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Some advice please on my bk garden
Deborah Johnson
Posts: 3
Please can someone tell me the best way to go forward.
i want turf all over my back garden.
Someone suggested I just put top soil over the stones and lay the turf.
Ill upload a photo photo to give you a better idea.
Thanks for your help
0
Posts
Turf needs to be in contact with soil to take properly Deborah. You need to scrape off all the stones and more than likely dig it over before laying turf. If the stones have been there for a while the soil will be compacted and turf or seed won't take on compacted soil. You could use a Rotavator to turn the soil. There's probably a membrane under those stones and that will have to come up as well. No easy solution there I'm afraid.
Yes, sorry Deborah, it'll be quite a tough job to do properly.
If you don't want to dig up all that - what is it - concrete? I would build some raised beds around the edges and have lots of pots.
Otherwise you have lots of digging and you'll have to hire a skip. My front garden was half that size and it cost around £500 to remove all the concrete and in skip hire.
Thanks for the replies.
can I ask why the stones wouldn't act as drainage and why I couldn't just put a load of top soil on there?
Ground will be very compacted Deborah so putting anything on top won't work. You need to break that ground up I'm afraid. Grass needs light and decent drainage to perform well. If you have strong arms and a few friends with forks, shovels and pickaxes, you could do it yourself. I did that last year on similar ground.
Then you need some heart into the soil - well rotted manure, compost and grit, and the topsoil which you would level and firm down, before lightly raking to take turf or for sowing seed. You can dig some of the gravel in too.
Sticking soil and turf down now will fail fairly quickly. Best to prepare it thoroughly now so that you have less maintenance afterwards
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
in the words of Roy Cropper on Corry:
" If you fail to prepare: you should prepare to fail"
Sometimes the easy way isn't the right way.
It's your garden Deborah, therefore your choice.
Let us know how you get on. BTW we love a "before and after" photo montage.
I've got my dad and my partner. Looks like I'll have to get a skip then.
My dad seems to think he can just put sharp sand or top soil over the stones and lay turf but I wasn't convinced. The lady who lived here before wanted a low maintenance garden. I need grass for my toddler.
thanks again for your advice, I'll update later
here's a thought Deborah.
Challenge dad to do it his way, on the basis that if it dies within a year, he'll pay a professional company to come and lay you a new lawn, properly.
Don't forget the "after" photos.
Hi, just to add to above, my neighbours garden used to be an old stable yard with a hard base, when they moved in many years ago they just added a layer of topsoil and then grassed it. They've always regretted it, patchy/unhappy lawn.
Hire a mini digger and skip for the weekend. It'll be worth it!