Asked this in gardening but I must look too scruffy/builderfied coz no
one answered. ;-)

I've removed the old turf and about four inches of soil filled with
(couch grass?) roots. I left it a few weeks to see what grew back and
have been digging and weeding the survivors out.
The old three sided border I want to reduce in size I've been digging
and weeding for about 18 months.
I've been sieving and digging in soil from the back garden where I've
a surplus to start making the level back up in the front as it is
obviously low in places from the above and it's general shoddy state
beforehand.

Is there anything I need to do before digging out my grass seed now
it's not so hot and how do you level the ground off properly rather
than by eye?

I'm sure there's some simple method to do it but think it's something
you learn from someone telling you how to do it?

Mark S.

In article ,
Mark S. wrote:
Asked this in gardening but I must look too scruffy/builderfied coz no
one answered. ;-)

I've removed the old turf and about four inches of soil filled with
(couch grass?) roots. I left it a few weeks to see what grew back and
have been digging and weeding the survivors out.
The old three sided border I want to reduce in size I've been digging
and weeding for about 18 months.
I've been sieving and digging in soil from the back garden where I've
a surplus to start making the level back up in the front as it is
obviously low in places from the above and it's general shoddy state
beforehand.

Is there anything I need to do before digging out my grass seed now
it's not so hot and how do you level the ground off properly rather
than by eye?

I'm sure there's some simple method to do it but think it's something
you learn from someone telling you how to do it?

I finished doing this a few months ago and my back is just about ok no?

Levelling. If you want to be very particular you use paegs, string, and a
spirit level. Make a mark on one peg wherr you want the soil level to be
and tranfer this mark using the string and spirit level to the other
pegs, then rake the soil about.

For my plot I tugged an old heavy wooden ladder around. Attached the ends
of some rope to each end of the ladder and went all over the garden. I
also raked to level the obvious areas which were low/high.
Make sure you pick out the thatch of old grass if you have any. I then
stomped around to tamp it down (should have rented a roller though - £5
from the local place, water filled which comes empty so easy to get to
and from the rental place). Have you priced turf? I was on a very tight
budget but decided on turf. Goes down quick and it stops the weeds coming
up - my soil was mostly couch grass and the dreaded ground elder.

Neil

(Niel A. Farrow) wrote in
:
Have you priced turf? I was on a very
tight budget but decided on turf. Goes down quick and it stops the
weeds coming up - my soil was mostly couch grass and the dreaded
ground elder.

If you are using turf I should try to do it at a rainy time - I put it down
2 years ago in spring and it was very dry for weeks.

I watched the turf shrink and curl up, in spite of watering like crazy, and
it was also very cold, so getting out each evening bundled up against a
wind from Siberia with a hosepipe was rather unpleasant, and I expected to
be put in a soft cell.

You shouldn't be so unlucky, but a glance at long range forecasts may be
helpful

mike r

In article 0,
mike ring wrote:
(Niel A. Farrow) wrote in
:
Have you priced turf? I was on a very
tight budget but decided on turf. Goes down quick and it stops the
weeds coming up - my soil was mostly couch grass and the dreaded
ground elder.

If you are using turf I should try to do it at a rainy time - I put it down
2 years ago in spring and it was very dry for weeks.

I watched the turf shrink and curl up, in spite of watering like crazy, and
it was also very cold, so getting out each evening bundled up against a
wind from Siberia with a hosepipe was rather unpleasant, and I expected to
be put in a soft cell.

You shouldn't be so unlucky, but a glance at long range forecasts may be
helpful

If it is hot just water. I layed my turf on the hotest day this year and
just watered every day for a week, then weekly and now 2 months later
it's fine.
Neil