Gardening

[Bogus Dave]

Hiya

I have recently moved into a property with a garden. It needs a bit of work done to it, and I’m clueless about gardening so reaching out to see if there are any green fingered TEFers about who might be able to give some advice

I’ve included a picture of the garden in its current state - the patch of mud at the back was previously a chicken coop. I’d ideally like the whole area to be grass, but not sure whether just laying turf on the mud will work or if I’ll end up with a patchy lawn. The grass that is currently there is fairly decent as it is, but if it’s gunna look patchy by adding turf then I’ll have to dig it all up

Sun comes to about halfway over the grass, so the left side fence is entirely in shade. Don’t know if that means anything

And would like some flowers going along the right side fence, and toying with the idea of some kind of fence/planter in front of both ends of decking

I know there’ll be a bit of time before I can actually start doing any of this, but I should be able to borrow some tools from me father in law to at least start churning up the mud

Any hints, tips, help or ideas will be gratefully received

Thank you

[Ardiles]

Lovely little project you have there.  Good luck.

You can look up ground prep for laying a lawn easily online.  You'll need to dig down a few inches and lay a nice layer of topsoil before laying the turf (or seeding, if you want to save a bit of cash).  I wouldn't worry too much about the shade, because the existing grass you have there on the left seems to be growing well enough.

Just one nit picky thing I have to pick you up on, though.  You're not an estate agent, and you don't live in a 'property'.  You live in a house!

[Quagmire]

Put artificial grass down , best thing I ever done.

[The Artist Formerly Known as Audrey]

Get that decking treated. Tell the neighbours to sort out that ivy thing coming over on your side of the fence. Get a hot tub, get your kit off, put on the bubbles and have a slippy slidy moment!

[tans]

On another note, what is the best product to use for black spots on paving slabs? Pressure washed it the other day and it looks awful

[pauld]

Put artificial grass down , best thing I ever done.

Only thing about that (and not criticising, each to their own) is that if too many people do it, it reduces habitat for insects, small animals etc and so impacts bird life too. Was listening to some fella from the RSPB talking about it a couple of months back and they are starting to worry about too many people digging up lawns to put in artificial grass, decking etc, it can have a major impact cumulatively apparently.

[Bob's Orange]

On another note, what is the best product to use for black spots on paving slabs? Pressure washed it the other day and it looks awful

paint them black?

[Banker]

Difficult to see the size of the patch, but depending on its size, I'd suggest hiring a small rotovator/tiller to turn it over rather than using a spade. Costs around £35 IIRC depending on whether you have delivery/collection or not. Remove small stones etc and rake it to levels, add some top soil if existing soil is clayey or poor quality, add growmore fertiliser and lay a quality utility turf. As been said already, advice on how to do it is online.

The first year or so it'll noticeably be a patch, but should blend in time, a cheap solution for what you want ideally. Oh, re rotovator, make sure whenever you do it that the soil is not dry and rock hard, or the tines will just bounce along the surface. If you do this late summer, say, then copiously water the area the night before turning it over.

[Arriba]

Just dig it over with a fork so it's nice a loose and chuck a load of seed down. Now is the perfect time to do it and you'll have a lush green lawn by the end of spring. If it doesn't rain then make sure it's getting some water as that will speed up growth. This time of year should be good though as it's sun and rain for a few months.

[Sippo]

On another note, what is the best product to use for black spots on paving slabs? Pressure washed it the other day and it looks awful

Don't pressure wash it as it will help it grow. Wet & Forget is excellent.

[Bogus Dave]

Thanks for the responses. Don’t know why I called it a property!

Pressure washing and treating the decking is on the to do list, rest assured

I’ve looked into seed, but we’ve got three cats who would probably see it as a big litter tray, and quite a few birds who hop around in the trees, so will probably go down the turf route. Only question is, if I turf it up to the existing lawn, will it eventually settle so there’s no join?? Or would I need to dig up the exiting lawn?

[Bogus Dave]

Difficult to see the size of the patch, but depending on its size, I'd suggest hiring a small rotovator/tiller to turn it over rather than using a spade. Costs around £35 IIRC depending on whether you have delivery/collection or not. Remove small stones etc and rake it to levels, add some top soil if existing soil is clayey or poor quality, add growmore fertiliser and lay a quality utility turf. As been said already, advice on how to do it is online.

The first year or so it'll noticeably be a patch, but should blend in time, a cheap solution for what you want ideally. Oh, re rotovator, make sure whenever you do it that the soil is not dry and rock hard, or the tines will just bounce along the surface. If you do this late summer, say, then copiously water the area the night before turning it over.

I’ll look into it, but considering it’s hopefully not a large area that needs doing and there’ll be nothing else to do for a month or so at best I’ll try by hand first

[Panda Paws]

We're doing ours at the moment too - similar sort of thing but a bit larger. Raised bed and path down one side, bark area at the bottom for some veg boxes and then a stoned area at the top for table and chairs.

The biggest issue we have is tree stumps - have 5 of them of varying size across the garden. All dead and only 2-3 inches out the ground but any help on leveling to ground level would be welcome!

[Sippo]

If anyone wants any small stones, like the ones you put on driveways, I have loads. Don't know their official name. Free to collect.

[swindonmaniac]

On another note, what is the best product to use for black spots on paving slabs? Pressure washed it the other day and it looks awful

Wet the slabs with water, cover it with a cheap runny bleach,  brush it in, hose off, works wonders.