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tonicuk

Post extension build Garden cleanup

tonicuk
4 years ago

Hi guys, let me keep this short and sweet.

I welcomed a newborn into the world so extension work is at a stand still. However, I would like to sort the garden.

The garden is very uneven, weedy and extremely dry in parts! See pics!

Anyone able to direct me in what to do and what tools I'll either need to buy/hire?

The garden is approx 10m x 8m

Thank you!

Featured Answer
  • J C
    4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago

    We put down some weedkiller ourselves which was very easy with a large spray thing, this took about 15 days to kill all the top grass, die and turn orange, and the garden was a right state before we started, there were concrete lumps, rocks, nails, you name it, and piles of rubbish galore. We then hired a skip to get rid of all the rubbish - (top tip keep it over the time that the rotavating will be happening so you can put the top grass/dirt etc in there). Then we paid a gardener to come in and he did the rotavating, levelling and seeding, see pics below. We paid about £560 for him to to do all of that inclusive of everything, and he didn't use much top soil at all, said it wasn't needed, and the result is fantastic. We did land on our feet though as he used to be head groundsman for Wembley.








    Comments (14)

    • tamp75
      4 years ago

      Congratulations on the new baby! Hope all is well. With regard to the garden, get a rotavator to break up all that compacted soil and add in some good compost. You can hire a rotavator or buy one. I bought one for around £70 when we did our garden & it was the best piece of equipment I’ve ever bought for the garden. If it’s clay soil, mix in some agricultural gypsum which will help to break down the clay & provide a good base for a new lawn. Good luck with it.

    • tonicuk
      Original Author
      4 years ago
      <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><md>Thank you
    • tonicuk
      Original Author
      4 years ago
      <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><md>It seems this app has its fair share of weeds too lol.

      Thank you and thanks for the response!

      I was under the impression I need to remove the grass and weeds I have at the moment prior to a rotavator?

      While on the subject of rotavators I have seen this one:

      https://www.amazon.co.uk/VonHaus-Electric-1050W-Tiller-Cultivator/dp/B00UTVR26U/ref=mp_s_a_1_21?keywords=Rotavator&qid=1559022699&s=gateway&sr=8-21

      Which is fairly priced in comparison to the 750-850w rotavators on the market.
      Worth a shot?

      Sorry I really lack a green thumb!!
    • tamp75
      4 years ago

      You may get different advice but using a rotavator will help you to remove the weeds & grass. The only thing you’d need to be careful of is that the weeds & grass don’t get too tangled around the blades. The one you’ve listed looks similar to the one I had. It really surprised me how powerful it was given it’s quite small. It pulled up all sorts from our garden - bricks & chunks of paving slabs, etc that had been buried by previous owner.

    • User
      4 years ago

      I feel your plight... we finished our extension over a year ago and we are still trying to sort the garden now! not much advice... but maybe hire a small rotovator and go over the garden. you may need to get in a couple of bags of toil soil and then rake it all over very smooth and flat and either get some seed down (if on a budget) or put down some turf. All relatively easy to do... just needs patience and lots of TLC.

    • Sonia
      4 years ago

      I agree with the above. I would use a rotovator which will help to break up the hard crust of the soil. Then you can pick up and remove/dig out the weeds and grass clumps. Then add lots of bags of topsoil with some compost, fork it in lightly, then rake smooth. You then have a good basis to lay a new lawn and some plants if you want. O and many congratulations!


    • Juliet Docherty
      4 years ago

      We had a similar project. We weeded it and removed turf, rotavated the lot and then had 40 tons (no not a mistake) of topsoil delivered and we barrowed it round the back of the house. A lot of time spent levelling and then put down turf. It's like decorating, it all about the preparation. We didn't bother with anything other than topsoil, turf grows in pretty hostile conditions.

    • tonicuk
      Original Author
      4 years ago

      Brilliant responses. Thank you.

      Right, so I'll get cracking and order a rotavator for future use too. (see the patio in the back... That'll be coming out eventually)

      I'm a little dubious on how to remove grass and weeds with a rotavator as it'll just churn it all up but will give it a try.

      Unless there's another way of removing my current turf and weeds?

      Thank you

    • User
      4 years ago

      We actually did a couple of gopd doses of weedkiller over the whole garden first..
      sorry forgot about that! Definitely worth doing but takes a few weeks for the weedkiller to work. we used Gallup which is a pretty strong one only available at agricultural shops or amazon or such like
      Just make sure if you do use a weedkiller , you dont do it on a windy day.

    • tamp75
      4 years ago

      On a first go the rotavator will break up the soil into chunks so you can get the weeds out. With the soil as compacted as it is, it will probably need several runs over it to break it down properly.

    • Juliet Docherty
      4 years ago

      We hired a machine that removed turf. It was hard going but easier than doing it by hand.

    • tonicuk
      Original Author
      4 years ago

      You mean a turf cutter? I'm not sure if it'll work on very hard/uneven surfaces?

    • Juliet Docherty
      4 years ago

      We used topsoil to raise the level, but yes our turf supplier said it grows on virtually anything, money to be saved. We also looked at seeding but we got such a good price for the turf we went down that route.

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