Help needed very novice gardener

wazza369 · August 2022

Hi not long moved into a property and the back garden is on two levels.

The top level, the previous owner trying to make it low maintenance has covered it with a membrane and stones on top, I want to grow grass instead and was wondering what's the best approach for this.

There are loads of weeds growing and the soil doesn't look good from what I can tell.

I have started to remove the stones and pull up the membrane but unsure of what I need to do after to make this look great, I know it's going to take a lot of work just need to know what to do to get started.

Please assume I don't know anything because I don't 😂.

Thanks

MikeOxgreen · August 2022

Advertise the gravel on FB Marketplace for free and someone will take it, if you have no plans for it.
I would have to write a post the size of a book to answer your questions though.
Ooh look, someone already has: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/304312768153?epid=91440546&hash=item46da745699:g:SJ4AAOSwGrhh2qSj

A whole £4.49 for more expert advice than you can shake a stick at

Arthur1 · August 2022

Remove gravel and membrane. Dig a soil profile pit - this is a hole that will allow you to see the layers of soil at depth. If you can dig down 2' that would be great. Look for worms in the profile. How far have the weed roots penetrated? Lots of worms and roots is a good sign. You should have 6'' or more of darker organic top soil over a less fertile subsoil.
But you may have material dumped there by the builder, mix of top soil, subsoil and rubble.
If it seems very poor you could replace some of the surface soil but this is expensive and time consuming. Ideally you will work with what you have. It's a huge topic but remember that plants want to grow. They just need a little help from you.
Weeds can grow there so grass can too. Have your neighbours got decent lawns.?
Don't turf or seed until autumn. Seeding will be easier and cheaper.

Fairygirl · August 2022

Hi @wazza369. Once you've cleared the top layer of gravel, membrane etc, you'll probably find the soil is pretty poor as it's been covered for a long time. It'll need some extra help to make it a better base if you want grass. It doesn't need to be deep in terms of soil, but it needs to be reasonably decent, and it'll need broken up a bit with a fork or similar.
The best way to improve it is to add organic matter - which is just compost, rotted manure or similar. Alternatively, you could just add fresh top soil, and then some blood, fish and bone or a similar general feed, before seeding or turfing. If you choose the former, you'd need to wait a while to let it do it's work, whereas the latter is quicker. You'd still need to rake and level it, and firm and rake again before doing the final step.
If you were able to get that all done in the next few weeks, it would still be fine for seeding in most areas of the UK, but turfing can be done at almost any time.
Better to wait until there's some reasonable moisture in your soil though, and again - that will depend on whereabouts you are. It's a terrible waste of resources to be watering grass, so autumn makes that easier. If you're in a colder area, it might be better to wait until spring, for seeding anyway

You'll find weeds will still appear - annuals will seed into the site, and some perennials will still come through, so it'll depend on how vigilant you are, and how good your prep is, as well as timing of the final seeding/turfing.
You may need to have seed/turf which will work well enough in shade, depending on how much there is. It's not easy to determine from your photo, but it looks as if that's quite a high fence/wall along the back, which will have an effect.
You'll find several threads about lawns, and the prep, by using the search function at the top of the page. It can be a bit hit and miss, but if you word it well, you should get some info there too.

Help needed very novice gardener

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