches off in a Y formation, dig the trench about 5 inches deep removing the grass sections carefully in blocks and lay to one side (you'll be putting it back down again later). Once you have that done dig a further 10 inches down, get rid of that soil, put a couple of inches of gravel down, then the pipe, then fill the trench with more gravel until you get to a level that allows you to put the turf back on the top so it is back level with the garden. Couple of mates, couple of days, couple of crates, job done! :D

Leave it for a few weeks to bed in again, then carry on where maccapacca's advice starts (minus the forking bit).
 
How much would it generally cost (ballpark) for someone to completely turnover and relay a garden? My back garden is an absolute disaster (we intended to do it all when moving in, but ran out of money :(), it's all over the place in terms of ground level, some parts bare and dry, others overgrown and thick, some just plain mud etc. It's a nightmare.

It's also quite large. Any handymen here could give an "idea" for, let's say, 20ft x 20ft?
 
kefkef said:
If you really want to go to town and the drainage is quite bad, then it's fairly easy to put proper drainage in, just requires some elbow grease. If you google lawn drainage you should see how to put in some perforated corrugated drainage pipe either hooked up to your drains, or into a soakaway.

Basically dig out a main channel to the drain/soakaway, then put a few branches off in a Y formation, dig the trench about 5 inches deep removing the grass sections carefully in blocks and lay to one side (you'll be putting it back down again later). Once you have that done dig a further 10 inches down, get rid of that soil, put a couple of inches of gravel down, then the pipe, then fill the trench with more gravel until you get to a level that allows you to put the turf back on the top so it is back level with the garden. Couple of mates, couple of days, couple of crates, job done! :D

Leave it for a few weeks to bed in again, then carry on where maccapacca's advice starts (minus the forking bit).
Click to expand...

Spacing of drainage? my gardens like a bog in the winter, can't walk on as it turns to slush, very heavy clay
 
It's been a long time since i was in that business, and then i just used to do it by 'eye' rather than any science, but in a 4m by 4m garden i'd be thinking about something like one main trench and 2 branches on each side to cover the most of the garden. Whatever the least amount of 'slits' that gives the most drainage.

My own garden is getting to the point where i'm thinking of doing it, have 'forked' it a few times over the years, then hollow tined it last year but still got really 'soggy' after just a small amount of rain. Just got the pond and front flower bed to sort first, after i install the new bathroom in April.......
 
If you can scavenge some roof tiles, google "Roman tile drain"

Ballast sand isn't ideal as it may have salt in iirc,
But horticultural sand is expensive.
 
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Pestilence said:
How much would it generally cost (ballpark) for someone to completely turnover and relay a garden? My back garden is an absolute disaster (we intended to do it all when moving in, but ran out of money :(), it's all over the place in terms of ground level, some parts bare and dry, others overgrown and thick, some just plain mud etc. It's a nightmare.

It's also quite large. Any handymen here could give an "idea" for, let's say, 20ft x 20ft?
Click to expand...

Got a few quotes last year for similar sized garden and they were between £700-£1000. That was for removing old grass and soil, flattening and laying new turf. If you are going to do it, get it done before summer.
 
I would say

  • Spray the whole area with roundup, wait a week, spray it again with roundup.
  • Mow it really short.
  • Rake up all the dead stuff.
  • Rent a tiller and till the soil up.
  • Rake out the soil smooth.
  • Spread lawn seed.
  • Roll it with a lawn roller to push the seeds in to the soil for good contact.
  • Spread starter fertilizer.
  • Water it to keep it moist but not too wet.

You should probably get a soil test first and see if it needs lime or anything added to the soil.
 
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