ideas for my huge lawn??

viper.10

Hi all, i have a garden thats roughly around 250 square yards, its huge. when i started it a couple of years and got it all sowed out and finished but then it rained steady for the best part of 2 weeks and washed all the seed down to the botom of the lawn - its on a slight slope and it as been very patchy since with a lot of water laying on it after heavy rain. i had a garden expert out to look at it last week and he said:1. i was crazy to have such a big lawn and should half it down the middle, have one half lawn and the other for perhaps growning veg., plant trees, and the like. keep it a little rougher so it doesnt need as much looking after.2. in places there is only maybe an inch and a half of topsoil and the fill underneath is very compacted so the water cant go anywhere. thats why it is so patchy and also why the water is laying on it so much.3. i should basically redo the lawn, get a digger in break up and loosen the fill underneath, perhaps drain it and build up the lawn with six inches of top soil.Im happy to do all these things as the lawn is a mess but im kinda stuck as to what i can do to make the best of the lawn and to really make it look the part. I already have a good size decking and as i have a couple of young kids, i want to stay away from the whole pond thing. Any ideas would be great, im far from an expert on gardening so any design ideas or whatever would be great. Cheers.

magicbastarder

250 square yards? is it a suburban garden - that would equate to about 25 foot by 90 foot?

Colonialboy

I had an even bigger area to sort out, do it in sections littel by little a few hours each evening over spring and summer and you will be surprised how much you achieve.
I did one section of lawn , rotovated, raking,seeeding weeding repeat just near the house for kids to play on
One area I covered in black plastic cos I knew I wouldnt get to and it stops weeds and now I have a clean bed ot plant my veg
one section I started a small cuttings are, hardwood cuttings of trees and shrubs, im hoping to getfree plants from this
another section I just plants with any shrubs I got, that i might move at a later point
another section I put a few trees saplings and some hedging plants
a big section Im letting go wild
it might look a bit unsightly to some, Im going for the forest garden effect plus in my opinion tru organic gardening does in fact look unsightly
best of luck dont over think it, get stuck in the design will evolve

SNAKEDOC

seeing as your garden is on a slant i presume away from your house why not invest in some railway sleepers and map out a few concentric lines across your garden parallel to the slant and create tiers that way you have stopped the problem of the rain washing away seed if you plant again and different tiers for different activities, and up the middle slabs as steps down through the garden. there is a bit of work involved but it can be done with the aid of a mini digger but before you do any digging make sure you have everything needed so you can start the job and finish relatively quickly. post some pictures and you'd be amazed at the wild ideas some people will come up with to help you.

viper.10

Cheers guys, i like the idea about doing it in sections. I was thinking about cutting the area in half with a fence or hedge - most likely a fence - to have a nice size lawn facing the house for the kids and behind the fence having a area for growing veg., maybe a couple of chickens as well. Then, having a few trees planted up each side with area of wild flowers that dont need much looking after to fill in gaps. Regards the photos, just imagine a swampy area 45 yards by 40 yards full of rushes - lol! I hope to have a few up by the weekend to get people brainstorming. Thanks again.