[Derek.laurence]

So.......
I have a driveway going down the side of my house and round the back.  At the moment it is not a pretty site, simply gravel/ concrete. :-(

This is the first time i have posted in the allotment section, i'm normally in the poultry section of this site.  Needless to say i am not an avid gardener but do like to keep my garden tidy.

My problem lies here.....I want to make the driveway "pretty" and was going to simply grass it as this is also the only "garden" area that the kids have to play in.

The Driveway in total is 131 square meters.

I was intending to simply put 10cm of Topsoil on top, throw down some grass seed and imbed a "drive" of sleepers to stop the car rutting the grass.

I have just cost out the topsoil....£1500!  For some mud......

Does anyone have any alternatives to anything i can lay to grow the grass on? Does it need to be topsoil? Are there cheaper methods of getting soil that is an option?

Any help is much apprecieted.

Thank You,

Derek

[Trillium]

Sorry if I'm misunderstanding this but are you saying that you want to cover up the driveway to make more play area for the kids?

If so, then true topsoil is the ideal medium for grass seed, but also a pricey one. If you can find a source of reasonably good soil (vs topsoil), which is cheaper, grass seed will also grow in that.

[Yorkie]

If you're going to put the car on top, I don't think sleepers every now and then will necessarily help to stop rutting (assuming I've understood what you're planning).

You can get a hard plastic hexagonal (octagonal?) mesh which you lay down, fill with soil, and then seed.  This should protect the surface better but won't be that cheap.

Do you have somewhere else to put the car for the weeks it will take the lawn to grow?

[Derek.laurence]

You are both right :-)

The purpose of the grass is to take away from the gravel "track" i have at the moment and for the kids to play on.

I was not aware you could purchase "soil" as opposed to top soil.  I will look into this.

I had intended to place the "sleepers" every half tyre width.  I can park the car on the street until everything beds down and grows etc.

Thanks for the input guys, much appreciated :-)