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Creating a 2-acre lawn

St1mpMeister

Newb questions here so please bear with me :)

I have 7 acres of land. It was formerly used entirely for forestry but the trees have been removed and stumps/potholes remain. It's not fantastic soil, can mainly be used for forestry or... grass (which leads me to the idea I have for 2 acres on it).

At the moment the land is wild and full of overgrown wild grasses (1m high) and baby trees, on top of the un-even stumpy surface.

What I would like to do is convert 2 acres to plain grass lawn.

What are the steps involved in this?

From what I gather I first need to clear the wild growth, then dig up all the stumps, then do I need to do anything else before I start laying grass seed?

Should I do this before Autumn?

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White Clover

OP, I'm not sure what experience or knowledge you have of soil and grass and their characteristics?

Unless this is top class land or you are planning a professional drainage job and importing of topsoil, you will end up with 2 acres of rushes, moss, and weeds with very little grass.

Gorteen

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119324446#Comment_119324446

If it's fenced, a few sheep will eat it down to their hearts content!

brokenangel

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119349909#Comment_119349909

Sheep are a nightmare, they will bust wire and hard to keep alive unless you are a farmer and use to caring for animals.

Would not recommend anyone to buy unless they have experience

St1mpMeister

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119347491#Comment_119347491

It was all grass prior to being planted with trees, so it'll be back to that. It's also at the top of a hill so drainage shouldn't be too much of an issue.

To the other person asking about grants, I checked and no grants were involved.

And yes @SuperBowserWorld ultimate plan is to build a palatial palace ;)

SuperBowserWorld

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119354108#Comment_119354108

Enjoy, leave some camping space for the rest of us climate refugees. And plant some native Irish trees to remember the old sod by. ☺️

80sDiesel

Your machine will break down, the weather will taunt you and within a year or two the dream will turn into an expensive nightmare.

Better to create a wildflower meadow interspersed with some native trees, learning and teaching your kids about biodiversity ,flowers,and provide an ideal summer place to enjoy the views.

Late summer and early spring cuts only needed.

Boardnashea

Don't forget a nice big pond to encourage wildlife into the area. Much more productive than lawn and doesn't need as much maintenance.

magicbastarder

i once used a product called miracle gro evergreen no rake on my lawn; apparently it breaks down moss and fertilises the lawn. the instructions say to apply at a rate of 100-150g/sq m.

obviously this is not just standard fertiliser, and you wouldn't be using it (they clearly didn't envisage it being used on that scale), but just for the laugh i calculated that in your case - creating a lawn of nearly one hectare - a single application of the stuff would require one ton of it. and it's only available in 20kg bags, so you'd need 50 at a cost of just over €2,000.

St1mpMeister

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119358105#Comment_119358105

nah that's what the other 5 acres are for... already has trees growing on it in fact, seedlings from the trees that were there before.

As I said before, I'll get the area de-stumped, and soil turned over and then can decide what to do with it, but do want the large wide area.

A couple of ash trees are on the area already so they will be left untouched, so it won't be 100% plain grassland.

St1mpMeister

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119358262#Comment_119358262

€2K every year or a once-off?

If it's a once-off that's an expense that won't be an issue :)

Donald Trump

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119342153#Comment_119342153

It's not only that. It was basically made illegal to unilaterally cut down a tree around the time the OP is talking about they were cut. So you have to apply for a licence which would generally not be granted without an obligation to replant that plot (or occasionally, another plot in lieu). Grants or no grants.

St1mpMeister

It might well be longer actually, can't recall. Probably around 2006-8 when they were cut. Other land that isn't mine on the plot has been left unplanted and used for other non-arborous activities, and within view of the roadside (my 2 acres is not viewable unless you trek up past the untouched 5 acres). Solicitor involved in the land exchange also verified there were no restrictions on the use of the land.

St1mpMeister

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsYwOiZBSNM

2 acres isn't really that big 😁

This actually looks a lot like the sort of scrub and surrounding trees we have in the area, and looks a lot like what I'm after.

White Clover

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119354108#Comment_119354108

Would it be possible to put up a photo of the surrounding farmland or of the soil profile of your land? Digging a test hole to accurately identify the profile of the ground is always a good starting point.

St1mpMeister

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119359180#Comment_119359180

It's really just as I said, the land isn't great for crops, but is fine for grass and trees. The surrounding farmland is all used by sheep farmers (and actually has the sort of grass I want ironically).

It's shallow soil from what I gather.

SuperBowserWorld

Sounds huge ... great potential...

https://youtu.be/PJlmYh27MHg

St1mpMeister

Maybe 2 acres in Ireland is a different measurement to every other country? 🤣