New Lawn Advice Needed

fillup

Hi All
After finishing renovations on my house I’m finally getting around to doing the back garden up
I’m looking for some advice on laying a new lawn in my back garden
It’s a small SE facing garden and I’m putting in some flower beds at the side
I’m left with an area in the middle (4.5 x 4m) that I was going to lay a lawn on.
I’ve 3 kids and the chances of getting them to stay off the area long enough to get seed to grow are slim to none. So I think rollout turf is my best option.
The existing cover is weed invested and scutchy (is this term used outside of Cavan)
I was thinking of cutting out the sod and dumping it because I don’t think I’ve enough time to put down the weed killer to kill off the grass/weeds and get a lawn laid before it’s too late in the year.
Am I right with that assumption?
Secondly there’s an old path that needs to be dug out, it’s well laid and fairly deep so but the time that and the sod are dug out there’ll be no soil left to lay the turf on so I’ll have to put some top soil down. How deep should this top soil be?
Also the drainage seems to be fairly poor (I was driving posts for the raised beds and the soil was wet all the way down)
Is there anything I can lay under the soil or mix with the soil to help drainage?

And finally what is the latest time of year to do this?
I can only get at it on the odd evening or a few hours over the weekend so am I better off waiting until next spring and attacking it with renewed vigour?
All help/advice/comments greatly appreciated

Thanks in advance
fillup

bbam

While there is time to do a full reseed job I'd agree for a small area rollout lawn may suit best..
Be warned the kids will still have to stay off it until it settels, maybe 2/3 weeks..

I dont think I'd take out existing sod... Spray with roundup and that will cure any weed problem, cut down on digging and save the cost of replacment soil..

Digging out the path may be tough but maybe a micro/mini digger would help... its fun too..

If the garden is damp/wet Sort out the drainage first.... there are plenty of threads on the best way to tackle this so have a look, get it right before laying a new lawn...
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2054939061&highlight=drain

I'd say get a mini digger and remove the path and lay drainage all in one go..You could throw the concrete from the path into a drainage sump to save dumping/skip costs..

fillup

cheers BBAM

that's some serious looking drainage system..

i hadn't figured on it being that big of a job,, i was goind to use the path rubble for the raised beds...

what's the latest time of year for laying a rollout lawn?

bbam

fillup wrote: »

cheers BBAM

that's some serious looking drainage system..

i hadn't figured on it being that big of a job,, i was goind to use the path rubble for the raised beds...

what's the latest time of year for laying a rollout lawn?

Yes the drainage can look like a big job, you need to decide how bad the problem is before you start... We're after a wet enough month, there is some dry weather this week, see how it is then..

If you leave it and it's waterlogged then the lawn will be spoiled and money waisted

The rubble in the raised beds would be a good idea for their drainage, anything to save carting it about..

I'd say you could do the roll out lawn anytime from now to end of September, we're unlikely to get any serious heat wave which would dry it out :rolleyes:
I've never used it so wouldn't be really sure...

What I'd say is that you still need to keep the trafic off it and seed would be so much cheaper... do your sums first and see how it works out..

starbelgrade

I've never used roll-out either, but it's perfect weather for seeding at the minute - germination time is around 2 weeks & it can be cut after 6-8 weeks. Definitely a much cheaper option!