How to restore garden?

Minatauro

Hi all,

I have no idea about gardening so I am requesting some information on how to get my back garden to be a nice flat lawn. I have no need for flowers or anything as I am only looking for low maintenance.

I dont know where to start. Does it need rotovating or cultivating. Would I get away with just weed killing and then rake the top level as the ground is fairly uneven.

If anyone knows in a step by step process what they would do to get a nice hardwaring green lawn i would much appreciate it.

I will be doing this myself so do not have much of a budget except if I need to hire a rotovator or something.

I have attached a photo of how bad it is at moment :eek: The garden is about 22 foot wide by about 60 foot long.

Thanks.

Sonnenblumen

1. SPRAY
2. CLEAR
3. CLEAN/GRADE/RAKE/LEVEL/FERTILISE
4. SOW SEED/ROLL TURF (GRADE 3)

magicbastarder

i take it you're planning on leaving the trees, judging by your budget?

tommy2bad

Sonnenblumen wrote: »

1. SPRAY
2. CLEAR
3. CLEAN/GRADE/RAKE/LEVEL/FERTILISE
4. SOW SEED/ROLL TURF (GRADE 3)

Then hang a hammock between the two trees and relax
Thats a nice space, as their was grass their before it should be easy to get a new lawn down without much bother.
You could rotovate the soil after the weeds are dead but it might be worth the trouble of digging and sorting the roots an stuff first. Digging will make it easier to grade the soil level. Take about a day to go over it with a fork, rotovate then and it'll be easy rake. Rotovater will cost about 50euro at most, get it on a saturday and you have it till monday for 1 days rent.
Remember the work you do now will reduce the work to keep it that way, level lawn easy to mow, good turf lasts longer.
Enjoy it, coat of paint on the pergola and some treatment to the shed and deck it'll be lovely.

Minatauro

magicbastarder wrote: »

i take it you're planning on leaving the trees, judging by your budget?

Yeah I will be leaving the two of them there. Maybe the one on the left will be a future removal due to being close to the wall and weakening its foundation. I want to be able to try out the hammock idea first .

I aim to get rid of the crap on top of the right hand wall. Its only there for privacy at moment. The rest of the ivy? that was stuck to the wall was a pain to remove, it was if it was cemented onto the wall.

No time wasting here, I have just sprayed the garden this evening and maybe give it another going over during week or would that be too much?

So once the weeds are dead and raked away I presume its ok to rotovate/dig whats left?

I take it what you mean by going over it with a fork is just kind of aerating it so the rotovator can break it up easier?

Thanks for the guidance so far. Would seed or rolled turf be better for the long run?

tommy2bad

I take it what you mean by going over it with a fork is just kind of aerating it so the rotovator can break it up easier?

Yeah, a rotovater can do a lot but works best on dug ground. If it's only grass seed you will get away with a shallow dig. The fork will get the deep roots like dandylion and dock and theirs so many of them it'll be dug after their cleared
Spread the seed even and roll or rake it over to cover the seed, your not feeding the birds remember .
Rain and sun and youll be seeing green in no time. Mow it as soon as you have a cover of grass, it helps to thicken the grass, tillering as it's called.
Good luck and god bless your back if you dig it over with a spade.

upderebels

i recently did the same to my garden.
clear the weeds first.
dig by hand by turning over the soil(save €50 for beer for u and a couple mates wud easily get it done in a day with help instead of hire of rotavator)
leave for a few day to dry out .
rake out sods and big stones and level.
then either buy turf by the roll(b+q)€4 a roll =1sq yard)
make sure you by a few bags of topsoil to add as a leveler for the ground.
or buy a bag ot top quailty grass and a spreader,
i went for the turf for an instant lawn (very happy with the results):D
my garden was a little smaller 20x 14=20 rolls=€80
top soil x 4 bags buy 3 get 4th free €18.
good luck and enjoy

phelixoflaherty

http://www.hammocks.ie/hammocks

Minatauro

Ha Ha forget the mates and save 50 for one of those hammocks. Cheers for the tips Ill post an after photo when its done. Depending if it turns out ok hopefully I wont make it worse .

Happyman42

I would have thought that if that tree had not done damage at this stage that it probably won't. Looks well matured, but maybe somebody more expert would advise as I have one in a similar position.

cgarrad

This stuff is amazing ;-)

Leave for 2 weeks.

NecroSteve

HOLY CRAP ALMIGHTY DO NOT USE ROUNDUP!!! http://www.motherearthnews.com/Sustainable-Farming/Roundup-Weed-Killer-Toxicity.aspx

That garden looks like it has a lot of potential. Dandelions accumulate beneficial nutrients in the soil and attract beneficial insects. I'd say you could put a load of fruit bushes in there and sow some perennial vegetables around them like globe artichoke, spinach, rhubarb, maybe some asparagus even. You'll have a much more rewarding garden than just a lawn, and with less work too!

NIMAN

Your neighbour to the right, love their hedge.

Minatauro

Which neighbour on the right do you mean? They all love it especially the ones on the end that hang their washing line from it what will they do when i pull it down haha................. possibly thank me.

NIMAN

Is your tree to the left still alive?

Looks very faded compared to the other. I have a few smaller trees that I gave to this summer to see if they survived the bad winter, but looks like they didn't. No new growth and losing lot of its leaves.

looksee

The one to the left looks like a eucalyptus. Nice tree but they grow HUGE. What is the other one? It seems to have very shiny leaves. That could be a really nice space OP

Minatauro

Hi all,

I have tried to start plucking up the weeds but it is taking an eternity to do even a small bit. Is it possible to rotovate it all up then, when raked and leveled out to start spraying weedkiller to stop anything from growing or maybe place down seed with feed and weed. I really dont have months to get it done so what would be the best way to get it done in shorter timeframe.

Would it be causing more problems or would i get away with it?