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Author Topic: Laying Grass  (Read 3540 times)

Offline lukemk5gti

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Laying Grass
« on: July 20, 2017, 03:04:12 pm »
Any horticultural experts out there???

My back garden is 100m2 and is currently just compacted soil soon to be top soiled.

I'm between minds here as I can do a great job with 4ton of Rootzone(sand/soil) for drainage followed by 100m2 of pre-rolled grass at a cost of €750 for supply 

OR

I can just throw some grass seed on the top soil for maybe €50 all in and hope for the best but I drainage isn't great I think it will suffer.

What would you recommend?

willni

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Re: Laying Grass
« Reply #1 on: July 20, 2017, 03:10:13 pm »
Depends on the look you'd like, pre-rolled grass will give a very landscaped look. Throwing seed on top will give a more natural. If you're not bothered by either throw some grass seed on a small area maybe a meter2 and if it takes do the rest if not you'll go the other route.

Offline lukemk5gti

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Re: Laying Grass
« Reply #2 on: July 20, 2017, 03:12:27 pm »
Depends on the look you'd like, pre-rolled grass will give a very landscaped look. Throwing seed on top will give a more natural. If you're not bothered by either throw some grass seed on a small area maybe a meter2 and if it takes do the rest if not you'll go the other route.

Good shout, I'll throw a handful down now actually and see how it responds.

It's the longevity without that rootzone that I'm worried about.

willni

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Re: Laying Grass
« Reply #3 on: July 20, 2017, 03:16:14 pm »
Depends on the look you'd like, pre-rolled grass will give a very landscaped look. Throwing seed on top will give a more natural. If you're not bothered by either throw some grass seed on a small area maybe a meter2 and if it takes do the rest if not you'll go the other route.

Good shout, I'll throw a handful down now actually and see how it responds.

It's the longevity without that rootzone that I'm worried about.

Grab some manure throw that down on the soil and throw the grass seed on top, and then don't cut it until after winter or until it's about 10cm long, if you cut it too quick it won't survive winter. It's about giving it a lot of fertiliser to grow quick as well as water it everyday, unless it rains that day.

Offline Scottymon

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Re: Laying Grass
« Reply #4 on: July 20, 2017, 04:38:43 pm »
From a complete Novice last year, I did pretty much what willni suggests above on my Grandparents garden, it had been left for ages, so I dug it all out and started a fresh ( I was on some sort of health mission haha )

I sectioned it off, graveled most of the front, put in a new fence in the back, but kept a manageable piece that took really quickly from seed and fertilizer, and loads of water; used a digital timer from Screwfix, about £20 highly recommend... so plenty of sunshine, water and feed, don't cut it, good luck :)






and of course you need to build a bird house from scrap wood :)





Waffle waffle waffle, haha  :happy2:

It has a strange sense of satisfaction watching it come together :) Good luck mate :) :happy2:





Offline pudding

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Re: Laying Grass
« Reply #5 on: July 20, 2017, 04:46:07 pm »
I've always had good luck with seed.  Turf can be a bit hit and miss depending where it's sourced from.

My 100% satisfaction guaranteed method is to prep the area (make sure it's flat and compacted), throw a shed load of seeds down....more than a million birds could ever eat, basically......and then rake compost over the top of it.  Then lob down some more sacrificial seed for the annoying birds to eat.   Water it regularly as per Willni's advice and you can't fail!  That has ALWAYS worked without fail for me.

If you've got any dark areas in the garden and kids will be playing in it, you'll want a nice hardy seed that doesn't mind the shade  :happy2:

Oh and seed doesn't always work well around the bottoms of trees, conifers especially, or any trees that hog all the water!
« Last Edit: July 20, 2017, 04:48:46 pm by Pudding »


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willni

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Re: Laying Grass
« Reply #6 on: July 20, 2017, 07:21:30 pm »
I've always had good luck with seed.  Turf can be a bit hit and miss depending where it's sourced from.

My 100% satisfaction guaranteed method is to prep the area (make sure it's flat and compacted), throw a shed load of seeds down....more than a million birds could ever eat, basically......and then rake compost over the top of it.  Then lob down some more sacrificial seed for the annoying birds to eat.   Water it regularly as per Willni's advice and you can't fail!  That has ALWAYS worked without fail for me.

If you've got any dark areas in the garden and kids will be playing in it, you'll want a nice hardy seed that doesn't mind the shade  :happy2:

Oh and seed doesn't always work well around the bottoms of trees, conifers especially, or any trees that hog all the water!

Pudding's Lucky Seed  :scared: :scared:

For around trees I leave the soil bare in a small slope, you get a nice properly maintained look and kill off any weeds that grow....You'd think we should have better things to do than talk about grass seeds

Offline lukemk5gti

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Re: Laying Grass
« Reply #7 on: July 21, 2017, 08:04:07 am »
Thanks lads!

@Scottymon great work on the bird house form old deck boards  :congrats:

Has anyone ever used a sand/soil mix to top the soil for increased drainage?

willni

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Re: Laying Grass
« Reply #8 on: July 21, 2017, 09:43:03 am »
Thanks lads!

@Scottymon great work on the bird house form old deck boards  :congrats:

Has anyone ever used a sand/soil mix to top the soil for increased drainage?

Football/Rugby pitches etc use it, generally I think it's about 70/30 in favour of soil.

Offline pudding

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Re: Laying Grass
« Reply #9 on: July 21, 2017, 09:51:48 am »
I've always had good luck with seed.  Turf can be a bit hit and miss depending where it's sourced from.

My 100% satisfaction guaranteed method is to prep the area (make sure it's flat and compacted), throw a shed load of seeds down....more than a million birds could ever eat, basically......and then rake compost over the top of it.  Then lob down some more sacrificial seed for the annoying birds to eat.   Water it regularly as per Willni's advice and you can't fail!  That has ALWAYS worked without fail for me.

If you've got any dark areas in the garden and kids will be playing in it, you'll want a nice hardy seed that doesn't mind the shade  :happy2:

Oh and seed doesn't always work well around the bottoms of trees, conifers especially, or any trees that hog all the water!

Pudding's Lucky Seed  :scared: :scared:

For around trees I leave the soil bare in a small slope, you get a nice properly maintained look and kill off any weeds that grow....You'd think we should have better things to do than talk about grass seeds

I'm slowing infecting this forum with my filth...... hand jobs, lucky seeds and vibrators  :grin:


2007 ED30 | 2009 TDI 140 | 2016 BMW 330D

willni

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Re: Laying Grass
« Reply #10 on: July 21, 2017, 09:52:59 am »
I've always had good luck with seed.  Turf can be a bit hit and miss depending where it's sourced from.

My 100% satisfaction guaranteed method is to prep the area (make sure it's flat and compacted), throw a shed load of seeds down....more than a million birds could ever eat, basically......and then rake compost over the top of it.  Then lob down some more sacrificial seed for the annoying birds to eat.   Water it regularly as per Willni's advice and you can't fail!  That has ALWAYS worked without fail for me.

If you've got any dark areas in the garden and kids will be playing in it, you'll want a nice hardy seed that doesn't mind the shade  :happy2:

Oh and seed doesn't always work well around the bottoms of trees, conifers especially, or any trees that hog all the water!

Pudding's Lucky Seed  :scared: :scared:

For around trees I leave the soil bare in a small slope, you get a nice properly maintained look and kill off any weeds that grow....You'd think we should have better things to do than talk about grass seeds

I'm slowing infecting this forum with my filth...... hand jobs, lucky seeds and vibrators  :grin:

We're all safe as long as the filth doesn't penetrate the forum


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