help re sowing a new lawn

D3PO

Right you knowledgeable folks. Following some seriously backbreaking work over the past few weeks digging up a heap of unwanted horrible vegetation in my back garden im now at the point where Im able to think about re sowing my lawn.

Ive done plenty of googling etc and understand autumn would be the best time to do this but I just wanted to really sense check with you guys what steps I should take in what order.

My plan is as follows

1. Spray garden completely with weedkiller leave a few days
2. Hire turf cutter, cut up current lawn
3. Rotivate soil
4. Put down some fresh topsoil (suggestions to get screen topsoil from a reputable place required)
5. Compact soil slightly using the heels of my boot
6. Seed and rake in.

So does that sound about right ? Or am I planning on doing things arse about face ?

The main thing I'm unclear on is after doing the weedkiller will cutting up the current lawn with a turf cutter suffice or am I going to have to hand dig out the dead weeds ?

D3PO

wow 50 views and no replys. Thought it was a pretty bog standard question

daedal

Cut your lawn down to nothing. get rid of as much growth as possible before you put down the weed killer. Simazine 50 is a good option. Leave the weed killer a week of so before you go at it with the rotavator.

After rotavating the soil its worth going over with a rake to pull out rocks and dead root systems, work on getting the lawn fairly level before you throw down your layer of topsoil, rake out your topsoil to a nice flat fine surface. This is when you should seed. Compact the soil with a hand roller.

A water filled hand roller would be ideal to compact the soil. http://www.therentalzone.net/roll.jpg.. The seeds dont need to be buried as such.

make sure the ground stays moist, water if needs be. this stage is basically common sense. If birds are feasting on your seeds set up a few bin liners on sticks to scare them away.

daedal

Forgot to mention, when you begin to cut your lawn, cut high and regularly, maybe 4-6 inches high. This ensure's that the weak root system is not pulled out of the ground.

Leave the grass clippings on the lawn for the first while, it creates a moisture barrier to help germinate the rest of the seeds.

rje66

D3PO wrote: »

Right you knowledgeable folks. Following some seriously backbreaking work over the past few weeks digging up a heap of unwanted horrible vegetation in my back garden im now at the point where Im able to think about re sowing my lawn.

Ive done plenty of googling etc and understand autumn would be the best time to do this but I just wanted to really sense check with you guys what steps I should take in what order.

My plan is as follows

1. Spray garden completely with weedkiller leave a few days
2. Hire turf cutter, cut up current lawn
3. Rotivate soil
4. Put down some fresh topsoil (suggestions to get screen topsoil from a reputable place required)
5. Compact soil slightly using the heels of my boot
6. Seed and rake in.

So does that sound about right ? Or am I planning on doing things arse about face ?

The main thing I'm unclear on is after doing the weedkiller will cutting up the current lawn with a turf cutter suffice or am I going to have to hand dig out the dead weeds ?

I do this on a regular basis, but do it this way.
Spray. Let everything die off and wait to see if there is any regrowth and in about 2 weeks respray if there is.
So lawn is now a brownish colour. Dont waste time and money stripping off top layer. Get a decent rotovator, not a soil tiller, and keep going over and over till it turns into a fine rakeable state. Get a proper rake to rake out stones and lumps. If soil is decent there shouldn't be too much of this.if its still very rough and dep.on size and budget a layer of soil would be beneficial. Raking out bumps and hollows then seed and lightly rake. Roll or walk in on heels if u wish but not absolutely necessary.
Tips
Never do this when its wet
Hire a proper rotovator
Use a proper wide metal landscape rake
Be patient and prepared for a bit of sweat and blisters:-):-):-)

redser7

D3PO wrote: »

wow 50 views and no replys. Thought it was a pretty bog standard question

It's one of the most commonly asked questions. If you use the search this forum function you'll find a lot of great detailed answers. There's only so many dozen times people want to spend time typing he same info

ted1

You could get rolled grass and safe time as you don't have to wait for it to grow

D3PO

ted1 wrote: »

You could get rolled grass and safe time as you don't have to wait for it to grow

its also expensive when your talking the area of garden I am (1200sq ft approx.) so seeding will be how I go.

Thanks for the responses guys just wanted to make sure I wasn't doing anything stupid or leaving out any critical steps.

ted1

It's about 3.50 a sq m for good quality lawn from a good supplier, not to expensive when you look at what your getting.

D3PO

ted1 wrote: »

It's about 3.50 a sq m for good quality lawn from a good supplier, not to expensive when you look at what your getting.

I'm not on to discuss the value of roll out turf. With 5% extra required for cutting etc that's about 385 sq m of roll out needed that's the guts of €1,350 based on your pricing.

I can produce my own lawn of as good a quality if I put in the graft from seed for significantly less. Id much rather do the work and spend that kind of money on a nice holiday or the likes.

Sonnenblumen

daedal wrote: »

Cut your lawn down to nothing. get rid of as much growth as possible before you put down the weed killer. Simazine 50 is a good option. Leave the weed killer a week of so before you go at it with the rotavator.

After rotavating the soil its worth going over with a rake to pull out rocks and dead root systems, work on getting the lawn fairly level before you throw down your layer of topsoil, rake out your topsoil to a nice flat fine surface. This is when you should seed. Compact the soil with a hand roller.

A water filled hand roller would be ideal to compact the soil. http://www.therentalzone.net/roll.jpg.. The seeds dont need to be buried as such.

make sure the ground stays moist, water if needs be. this stage is basically common sense. If birds are feasting on your seeds set up a few bin liners on sticks to scare them away.

Nothing good about using a banned substance to clear an area intended for a new lawn. Irresponsible and wreckless.

daedal

Sonnenblumen wrote: »

Nothing good about using a banned substance to clear an area intended for a new lawn. Irresponsible and wreckless.

Get off your high horse you silly ****, i'm speaking from experience and i haven't been in the occupation for a couple of years now, how am i to know Simazine has been banned. It's idiots like you who ruin forums like this for everyone.

bazbrady

just finished reseeding my lawn 2 weeks ago ,like above i sprayed left for two weeks pulled out all weeds etc ,then hired a proper hydraulic tiller,barreto was the make ,this was the best move honestly the other ones are just back breaking work this one has self drive ,makes a huge difference and you can go over and over to get a lovely fine till....after this i raked and level then sprayed lightly again left for two weeks ,then put down seed,only thing i did do different to others here is i put down slow release(5-6 month release) fertiliser a few days before seed,im not joking the grass has come up beautiful in only 2-3 weeks ,perfect weather the last while hot and wet,...i got my seed and fertiliser here http://www.wee-pac.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=52&Itemid=104

only thing im not sure about is ive heard differnet things about cutting on first few cuts ,some say leave a few clippings on others say absolutely take up all clippings for first few cuts,not sure myself

magicbastarder

call this back seat modding, but why was the person with the up to date knowledge yellow carded?

dardevle

magicbastarder wrote: »

call this back seat modding, but why was the person with the up to date knowledge yellow carded?

...and yet the personal abuse in the follow up post gets somewhat edited but not acted upon??





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redser7

Daedal was banned, it doesn't show to you.
SB routinely causes acrimony with personal comments and insinuations despite countless attempts to reason with him.
Please don't assume to know everything that goes on in the background.

redser7

dardevle wrote: »

...and yet the personal abuse in the follow up post gets somewhat edited but not acted upon??
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How was it not acted upon?

magicbastarder

redser7 wrote: »

Daedal was banned, it doesn't show to you.

cheers - that makes more sense.

dardevle

redser7 wrote: »

How was it not acted upon?

while the ban does not show up - the post is still visible to all,

is it common to leave an abusive post up after the poster has been banned?



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redser7

I felt he had a right to reply. He wasn't aware that the substance was now banned. But I don't think anyone wants to see that word on this forum so it was blanked out and he was banned for using it.
Ant advice on sowing a new lawn dardevle?

dardevle

redser7 wrote: »

I felt he had a right to reply. He wasn't aware that the substance was now banned. But I don't think anyone wants to see that word on this forum so it was blanked out and he was banned for using it.
Ant advice on sowing a new lawn dardevle?

you could try the search forum function??





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redser7

touché

dardevle

redser7 wrote: »

touché

I can be a real touché-bag when I want;)



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