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Help required for funnyname's garden

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  • 17-09-2019 10:27pm
    #1
    funnyname
    Registered Users Posts: 1,744 ✭✭✭


    Hi there, looking for a little bit of help.

    Septic tank percolation needs to be redone so we will be getting digger in for the works.

    So current lawn is a bit agricultural given previous owners kept horses and goats on it. So the grass is pretty rough and lots of weeds on it, it's also very bumpy and lots of hoof mark type indents.

    It is about 75m x 35m with a 6m drop down the 35m side of it.

    The boundary (south, west and north) is a dry stone wall and inside this is a boundary of mature trees and then inside this is some agricultural fencing.

    Looking out from the house the 75m is running east to west and the 35m is sloping down from north to south

    Ideally we'd like to have a 60m x 20m flat area for kickabouts with a polytunnel and some raised beds behind it for the 15m x 20m.

    Then thinking of keeping the slope in the remaining 75m x 15m section and having some featured rockeries, mini orchard and open to idea here.

    So I suppose the only section of the current "lawn" that we would maintain as having to be cut would be the 60m x 20m area and the rest would be ideally grass free.

    This will be an on going project and I'm sure it will take a few seasons to sort but with having the digger in do I need to kill off the grass and rotavate the earth and then get in additional top soil and sand to level this area or is it enough for the digger to dig out the existing lawn, level it off and then finish off with additional top soil and sand?

    Also is it too late in the year to start this and I won't be able to get the digger in until the end of this month and maybe not even until early October.

    FN


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    #2
    funnyname
    Registered Users Posts: 1,744 ✭✭✭funnyname


    funnyname wrote: »
    Hi there, looking for a little bit of help.

    Septic tank percolation needs to be redone so we will be getting digger in for the works.

    So current lawn is a bit agricultural given previous owners kept horses and goats on it. So the grass is pretty rough and lots of weeds on it, it's also very bumpy and lots of hoof mark type indents.

    It is about 75m x 35m with a 6m drop down the 35m side of it.

    The boundary (south, west and north) is a dry stone wall and inside this is a boundary of mature trees and then inside this is some agricultural fencing.

    Looking out from the house the 75m is running east to west and the 35m is sloping down from north to south

    Ideally we'd like to have a 60m x 20m flat area for kickabouts with a polytunnel and some raised beds behind it for the 15m x 20m.

    Then thinking of keeping the slope in the remaining 75m x 15m section and having some featured rockeries, mini orchard and open to idea here.

    So I suppose the only section of the current "lawn" that we would maintain as having to be cut would be the 60m x 20m area and the rest would be ideally grass free.

    This will be an on going project and I'm sure it will take a few seasons to sort but with having the digger in do I need to kill off the grass and rotavate the earth and then get in additional top soil and sand to level this area or is it enough for the digger to dig out the existing lawn, level it off and then finish off with additional top soil and sand?

    Also is it too late in the year to start this and I won't be able to get the digger in until the end of this month and maybe not even until early October.

    FN

    Anyone?


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    #3
    macraignil
    Registered Users Posts: 3,376 ✭✭✭macraignil


    Ground is after getting a bit wet now and just going off your description it's not very easy to give you directions on what to do. You mention nothing about what type of soil you have. Maybe ask the digger driver you are getting in for an opinion. We did not spray off the existing growth on our site when we got a similar area finished about five years ago and the digger action killed off most of the growth. Did not take long for the seeds in the ground to sprout new growth of mostly grass again but spraying off the existing grass would have made no difference to that.


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    #4
    looksee
    Registered Users Posts: 28,111 ✭✭✭✭looksee


    6 meters is a fair drop and when you level it you will create two quite steep drops which could well be a liability, you may need something like gabions to provide structure. I am not sure that this is the kind of job that can be casually done as an aside to getting a septic tank perculation area dug.

    It really needs a bit of planning in relation to how the perculation works with the rest of the garden, how the flat area is going to be supported, what you do with the slopes produced and how to get the job done without putting all the top soil underneath and leaving you with sub soil to grow veg and a lawn on. And how you avoid the digger compressing the soil to a state of uselessness.

    If you get really lucky you might get a digger driver with an eye for this kind of work, but on balance I think I would be looking for a bit of professional advice on site.


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    #5
    funnyname
    Registered Users Posts: 1,744 ✭✭✭funnyname


    So we did indeed get professional advice and hired a landscape designer who came up with a set of excellent plans.

    Btw not a 6m drop it's actually 6ft, sorry for the confusion.

    Digger coming this week so getting the percolation area sorted, digging out a space for a polytunnel, shed and working with the slope for a level playing area.

    Re the polytunnel, is it ok to have the door facing the direction of the prevailing wind?


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    #6
    macraignil
    Registered Users Posts: 3,376 ✭✭✭macraignil


    funnyname wrote: »

    Re the polytunnel, is it ok to have the door facing the direction of the prevailing wind?


    If you do then you should have an opening at the other end to let the wind out. If it can blow in one end and can't get out the other it is more likely to damage the poly-tunnel when the wind is strong. I have a poly-tunnel that has been OK for about 5 or 6 years now in a fairly exposed spot with the openings facing east and west that I leave open all the time.


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    #7
    funnyname
    Registered Users Posts: 1,744 ✭✭✭funnyname


    any advice on seeding a new lawn, do I need to roll it before spreading the seed, afterwards or not at all?


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    #8
    Funsterdelux
    Registered Users Posts: 3,376 ✭✭✭Funsterdelux


    funnyname wrote: »
    any advice on seeding a new lawn, do I need to roll it before spreading the seed, afterwards or not at all?

    How are you broadcasting the seed?

    You can roll it after, if you hired a blec walk behind seeder it rolls the seed in.

    If its well raked and level and devoid of stones you can get away without rolling.


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    #9
    funnyname
    Registered Users Posts: 1,744 ✭✭✭funnyname


    Funsterdelux wrote: »
    How are you broadcasting the seed?

    You can roll it after, if you hired a blec walk behind seeder it rolls the seed in.

    If its well raked and level and devoid of stones you can get away without rolling.

    That yoke looks da bomb, will enquire about hire in the morning.

    Otherwise was thinking of a grass spreader like this


    https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B004DI77WE


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    #10
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    I find those type of spreader to be rubbish. Wheels get stuck in the loose soil, the spreader clogs and results in wasting seed. It's also tiring to use for a large area especially if it's sinking in soil with the weight of seed in it.

    Get one of these https://www.amazon.co.uk/Solo-421-Capacity-Spreader-Adjustable/dp/B00WUEZBSA/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=solo+broadcast+spreader&qid=1601590273&sr=8-1

    More expensive but will last forever and you can use it for spreading fertilizer too.

    I've spread seed and fertilizer over paddocks around an acre in size...where tractor access wasn't possible....very comfortable and easy to use.


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    #11
    funnyname
    Registered Users Posts: 1,744 ✭✭✭funnyname


    So plan is to spread lawn seed tomorrow, however heavy rain is due on Saturday night, will I be ok? Lawn is about 500sqm but very level.


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