Any BCF Gardeners/Landscapers present?

[CarlosCBR]

I'm slowly but surely in the process of redoing my front garden. It's approximately 10m wide and 8m long and apart from a metre wide bored around the entire edge it is completely gravelled. The border is just mud/weeds/shrubs separated from the gravel in the centre by a thin piece of wood.

My plan is to get all the shrubs from the edge dug out, all the gravel taken off the top of the soil and the entire garden grassed over.

I've already removed most of the trees (at the expense of three forks and two spades) and have removed half of the gravel.

Basically what I would like advice on is how best to prepare the ground for seeding? Under the gravel and ground sheet the soil is completely solid and dry. I'm guessing it will all need digging up and turning over to soften it then break it all up and rake it over when it's dried?

Using a fork and spade would take forever and a day to do on my own so are there any mechanical tools available that I could ideally hire to dig up the garden to make my life any easier.

Lastly.... It anyone is in need of approximately two tonnes of gravel, drop me a PM and you can take as much as you like for a donation of some boxes of grass seed.

Many thanks.

Carlos.
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[doggone]

Rotavator - hire a proper one not some little toy.
It would be good to break it up ASAP, don't be rushing with the seed, it's good to let it weather and any dormant weeds grow.
Once broken up you should be able to keep the surface cultivated with a fork or rake combined with firming it just by treading over it.
Late April is soon enough for grass seeds.

Expensive but more reliable you could turf it almost anytime, but still would be best to cultivate and firm it first.

Grass is not hugely fussy about fertility but that soil will be almost 'dead' and some sort of general fertiliser will make a huge difference to get it established.

[CarlosCBR]

Can I just run a rotavator over it as it is now or will I need to break it all up by hand first?
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[Quornholio]

[CarlosCBR]

Spoken to a local hire shop and they've suggested I use their 8hp cultivator. It's self driven and they said it shouldn't be a problem getting the ground turned over with it.

However talking to my father in law, he says there is some sort of pin in or near the engine that snaps if you run it too long? Can anyone shed any light on this? Would rather not be breaking bits.
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[The Artist]

There will be a shear pin most likely. Shouldn't be breaking all the time unless you hit brick or concrete or something.

[akaDAVE]

It would be wise to have a good poke around with a fork first, you don't know what lies beneath that soil. - blocks / metal / human remains etc.
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[sidewinder]

If you go ahead with the seeding.you want to prep the ground first.removing stones etc.then pack down the soil by tramping it.rake it again .next you want to add a lawn fertiliser about 2wks before seeding.lay your seed according to instruction on box.do not let the lawn dry out till it's established.best time to lay is early autumn

[MarkJ]

As above, rotovator/cultivator to loosen the soil up, pick out the stones, make sure the ground is level by raking and checking with a plank of wood for high/low spots (this bit takes a while but is worth it to not have uneven ground), then lay your grass in chosen method.

I turfed our back garden a few years ago, same area as yours, from memory it was about £1.10 per square meter for stadium turf. That was a local supplier, B&Q wanted a lot more for worse quality turf. Although turfing was a lot more money than a box of grass seeds it was very quick to lay and didn't really need treating with kid gloves like seeding does. Just had to water it if there hadn't been rain that day.

[syl]

If you can hire a stone burier (see you tube) rather than a rotovator, that would be even better.
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[sabian92]

[Ariel Badger]

You will also need to prep the soil by digging in plenty of compost or other organic matter. Adding sharp sand to the soil is also good for root growth.
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[doggone]

[Ariel Badger]

I disagree, the soil has been barren for many years under the gravel and will be depleted of nutrients and organic matter the only time that you have a chance of rectifying this is before laying turf.
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