What can i do with this lawn?

[Marne]

Yesterday we went to view our new house (council house), the garden is huge but looks like it has never been looked after, it basicly a patch of weeds and grass with some bald mud patches, the ground is quite even and there is a small pathed area by the house. I'm not a great gardener but would like the garden to be useable for the dd's (maybe some climbing equipment). How can i fix the lawn so its more grass than weeds? Is it possible do do this with grass seed or will it need re-turfing? Is it too late late in the year to really do anything to it?

Ask the housing officer if they will treat the weeds with a light weed spray before you move in. Alternatively, ask the HO to get the council to trim the back garden with one of those brush cutters before you get the keys.

2 options,

cheapest -get a weed and feed product which will kill the weeds and promote grass growth

better - spray all the area with a sodium chlorate weedkiller, after everything has died off, turn it all over and break up seed bed, mix some sharp sand into soil for a good top dressing and then you can seed or turf. go for a turf or seed with rye for a tough lawn

The weeds are short (i think the council have trimmed it), its just more weeds than grass (see my profile pic). I think we will just have to patch it up before the winter and then do some major work on it next spring. The council have said they can't do anything to the garden . The family that lived there have used the garden as a rubbish dump and to keep their 5 dogs in.

You could hire a rotovator to dig it all over, and then put seed down and start again. If it has mud patches (is it quite heavy soil?) maybe you could also improve the drainage by digging in some sand.

Personally though I would go for the re-turfing.

The ground is really dry and compact (possibly clay), it maight look better after some rain. Is turfing going to cost a fortune? Its quite a large area .

turf is about 1.60 per square metre but you do need to break up the topsoil frist and mixing in sand will help the roots take ..... I would try some weed and feed to be honest, lawns often recover if you feed them

also if you are thinking of climbing equipment it is worth considering covering some of the area with play bark. make sure you get a genuine play bark though and not a mulching bark. It is usually most economical in cubic metre bags which you can get between 30 and 80 quid depending on where you live.

you should shutter the area off with 6x1 or similar and lay at a depth of about 3-4 inches (bearing in mind 1m3 wil cover 10m2 at 4" cover)

Thank you, i think we will try some weed and feed and if it doesn't work we will re-turf next year (funds will be short due to having to decorate the house).

if you can afford it, i've found the greenthumb people work out not much more than buying the weed and feed yourself. Minimum charge of £15 and that covers a lawn up to 100 square feet. It's every three months, might be worth signing them up for 3 or 4 sessions til it's cleared then maintain yourself. Have found them great at clearing weeds.