New garden needs complete overhaul

5starpool

Long story short, moved into a new house last summer, didn't do a lot with the garden for various reasons and now it needs to be totally redone. There is likely to be some construction rubble not far under the surface as I have found a couple of big pieces of block already, which isn't good.

It is not a big garden, about 9mx9m, walled in, West facing. I got a quote (just one for now) of 1100 for laying new grass which according to the man that gave the quote involved removing approximately 1 inch off the top, putting down a similar amount of topsoil and rolling grass out on top of that, and that this could all be done in one day.

I know very little about the topic, but this doesn't seem to be what I would have expected. Should more not be dug out, including any stones/blocks near the surface and a better layer of topsoil laid?

Also, what is the best time of year to do this work? Obviously the way the weather has been lately I'm glad I didn't get it done a couple of months back, but if a new garden is being laid, is it better in spring? In autumn? Does it matter? If I have to wait until next year I'm ok with that, but I don't want to have a half arsed job done which will need to be redone again in a couple of years.

I don't want to pay a fortune for a basic job, but I equally don't want to skimp and have some crowd do a half arsed job. Any advice gratefully received.

macraignil

5starpool wrote: »

Long story short, moved into a new house last summer, didn't do a lot with the garden for various reasons and now it needs to be totally redone. There is likely to be some construction rubble not far under the surface as I have found a couple of big pieces of block already, which isn't good.

It is not a big garden, about 9mx9m, walled in, West facing. I got a quote (just one for now) of 1100 for laying new grass which according to the man that gave the quote involved removing approximately 1 inch off the top, putting down a similar amount of topsoil and rolling grass out on top of that, and that this could all be done in one day.

I know very little about the topic, but this doesn't seem to be what I would have expected. Should more not be dug out, including any stones/blocks near the surface and a better layer of topsoil laid?

Also, what is the best time of year to do this work? Obviously the way the weather has been lately I'm glad I didn't get it done a couple of months back, but if a new garden is being laid, is it better in spring? In autumn? Does it matter? If I have to wait until next year I'm ok with that, but I don't want to have a half arsed job done which will need to be redone again in a couple of years.

I don't want to pay a fortune for a basic job, but I equally don't want to skimp and have some crowd do a half arsed job. Any advice gratefully received.

Are you sure a patch of grass is what you want to end up with?

Grass is fairly tough stuff in general so what the landscaper describes doing probably would give you a patch of grass but is this what you really want to have? Any time outside of drought conditions and severe frost is usually fine for getting grass established.

You will still need to mow the lawn regularly for it to grow well and look neat so it is not like you can get the lawn installed and forget about the garden. Grass is a low maintenance option but still requires some maintenance.

Much better things to do with a garden in my opinion than just growing grass

Harry Palmr

Does the lawn actually have much grass on it? Is it flat or on a slope and if so towards or away from the house? Any signs of water having sat at one end? That'll be apparent if you can see area/s which slightly lower than the whole. If yes then that needs a good deep break up of the earth - the subsoil could be compacted.

I'd prep the earth and help reduce the labour costs by removing the top grassy layer and pulling the large objects out, I've learned that whatever you think might be down there is only half of it - you could end up recovering all sorts including stuff you'd prefer not to leave under a new lawn. The perennials left in the earth will need to be removed (docks, dandelions etc plus any scutch/couch grass etc if left they will make an appearance later) so you are starting with a clean slate. Once you think it's just earth level it out as best you can and cover the whole area under plastic for the winter if you are going to wait until Spring do this properly with thick grade plastic roll and pin it down well - those rocks you pull up plus some of the earth around the edges to keep it in place. You know the condition of the soil better than anyone reading this so when you reckon it's workable get to work basically.

I'd not be looking any further ahead than doing the above this year, the ground is rock hard now it could be for some time to come and it's obviously better to lay a new lawn going into the growth season rather than dormancy even if it is turf which stands a better chance assuming it's of high quality (as an aside does anyone know if this summer has been tough for those in the lawn laying business?). The other thing is that new laid lawn needs water a lot of it and restrictions could be in place for several weeks/few months to come.