new to this.. a little help please

sean1141

ok so we have a big field beside the house where cattle use to graze. now i have fenced off a section that i want to make a lawn out of. can i just cut down the grass thats there all ready or do i need to reseed it? im not after a show lawn or anything just somewhere the kids can play.
also can anyone recommend a decent lawn mower. petrol powered and self driven that wont cost the earth.
thanks

bmaxi

You certainly could just cut the grass down but you'll probably be left with a very uneven surface and poor quality grass which will be hard to maintain. It's best to kill off what grass is there, dig, level, rake and resow.
It's up to you what sort of quality you want but now is a good time to get started at the preparation so you can be ready for sowing next month

sean1141

there is a nice bit of grass on it at the moment. would kinda like somewhere for the kids for the rest of the summer do..
i might cut it and see what it turns out like.. if all comes to all ill get the tractor and rovator into it!

goat2

do indeed cut the grass, and after the third cut you will have the most beautiful lawn, now if you do find holes, it is easy to just fill them in with ashes from your fire during winter months and all will be grand, if there are lumps after cows hooves just even them out with your boot or spade, it is the easiest and cheapest way to doing it, as you will get the same results, only thing is, this way is less back breaking and costs nothing, just a lawnmower.
i use briggs and stratton six horsepower self drive, i bought it new 11 yrs ago and it still doing fine, back then i paid 550 euro for it new, you would pick up a second hand one of these for about 200 or less, and they can be bought from people who repair or trade in lawnmowers, or watch local ads in newspapers, or look on e bay or firesale.ie or donedeal.ie
and very good luck to you

sean1141

thanks goat! i went and got a mower out of argos today. not the best of yokes, no selfdrive or anything but it done the job. grass was about 6inches high and very heavy but it cut it grand.. not bad for a yoke that was only 140 euro!!