Ripping up, levelling and reseeding lawn

[richieboy]

So, I'd like to sort my lawn out properly - there are a few issues with it but suffice to say the solution I'm looking at is levelling the whole thing and either re-turfing or re-seeding. It's about 8m by 15m.

I reckon I'll hire a turf cutter, slice and dice and then give away the turf rolls locally. This will help reduce the overall height a little bit which will help with the levelling, as part of it is currently slightly higher than the patio. I'd then get a rotavator and churn it all up, was also thinking it would be a good opportunity to add some sand in (sharp sand?) to try and improve drainage, and I'd then re level it, hopefully ensuring a proper fall away from the house - as the bottom of the garden is lower than the top, not by a huge amount but enough to make sure the rain goes the right way!

My question to you fine people: would you take this opportunity to do anything else, is there anything useful I could do during these jobs. Is there anything I am overlooking?

Also...what time of year would you do this (clearly summer is a bad idea, it's been like concrete during the past few months!), And would you seed it or turf it? I'd prefer seed mostly due to cost and lazyness I think, but would be interested to know your thoughts.

 

[j.col]

Sounds to me you are on the right track, Sharp sand is good to aid in drainage but if possible i would add some soil conditioners also (depends on your existing soil)

After using the rotovator, you should use a hand roller to help compact the soil again or you will leave deep footprints if you walk on it, a roller is also good to use on top of the turf.
To help with the fall, use a metal pin or stake at each end of the garden. Tie a string line off at the level of your patio, and tie it off at the other end of the garden. Level this line.
Once the soil is raked & leveled, this line will tell you how much of a fall you will have, eg. if the soil at the bottom end is 100mm lower than the line, then you have 100mm of a fall away from the patio.
A lawn lute is a good tool for this job.
September/October maybe early November or March/April are the best times imo.

Seed can be cheaper, but is harder to do as you have to spread it correctly and every bird in a 2 mile radius will treat it like a take away lol.
Check local turf suppliers for prices. (we use a very good supplier called George Davies Turf if you in the SE) iirc we paid about £3 per m2 the last time i got some.

If the garden is going to be used often or you have kids, don't buy the best grade of turf, as this is for ornamental gardens and whilst it looks great it does not wear well and you will get bare patches if its abused.

 

[richieboy]

Thanks, some ideas I hadn't thought about but I'll definitely use!