replacing lawn....

[goodinacrisis]

Hi All,

So we don't have a huge lawn, but what we do have it very patchy and the ground incredily uneven. The grass growing looks like a mix of types too.

It seems like the best idea would be to dig it all up and start again with new turf. It looks like this is a possible DIY job, but I'm not a great gardener and I wonder if anyone has advice... or can advise a good gardening company in South East London / Croydon who might do a better job of it than me!

Thank you!!

The best time to do it would have been during early spring, or alternatively this coming autumn. Otherwise you will have to use an enormous quantity of water keeping the turf alive through mid summer, and you aren't supposed to walk on it until it is established either.

Yes don’t do it now. In the autumn, cut the existing lawn to the shortest possible height. Scarify and aerate (you can hire the machines from a hire shop). Level any humps and fill any dips with lawn soil. Rake over the whole surface, then reseed. Keep well watered and stay off it until you’ve given it its first cut.

Or, get in a company like Green Thumb to sort it out.

Yes it’s too late into the hot weather now for returfing, leave it until the autumn now. I did a patch about 15 ft sq a few years back and it actually turned out ok. Was quite hard work tbh but the bit I was doing needed levelling which was probably the bulk of the work. Turf from the garden centre didn’t work out that expensive, but I was surprised at how much it weighed down the car- took two journeys in my little Ford Focus.

Youll need to get the ground nice and level and clear of weeds and detritus. I added some bone meal fertiliser to the soil before turfing.

Seeding probably easier but the results take longer obviously.

Turfing is an easy DIY job although bloody hard work (turf rolls are heavy!). I don't think it's too late to returf, now is a great time to do it - just water if we have a hot dry spell. Preparation is key, remove existing grass and weeds and rake as level as possible.