Turf or Lawn Seed

[themarkybizzle]

Hi,

I am looking at re-doing our lawn as soon as possible - what we have now is mostly dead and full of weeds. I wondered what would be my best option...

Rotavator the lawn and then grass seed?

or...

Rotavator the lawn and lay turf?

Basically I have never had a garden in my life, I don't have kids or pets so the (new) lawn area wouldn't get abused.

I am wondering what is easiest for a gardening novice and what is the cheaper option out of the two? The area to lawn is roughly 48m2.

I have plenty of other questions - do I need to put these in a separate post or can I edit this and put the other questions in? Thanks in advance!!

 

[enyam]

Before doing any thing you will need to kill the weed's,after that the cheaper option would be grass seeds but for instant results turf would be the way to go.

 

[Arthur2shedsJackson]

Before doing any thing you will need to kill the weed's,after that the cheaper option would be grass seeds but for instant results turf would be the way to go.

Be careful what you use to kill the weeds, or it may well be that the seed won't grow in the soil for quite some time.

Best Thing to do is remove the weeds, dig them up as much as possible, then decide between seed and turf.

However, growing a lawn from seed can be a timely process, but worthwhile in the end.
If you do decide on turf, get a good quality product and you should have less problems with weeds in the turf.

 

[dhutch]

What would be the best way to get the weeds out then? Rotavate and pick them al out afterward, then wait a week and manually weed out any that are left?

When we did our lawn, mainly to level/smooth it turfed the old stuff up, buried it in rolls under the veg patchs, then weeded anythign that regrew. Then rotavated that, leveled, seeded. Lot of work however.


Daniel

 

[HERTS P&D]

Turf is quicker and instant, but should not be walked/cut for 6 weeks.

Andy

 

[enyam]

What would be the best way to get the weeds out then? Rotavate and pick them al out afterward, then wait a week and manually weed out any that are left?




Daniel

The trouble with rotovating is that it breaks up roots of especially dandelions and they grow from these again, forking over is the best way but it can be hard work.

 

[themarkybizzle]

Thank you guys - I will probably do Roundup on the weeds and the remove them manually as best as I can - then rotovate the garden and finally seed it.

Is there any particular grass seed you would recommend? It gets a fair amount of sunshine (South/East aspect) and doesn't get a great deal or ware and tear!

Am I right in thinking once rotovated it needs to be raked, compressed, raked, seeded and the forked and raked?

Thanks again for your comments. Most helpful!

 

[dhutch]

Im no expert or gardener, but we 'raked' ours flat with fork and then used a length of 2*3 to level it, shoveling high spots into low and then scraping the timber over it left-right, top-bottom, and a bit on the diagonals tamping it down with our feet as we went, before lightly raking and sowing.
Would be interested if thats anywhere like how your meant to do it but it seems to have worked ok!


Daniel

 

[enyam]

Im no expert or gardener, but we 'raked' ours flat with fork and then used a length of 2*3 to level it, shoveling high spots into low and then scraping the timber over it left-right, top-bottom, and a bit on the diagonals tamping it down with our feet as we went, before lightly raking and sowing.
Would be interested if thats anywhere like how your meant to do it but it seems to have worked ok!


Daniel

If it worked for you then that is the correct way.
Best of luck to themarkbizzle, it will be rewarding to see the first tinge of green when it starts growing.

 

[r896neo]

My tip would be dont be tempted to go for quick establishing grass seeds as they obviously start quicker but most people forget they keep growing quicker than normal mixs and therefore need cut more often.

Its still a bit early for seed. despite the warm weather

 

[themarkybizzle]

So if I was to prep it (weedkiller) and rotovate it in the next 2/3 weeks would it then be ready to grass seed do you think?

Also if there is no rain does it need regular watering?

 

[dhutch]

We watered ours lightly, but it was peak summer. We also covered it in horticultural fleece, but again, we had it, so might as well use it.

Dont know about timings, but am listening closely as I have my own patching/reseeding to do!

 

[r896neo]

The problem is that the grass is barely growing but the same is true of the weeds, they aren't growing strongly either hence they don't take weedkiller that well. Really if possible leave it all till mid march. spray it leave it a week and a half then rotovate level and seed.