Please help I have the garden from hell

[dobby101]

I've moved into a new home and the garden is just a nightmate. I would like it leveled and to start from scratch. there is like a mini hill in the middle of the garden (i suspect maybe the previous owners wanted to make a patio and then gave up some years ago as it grassed over) I would like to know how do I achieve a flat ish garden for the kids to play in?

I have been looking and so far ived been told I will need a sod cutter? a rototiller/garden tiller mini diggers (that you need licences for :S)..and all sorts of random things like sand and things.

I don't have much money so need to this myself...can someone give me a step by step idea of what I should do and when? In simple words as I have no idea about gardening.

thanking you all in advance.

 

[paul_v]

have you got a picture, hard to advice when we dont know what your garden looks like.

in general big lumps are best removd using a mini digger if access and cost allows but smaller leveling jobs can just be done with a shovel and barrow

 

[wrathkeg]

obviously it depends on the specifics of your site, but i recently used one of these and it was absolutely fantastic for digging over what used to be a lawn and long neglected borders on heavy clay soil.

http://www.tracmaster.co.uk/CAMON_Rotavators/C8.html

it wasn't at all hard to use as it drives itself (the engine powers the wheels as well as the cutting blades) and so powerful you don't feel it churning the soil to a fine tilth also, it's so quick you could do a huge area in a day as long as the area was more or less clear before you start (rocks etc shifted). If the slope isn't too great (as in my case) you can rotavate, then rake it a bit more flat, rotavate again, etc. at least, that's what i did and my slopes have pretty much disappeared.

i paid about £120 for a week's hire including delivery. if i had known how good it would be i'd have just done a day hire.

 

[dobby101]

where would i rent that one from?

I will take a pic in the morning and try to up load it thanks both of you

 

[wrathkeg]

You can rent rotavators from HSS which is national, but a lot more expensive than the place I hired from. best bet would be to ring around a few local hire places to get prices. when i did this, I found that not everywhere could supply them. and others only rented out tillers, which are much lighter duty and (I've heard) more suitable for churning up already decent beds rather than starting from scratch on problem sites.

 

[maltaron]

Beware of using a rotavator if the garden is full of weeds. It will chop them and spread them and then years of work clearing them. Try to remove the weeds before any levelling and tilling.

 

[Mursal]

I like a bit of a hill, especially when you start working out the cost of getting rid. Would you consider making the best of what you already have? Maybe reseeding the lawn/flowerbeds?
Don't take on to much, or you will be fed up of it, before the fun stuff at the end