Renovating a lawn

hiace_drifter · Post by **hiace_drifter** » Sun Apr 24, 2022 6:00 am

Having got the structure of my garden sorted (built a workshop, knocked down a garage, removed lots of redundant hardstanding), I've now got lawn in places I want borders, lumpy soil where I want lawn, and areas of lawn that are sunk/bobbly/bare. A couple of questions...

Would a rotavator be good for getting rid of turf that will be replaced/turned into border?
Do people favour laying turf or sowing seed?

Thanks

dewaltdisney · Post by **dewaltdisney** » Sun Apr 24, 2022 9:04 am

A Rotavator will turn the ground and chew up everything to the depth of the blades. After the soil has dried out you can pick through and break up any big lumps and remove any large stones turned up. The idea is to get as fine a soil as possible and rake it flat, mixing in peat can help. Once you have it level then you can get turf down for instant results or sow the lawn which will take a year to establish well, with constant watering and reseeding as necessary. I would go for turf and then it is just watering and feeding. If the ground is dry like now, it will be hard to work the Rotavator, the wetter it is the better but then it does not dry out to get the soil in a condition to level. It is a tough job for one man, depending on lawn size.

DWD

oz0707 · Post by **oz0707** » Sun Apr 24, 2022 9:58 am

Be better to try strip existing turf with shovel or would it rotavate in OK?

Someone-Else · Post by **Someone-Else** » Sun Apr 24, 2022 10:37 am

In the TV programme "Ground Force" Mr T always removed the turf first. I THINK it was so any weeds etc in the existing grass could not grow back into the new grass.

dewaltdisney · Post by **dewaltdisney** » Sun Apr 24, 2022 10:44 am

Have a look at this, it may put you off doing the job though https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96J-4BcSU0s

DWD

hiace_drifter · Post by **hiace_drifter** » Tue Apr 26, 2022 5:55 am

Thanks all. The soil is rock hard at the moment (heavy clay). I am having a quote for a new patio, and the contractor said he could also quote for turfing the garden, or even just prepping it ready to be turfed. I may take that route. Once prepped, the turfing itself looks rather therapeutic (famous last words!).

hiace_drifter · Post by **hiace_drifter** » Thu Apr 28, 2022 6:08 am

The quote for the lawn (prepping the soil, levelling etc and laying turf) is c. £2k. The surface area is approx 20x5m.

dewaltdisney · Post by **dewaltdisney** » Thu Apr 28, 2022 6:27 am

Sounds like a 'I don't want to do it price' to me. Get a quote from a landscape gardener.

DWD

hiace_drifter · Post by **hiace_drifter** » Thu Apr 28, 2022 6:42 am

dewaltdisney wrote: ↑Thu Apr 28, 2022 6:27 am Sounds like a 'I don't want to do it price' to me. Get a quote from a landscape gardener.

DWD

It's strange, they give the impression of wanting the job (doing it with patio and fence at the same time). It might be I've misunderstood the maths as the quote is just a lump sum, from which I've had to infer the individual components based on the verbal figures they were giving.

dewaltdisney · Post by **dewaltdisney** » Thu Apr 28, 2022 7:19 am

If that is for all the labour then it is not bad but I suspect materials would be extra. You need to tie this down in writing to avoid any sudden increase in price as the job progresses.

DWD

hiace_drifter · Post by **hiace_drifter** » Thu Apr 28, 2022 9:26 am

dewaltdisney wrote: ↑Thu Apr 28, 2022 7:19 am If that is for all the labour then it is not bad but I suspect materials would be extra. You need to tie this down in writing to avoid any sudden increase in price as the job progresses.

DWD

Just to clarify the quote went up by 2.5k when I asked them to do the lawn too. However i had also asked for quotes for 3 different patio finishes, so its hard to know what the quite covers. I have gone back to them to clarify.

hiace_drifter · Post by **hiace_drifter** » Wed May 04, 2022 7:39 am

As the lawn is such a mess and the turf is dotted around, I might just use a digging hoe to get the turf up. I can then sort the soil out bit by bit, and buy turf a few sqm at a time. Might be more manageable than doing the whole lawn in one go.

stevei · Post by **stevei** » Wed May 04, 2022 10:05 am

It's better to do the whole lawn. Hire a turf cutter then just roll up the turf and bin it. Next job is to dig it over by hand. Rotavators are tillers and are useless on hard ground. As you are digging, break the soil up and remove any stones you see. Rake the soil to level it out and then walk over it to bed it down. Rake again to loosen the top inch or so and lay the turf. Have a look on youtube. You need to prepare the ground first then get the turf. It doesn't like to sit about too long. Water twice a day for the first two weeks, don't drown it, then twice a week for another month. Decent turf will cost around £4.00 a square metre.

hiace_drifter · Post by **hiace_drifter** » Wed May 04, 2022 6:16 pm

stevei wrote: ↑Wed May 04, 2022 10:05 am It's better to do the whole lawn. Hire a turf cutter then just roll up the turf and bin it. Next job is to dig it over by hand. Rotavators are tillers and are useless on hard ground. As you are digging, break the soil up and remove any stones you see. Rake the soil to level it out and then walk over it to bed it down. Rake again to loosen the top inch or so and lay the turf. Have a look on youtube. You need to prepare the ground first then get the turf. It doesn't like to sit about too long. Water twice a day for the first two weeks, don't drown it, then twice a week for another month. Decent turf will cost around £4.00 a square metre.

Looking at the lawn there are 2 areas of 4x4 m and one area of 4x2m. All have lumps of concrete embedded from the builders, plus sunken areas. Would a turf cutter cope with that? I don't mind a few days with a mattock if needed.

stevei · Post by **stevei** » Wed May 04, 2022 6:35 pm

hiace_drifter wrote: ↑Wed May 04, 2022 6:16 pm Would a turf cutter cope with that?

No. Looks like you will have to do it all by hand.