Me versus The Garden

beakerjoe

Hi All,

First time poster in this forum.

So I have a new house and it has a back garden full of tall grass and weeds. I want to turn it from the awful state its in to a decent lawn.

So the weekend I cut the grass and weeds, and chopped down a few small tress to their stumps.

Now my problem is now how to tackle the garden. Whats my choices of tackling teh weeds and sowing the seeds of grass for a nice lawn? Do I try dig them up (lots of weeds so that could take a long time and back breaking labour), do I use weedkiller and if so whats a the safest, cleanest brand to use?

How do I go about taking the tree stumps up?

Basically Im a rookie who is determind to get somehwere with this.

Id love any advice.

Wheety

Should have used weedkiller instead of cutting. The best weedkillers are applied to the leafs and then drawn into the plant and roots.

beakerjoe

Wheety wrote: »

Should have used weedkiller instead of cutting. The best weedkillers are applied to the leafs and then drawn into the plant and roots.

Right, first lesson learned, so the lawn is now cut but weedy, lots of em. Is weedkiller still the best option.

I was looking at some products yesterday, Aftercut was one that caught my eye. A lawn feed that kills weeds. Is this any use?

Lumen

For small stumps, cut the side roots with a pickaxe and then apply leverage with a long crowbar using something solid like a concrete block to lever against.

Normal practice for lawn is to spray a couple of times with broad spectrum herbicide like Roundup, leaving a couple of weeks in between and after, then rotavate, rake and level with dragged pallet, leave to settle for a week, rake and level again, roll the seedbed then sow.

beakerjoe

Lumen wrote: »

For small stumps, cut the side roots with a pickaxe and then apply leverage with a long crowbar using something solid like a concrete block to lever against.

Normal practice for lawn is to spray a couple of times with broad spectrum herbicide like Roundup, leaving a couple of weeks in between and after, then rotavate, rake and level with dragged pallet, leave to settle for a week, rake and level again, roll the seedbed then sow.

Thats very simple advice, thanks.

How dangerous is round up? Its obviously a strong brand as Im familar with it despite not knowing much.

Wheety

I'm in a similar situation but am not going to touch the weedy lawn as the plan is to get an extension built next year so it will be ripped up or destroyed by machinery.

I did dig up some of it to put in a flower bed so we have something to look at during the summer. The grass was so weedy and compacted that the best option would probably be to dig it and get rid of the sods.

I did use a weed, feed and mosskiller on some of the grass and raked out a tonne of moss after about a week. You could do this if it's not too bad. Then use grass seed on the patches.

For myself, the rear part of the garden has had the weeds sprayed and they're dying off now. Will dig up and sow a new lawn down there. It's a lot of work but I'm looking forward to seeing what I can do with it.

my3cents

If the ground is flat then just keep cutting by the end of the year you'll have a lot of grass.

The only problem with what is know as "tumbledown" is that you don't get the grass spp that you get when you seed a lawn, however most poorly treated lawns will revert to the local spp of grass with lots of Annual Meadow grass which is what you'd get anyway.

circadian

Roundup breaks down quickly in the soil if I remember correctly although I'm sure one of the regulars would know better. Unless you go mad with it I cant see it contaminating neighbouring gardens.

As for your predicament, I faced the same with my home and tackled it last year. As above I'd nuke the lot, treat the soil over the course of a few weeks and level it. I used a lawn roller to get it flat and added topsoil/compost mix to get it to the desired height and rolled again.

I bought rollout lawn and it's taking really well this year and it was great as the kids had a lawn last summer instead of waiting for it to grow from seeds.

One thing I will say is, the lawn is beautiful now but not without weeds. Weeding will always be part of your lawn care, but if you look after it, feed it and don't cut it too low the grass should be able to outcompete most weeds, at least long enough for you to get them when they're small.

Best of luck!!

beakerjoe

Wheety wrote: »

I'm in a similar situation but am not going to touch the weedy lawn as the plan is to get an extension built next year so it will be ripped up or destroyed by machinery.

I did dig up some of it to put in a flower bed so we have something to look at during the summer. The grass was so weedy and compacted that the best option would probably be to dig it and get rid of the sods.

I did use a weed, feed and mosskiller on some of the grass and raked out a tonne of moss after about a week. You could do this if it's not too bad. Then use grass seed on the patches.

For myself, the rear part of the garden has had the weeds sprayed and they're dying off now. Will dig up and sow a new lawn down there. It's a lot of work but I'm looking forward to seeing what I can do with it.

Probably a stupid question, but after you use weedkiller or some sort of weed and feed, do you still have to dig up the dead weeds? or do they just degrade away?

Thanks for all the advice guys, and so quickly.

beakerjoe

circadian wrote: »

Roundup breaks down quickly in the soil if I remember correctly although I'm sure one of the regulars would know better. Unless you go mad with it I cant see it contaminating neighbouring gardens.

As for your predicament, I faced the same with my home and tackled it last year. As above I'd nuke the lot, treat the soil over the course of a few weeks and level it. I used a lawn roller to get it flat and added topsoil/compost mix to get it to the desired height and rolled again.

I bought rollout lawn and it's taking really well this year and it was great as the kids had a lawn last summer instead of waiting for it to grow from seeds.

One thing I will say is, the lawn is beautiful now but not without weeds. Weeding will always be part of your lawn care, but if you look after it, feed it and don't cut it too low the grass should be able to outcompete most weeds, at least long enough for you to get them when they're small.

Best of luck!!

How much did the lawn roll out set you back?

magicbastarder

photos would help - sometimes with weeds, repeated mowing will help quite a bit.

Wheety

beakerjoe wrote: »

Thats very simple advice, thanks.

How dangerous is round up? Its obviously a strong brand as Im familar with it despite not knowing much.

I used this one with a knapsack sprayer. It's very powerful so follow the instructions. Wear long trousers and proper shoes and gloves. Don't spray on a very windy day. Takes a week or 2 to work but kills at the root. Bacteria in the soil will break it down so the soil can be used for your lawn.

I'd recommend covering the soil with weed sheets or black bags after the roundup has worked and you've raked out the old stuff. Just give it another couple of weeks for the remnants to be broken down.

Depending on how good a lawn you want, you could take a soil sample too and try and improve your soil before sowing.

beakerjoe

circadian wrote: »

One thing I will say is, the lawn is beautiful now but not without weeds. Weeding will always be part of your lawn care, but if you look after it, feed it and don't cut it too low the grass should be able to outcompete most weeds, at least long enough for you to get them when they're small.

Best of luck!!

Well thats it, im determind to do the hard work and aftercare is they key after doing all the hard work so it does not reoccur.

Thanks for the tips

circadian

beakerjoe wrote: »

How much did the lawn roll out set you back?

It was about €260 for roughly 65 square yards (55sq metres) from Howbert and Mays in Dundrum.

If you do go this route make sure everything is ready to go and get help if you can. It's heavy lifting and the sods need to go down within a few days and obviously sooner is better.

beakerjoe

magicbastarder wrote: »

photos would help - sometimes with weeds, repeated mowing will help quite a bit.

Ive mowed twice in 2 weeks, lots of weeds in nearly every step of the garden. Some areas need re seeding and are quiet patchy. The garss was quiet long on the initial mow and it too an eternity, esp as the soil was quiet wet and damp underneth. The second mow was an easy one and I felt it was time now to get some expert advice in turning my lawn into a decent (doesnt need to be spectacular) garden.

My goal is to get it into shape my next Summer.

circadian

If the soil is damp and holding water you might want to look at options for drainage while you're working on it.

It was a lot of work and I was a novice like yourself but totally worth it. The missus says I'm completely obsessed with it now, she'd be right!

I never had an issue with drainage but I've seen some amazing posts on here about DIY drainage.

beakerjoe

circadian wrote: »

If the soil is damp and holding water you might want to look at options for drainage while you're working on it.

It was a lot of work and I was a novice like yourself but totally worth it. The missus says I'm completely obsessed with it now, she'd be right!

I never had an issue with drainage but I've seen some amazing posts on here about DIY drainage.

Its mostly dried up with the good weather in the last few weeks.......... I think

magicbastarder

just beware that roundup is not a *weed*killer - it will kill anything green it lands on. a lot of lawn weedkillers (part of the weed'n'feed variety) will kill broadleaf weeds but not the grass. roundup will kill the grass too.

beakerjoe

magicbastarder wrote: »

just beware that roundup is not a *weed*killer - it will kill anything green it lands on. a lot of lawn weedkillers (part of the weed'n'feed variety) will kill broadleaf weeds but not the grass. roundup will kill the grass too.

Now this I didnt know, so round up would be stronger than most.

Lumen

beakerjoe wrote: »

How dangerous is round up? Its obviously a strong brand as Im familar with it despite not knowing much.

The active ingredient, glyphosate, is horrible stuff that's almost certainly carcinogenic, and best avoided when at all possible.

On the other hand there are even worse herbicides.

I try and use as little weedkiller as possible, but I'd make an exception for laying a new lawn (and dealing with certain particularly invasive weeds like mare's tail). You're aiming for unnatural monoculture, not a biodiverse natural habitat, and hopefully only need to do it once a generation.

beakerjoe

Lumen wrote: »

The active ingredient, glyphosate, is horrible stuff that's almost certainly carcinogenic, and best avoided when at all possible.

On the other hand there are even worse herbicides.

I try and use as little weedkiller as possible, but I'd make an exception for laying a new lawn (and dealing with certain particularly invasive weeds like mare's tail). You're aiming for unnatural monoculture, not a biodiverse natural habitat, and hopefully only need to do it once a generation.

See Id like to use as little as possible too, though I think Id have my work cut out for me tackling the job by avoiding weedkiller.

Is the Round Up Bio Active a better choice or is that just suggestive marketing

circadian

magicbastarder wrote: »

just beware that roundup is not a *weed*killer - it will kill anything green it lands on. a lot of lawn weedkillers (part of the weed'n'feed variety) will kill broadleaf weeds but not the grass. roundup will kill the grass too.

beakerjoe wrote: »

Now this I didnt know, so round up would be stronger than most.

Yes, it'll kill everything. Sorry if I wasn't clear in my original reply. This was the best course of action for me as the garden was completely overrun as the previous owners didn't care for it and the house was empty for several months before I moved in. In reality the 'grass' that was there was actually what is known as scutch grass so that had to go too as there was very little, if any lawn actually there.

Whatever you decide to do, best of luck. It's a big task but well worth it.

Lumen

beakerjoe wrote: »

See Id like to use as little as possible too, though I think Id have my work cut out for me tackling the job by avoiding weedkiller.

Is the Round Up Bio Active a better choice or is that just suggestive marketing

It's not less nasty, if that's what you mean.

Active ingredient is the same (glyphosate), the only difference is that they've added surfactants (detergent) presumably to help the product get through leaves that have waxy coatings.

The patents on glyphosate expired ages so, so now Monsanto just fiddle with the non-active ingredients in an attempt to maintain profit margins and market share.

ford2600

Life's too short for rotavating lawns.



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