Taking up a patio and putting it to grass - is this enough prep?

[ASecretLemonadeDrinker]

Mum has just bought a new house and we took out her front garden for her (all paving slabs). Underneath is a mess of broken tiles and bits of gravel. We have taken up the worst and was hoping to lay top soil then turf/seeds. Is this right? Will abit of gravely soil matter? How much top soil do I need? It's pretty standard front garden size...errr... 15 x 10m? Is turf or seeds better? Any tips? THanks :)

AFAIR you need to put down 10cm depth of topsoil to get good lawn to grow.

OK thanks. Hoping it'll be OK, didn't realise how expensive it would all be!So hoping it doesn't all die

Well look you can try and if it dies just add more seed and start again. May I suggest you request on your local freecycle for top soil - builders and people doing building projects give it away, as long as you are happy to get some rubble sacks you can just load it in your car and transport it.

Just don't bloody turf it - if the topsoil is crap, turf just dies. Much better to go from seed with lots of water and plant food, some grasses are more resilient than others.

ok, I'll seed, thanks :) Do I need to buy a certain type? It's a minefield!

It is important to make sure that the topsoil you use is quality. High quality sandy loam soil is perfect. A quick test to check the quality of the topsoil is to make certain that the soil is a dark colour and lightweight it should be hard to roll up and quick to break up if rolled into a ball. Topsoil Essex seems to have some useful infromation when i was researching and linked through to a tree surgeon company who source their topsoil from the work they do so they know where it all comes from.