Creating a lawn on a rubble full and weed infested front garden.
regriffo
Posts: 4
Hi, we have recently built a new house and are now trying to create the front garden. We have had the area we want to lawn levelled out with a digger, but unfortunately there is an awful lot of sub - soil and builders rubble within it. The guy who is coming to help us create this space (who seems very good and knowledgeable but doesn't speak brilliant English) has been going at it with a pick axe removing all the debris and weeds and then creating a beautiful level. However as money is tight I have been working with him and then continuing when he is not there, although it is very slow progress.
What I want to know is could I use a rotivator for the same ends as the pick axe?
Also the friendly farmer delivered a tractor load of cow manure (for free but not well rotted - we have had it about 2 months) As the lawn area is unlikely to
a) be ready anytime soon,
b) probably shouldn't be seeded until September to give it the best chance am i ok to spread the manure into the parts of the soil that have been dug over to let it rot in situ and hopefully improve the nutrient quality of the soil and maybe help to keep the weeds down?
I am really grateful for any advice!
Posts
I think you'd be in danger of bits of metal flying off the rotivator, they're generally meant to turn over soil (unless anyone knows of a super industrial type). I'd personally stick to the pick axe and focus on the exercise element of using it
The cow manure would be best left to rot down, or if you have a compost bin put it in there and let the worms mix it up with the rest.
If you've only got subsoil you'll need some top soil before you can seed it. The rotted manure would help as a soil improver and add some nutrients, but it won't much transform the subsoil into a good medium for seed. Even if you bought turf, it still needs laying on a decent bed of top soil