My Garden

can anybody help a complete novice

Last post 08-10-2009 5:58 PM by leigh. 5 replies.

• 23/09/2009 09:31 PM
  jjay Location: Liverpool Joined on: 23 Sep 2009 Posts: 2	Reply | Contact Hi everybody, I've just inherted a small(21'x13')weed trap,I'm currently digging it over and removing the 50Tonnes! of brick etc. I would appreciate ANY advice on starting a lawn from scratch so as to try and give it the best start in life.

• 23/09/2009 10:03 PM

  In reply to

  roon Location: Wales Joined on: 12 Jan 2009 Posts: 22

  Reply | Contact Hi JJay.  Good luck!  Being reasonably oop North, the grass-growing season won't last much longer.  It all depends on how good the top soil is; if you have plenty of weeds, especially nettles and docks, you are probably OK.  Get out all the stones and sticks that you can.  Dig over to break up the top 3-6 inches of soil.  Rake level, and beat the soil thoroughly if necessary to minimise the size of the lumps of soil; they need to be as small as possible (almost as fine as sand is perfect!!!)  Then water the ground if it's dry,and scatter the seed so that you have a good covering of seed - the suppliers will tell you how many grammes to sow every square metre.  Rake-in again to get a light covering (to protect from brids) and water gently again if the weather is dry.  Be careful not to use powerful jets of water when watering, or your seeds will be re-arranged to the edges of the garden, and don't over-water or the seeds will rot.   I'd say you've got about 3 weeks to get the seed germinated.  If this isn't possible (ie seeds sown in 1 week), do the prep work and sow the seed in the Spring.   Or buy Turf, and get watering.   Iain C

• 25/09/2009 01:58 AM	In reply to
  jjay Location: Liverpool Joined on: 23 Sep 2009 Posts: 2	Reply | Contact Cheers roon I've got lots of nettles and r docks the big leeved things with roots about 6 incches. if I've only got a week then I'm stuffed. at least I've a few months to dig the the old drains out

• 25/09/2009 05:30 PM	In reply to
  roon Location: Wales Joined on: 12 Jan 2009 Posts: 22	Reply | Contact  Sounds like docks to me jjay.  You need to get all of the roots out for both nettles and docks, or they will just sprout up again next season, the wee blighters. Same goes for dandelions too.  Apparently, a 10mm sectionof root is enough for some of these weeds to start again, making it a bit of an up-hill battle.

• 07/10/2009 10:17 AM

  In reply to

  James Gardner Location: Cambridgeshire Joined on: 17 Mar 2009 Posts: 29

  Reply | Contact Hi Jay , The best advice I can give you is to rake firn and level your lawn area now then wait until the Spring. By clearing and moving the soil about you will have created the ideal conditions for more weed seeds to germinate. If you can wait for the first flush of weeds in the Spring then spray the with a weed killer (always follow the instructions and don't over do it, pe-mixed is best for beginners). By doing this you willl have given the grass seed or turf a much better chance of becoming established without faster growing weeds dominating patches of your lawn. Also don't cheat on the leveling and firming, you'll pay dearly later. James Gardner

• 08/10/2009 05:58 PM	In reply to
  leigh Location: crawley Joined on: 06 Oct 2009 Posts: 3	Reply | Contact hiya, rake over the pach put small holes all over, then sprikle seeds, and then leave it. or you can use sod.