[thegazbo]

Hi all,  I am trying to save an over grown lawn, I have just pulled down 9 trees ranging from lilac to elderflower and these have been neglected for around 5 years. There seems to be a lot of deeps roots that I need to to clear to get started on the remains of the lawn, but I am in 2 minds as to either go veg patch or her indoors idea of getting a lawn back.
I  am not afraid of hard work but the poor winch on my land rover has never worked so hard pulling up stumps well you don't expect me to dig when I don't have too.
Any suggestions as I cannot make my mind up as to what to do and I don't know where to start

[rainie]

Fence it off, get a couple of pigs, let them work the area, eat the pigs and sow a lawn. And just use the landy for getting out what the pigs dont.

[topgardener]

Hi thegazbo
You have quite a job on there but it is fairly simple but hard work. Firstly you must remove as much root as you can to get the ground level. Then once the rubish is clear you need to rotovate several times to get a good tilth , you need about 3 inches of loose topsoil , then its a question of leveling the area. To sow seed is the best way and this time is the best time to sow. If you want to turf then that is quicker but more expensive but at the same time you have an instant lawn. If you seed it then you need to tread the ground back and forth , this will help to level it.
If you turf then make sure you overlap your turves as you lay this stops you getting cracks and also it will knit quicker. I hope this helps you a little , any problems and i am always here.
Best of luck
Tony

[Ice]

You can't eat a lawn.    Ignore the OH and go for the veg patch.  Hire a rotovator then dump loads of manure on it.  Relax and plan what you are going to grow next spring.  Not that I am biased , of course.

[peapod]

Id go veg patch myself  

[Aunt Sally]

Grass is good for chickens  :!:  

[Ice]

Grass is good for chickens  :!:  

The poultry proselytizer strikes again.  Actually, why not go for broke and do both.  Can you imagine the OH's joy.

[poultrygeist]

Lawn with raised beds dotted around, fenced off from the chickens that you're getting (pop across to the hen house for advice) and self-sufficiency is yours. Along with teh pigs of course.  

Then next week, you can relax. :roll:

Rob

[Christine]

After 15 years of getting paid to cut other people's lawns, I don't do grass. Anything but grass - except for pavings of any sort.  

[thegazbo]

I would dearly love to have pigs or chickens but my neighbours are not keen I have enquired and the computer says no to that  :roll:.
I could have chickens if I could guarantee they wouldn't make any noise and that is impossible. I am always on evening shifts so I have loads of time in the mornings to spare, its just dragging myself away from the garden to go to work is the problem.

[Ice]

I don't think chickens make too much noise.  Are your neighbours afraid that you might get a cockerel?  I know chickens make more noise at certain times of the day but it's not excessive.

Don't worry, an expert will be along soon.

[poultrygeist]

As Ice says, you can't guarantee silence. They do make a bit of a cackle now and then but then so do dogs and people.

You'd need to consider how they'd manage the evenings in the lighter months when they stay out until 9 or 10pm. But i'm sure there are keepers who have overcome the same problem.

I hope you can find a compromise.

Rob

[Ice]

Exactly.  My neighbours have so many bird feeding stations and bird baths it's sometimes like the Alfred Hitchcock film "The birds" around here.  A few female chickens would be no problem noise wise.

[greenqueen]

Chickens don't make any noise !  it's the cockerels !  
from an ex-chicken keeper  
greenqueen