Advice needed on clearing and grass

[Gardenbeginner]

Hi all, I have a large ish area sectioned off and levelled roughly. The land before was quite steep and the earth used to level did contain brambles and ivy, sadly a lot of it is now buried as the leveler didnt pick out all the roots (would have taken days)

The pics attached show the area, it's quite rocky too. Do I need to try and pick out as many roots as I can and remove as many stones from the surface before planting grass seed? I dont want to dig it all up too much but theres obvious bits I can get at. Happy to use weed killer if it will work but I was hoping to have this growing asap as we are putting in a adventure play thing for the kids...

Any advice appreciated!

 

[sodthisforfun]

Both ivy and bramble are awful to get rid of, they also spread quickly and very easily. Not sure about bramble, but ivy will grow again from a small piece of root left behind, which isn't good news for you. Both will crawl along and root down again in good soil.

Best bet imo would be to wait until spring and use weed killer.. weed killer works best when the plants are growing and most lie dormant in the winter, plus if you wait until then any new growth from your bits left behind may start poking through the ground so you can get to it. Ideally you do need to kill all the stuff growing up the trees too in your photographs as it won't be too long before it spreads into your new lawn.

Good news is that it's too late in the year now to grow new turf, so apart from removing large bits of rubble etc in the ground where you want to grow the grass, there's not much more you can do until spring. Please don't waste your money in spreading grass seed until the ground warms up as it will simply rot away.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/basics/techniques/lawns_sowlawn1.shtml

 

[Notch7]

Rake off the stones and stuff first.

I wouldnt bother with weedkiller

Id recommend an amenity rye grass seed mix, if you can get tetraploid grass seed included its a great dwarf seed
Unfortunately seed companies mostly dont stock or deliver in winter.

If you are desperate to seed now, be aware it might not germinate.
Be aware of pigeons eating the seed! -i bought some fleece and clips which prevent that and helped the seed grow fast.

https://a1lawn.co.uk/index.php/am-p...rass-seed-pre-seeder-fertiliser.html?___SID=U

 

[Gardenbeginner]

Thanks for the replies.

Do I need topsoil before I sow the seed? I'll remove as much rock and stone as I can but theres so much just below the surface. I'm hoping not as it seems extremely expensive and that's quite a large area.

I can probably wait until spring but I would like to he ready to go asap so if theres anything I can do in the mean time. Would weed killer work this time of year on the ivy / brambles on the banking bit you can see in the photos? They look healthy!

 

[scbk]

Thanks for the replies.

Do I need topsoil before I sow the seed? I'll remove as much rock and stone as I can but theres so much just below the surface. I'm hoping not as it seems extremely expensive and that's quite a large area.

I can probably wait until spring but I would like to he ready to go asap so if theres anything I can do in the mean time. Would weed killer work this time of year on the ivy / brambles on the banking bit you can see in the photos? They look healthy!

Going by the look of the soil in the photos, the existing topsoil has been buried/mixed in?
You will need a good few inches of topsoil if you want to have half decent grass.

If it's a play area for kids, have you though about covering it in bark? It would then be ready to use within a few days. Grass probably won't last long anyway.