Helping restore Ma's garden

Hello all,

I have been at my mum's since the lockdown and couldn't help notice the state of her garden which is fair size but neglected. I felt it is a waste she is not able to walk and exercise in her own back yard during lockdown so decided to do something about it.

I ordered the following to begin with:

- Digging hoe, spade, fork, leaf rake, soil rake
- Petrol powered brushcutter
- grass seeds
- bone meal

I mowed down the weeds using a brushcutter so I could see the ground. I proceeded with a digging hoe to pull weeds but soon found there is a sheet of what appears to be tarpaulin underneath. It seems well set in and not far from the surface so the digging action is damaging the plastic. Here I have hit a road block.

1. Do I need to remove the tarpaulin for my ultimate goal of growing grass?
1.a If yes, can I continue digging my way and remove both weed and plastic?
1.b If no, how do I proceed from here?

2. Will I need more soil to top up and if so, what should I order and how much depth?

The soil is hard.
The area is large (approx 20m x 8m).
My gardening experience is very novice but I am willing to work hard!

Couple of pics to help visualise:

 

Hello JackBauer, I'd be tempted to try to lift the membrane along it's edge and roll it up like a carpet, complete with grass and weeds. Then, once you've sorted the lawn, you'll have time to scrape it off, make a compost heap with the vegetable stuff and either re-use the membrane or dispose of it. It's going to be mammoth task to dig over that area! Any chance of hiring a rotovator once the lockdown eases? Get out any tap roots, stones, rake, tread, rake again and sow grass seed. Then keep just damp until new grass is well-established.

 

Thanks for coming back. So if I understand this your advice would be to grow the lawn on the existing soil underneath the tarp membrane, after its been removed? i.e. no new soil required?

There is opportunity to hire a rotovator from a local supplier who is opeating during lockdown so I can look into that.

 

You need to remove all of that tarp or whatever it is.

Think we would consider first applying a weed killer like Glyphosate which does not persist in the soil but if left for a few days should kill off most to the weeds and old grass.
Roundup Pump N Go Total Weedkiller 5L | Wilko

Then as @noisette47 suggests , hire a rotovator as digging over that large area will be a back breaking job.
If you do not kill off or remove the weeds before rotavating or digging, you risk most of them coming back in no time.

Once you have done all that, raked it level and firmed it down, only then will you be able to see if you need to add any more soil, though from looking at you pics, cannot see any reason why you need to ?

Have a look at the Lawn section posts of the forum for details of how to prepare the soil for seeding or turf.
Lawns

 

hi Ricky

By removing the tarp, I would imagine most of the weed would come out with it. So is the weed killer to be applied after the removal i.e on the soil underneath? Or are you proposing to apply the weed killer and then remove the tarp?

 

Hi,

Would assumne the tarp is just covering a small area or have you found traces of it under all of the garden ?

I would say spray it before digging it out, that way you get all the visible weeds etc.

 

It is all over, end to end. I tracked down the contractor who laid it, turns out it was requested by mum to stop weed growing but she didn't know or fully understand this was the solution she paid for

 

Thank God for the rain. Had a good stab at hoeing and weeds are just popping out without much effort!

Ther tarp is not coming out easily. The soil on top is heavy so the sheet is ripping if I try pull it out. Only way seems to be to lift a substantial amount if soil off the sheet to make it light enough to pull out. then replace the soil that was moved. Is that the done thing?

Total soil on top of the tarpaulin is about 2cm worth

 

Cheapskate Company! It is just plastic tarp and not proper geotextile weed-suppressant. You're doing a grand job, though, and it will be worth getting it all out, especially if you're going to be rotovating afterwards. Just shake the soil back on the ground. Pick out any tap roots or long, stringy roots and dispose of in a bin for now. You'll be able to sort out the level during the course of the lawn preparation.

 

Et voila!

Couple of observations
- There was hardly any weed, it was all grass that I dug out
- This grass was growing despite the tarp
- Hardly any weed except in cases where stubborn weed go through the tarp and around the edges with the tarp didnt reach
- Even with the digger, removing the tarp was tough. I have managed to remove it from the areas I plan to plant veggies but left it in place where the lawn will go.

Is there any issue leaving the tarp in for the grass seeds?

The soil looks all kind. some clay ish, some sandy. Thinking to incorporate some compost, manure and then topsoil to feed it. Is 3kg per sqm sufficient?

 

Hi,

What part of the whole area shown are you using for the veg ?
Thought most of it was going to be lawn ?

Not sure how deep the tarp really is, you said earlier just 2cm but would have thought the rotavator would have really chewed it up, but sounds like it must be deeper ?

Either way for a good lawn it needs to come out , if you are looking for something long term.

If left in the water table and the grass roots will have serious problems, would think that will really cause a problem in the dry weather and the finer grasses used in a lawn will dry out too easily, unlike the coarse ones you have been pulling out, which tollerate anything

Are you talking about improving the soil for the lawn or the veg areas ?

For a lot of grassed area you are talking about a lot ( tons) of top soil, we would say just add some Fish, Blood and Bone fertiliser.

For your veg area, perhaps raised beds like those around the trees would be a better way ?

 

So yes, the raised beds + areas in between are reserved for veg planting (all on the left hand side). The right hand side will be lawn followed by a flower bed along the right fence. See attached rough plan.

Now the rotavator did reach the tarp if left digging long enough (depth between 2cm to 4cm, uneven) but it just loosens it. The job would still require manual labour to shovel the soil off the tarp before it can be lifted off else it's too heavy. I have 10kg of bone meal and 4 tons of top soil on the way. I have reduced the lawn area from 20x8m to 14x6m, mainly to accommodate other features. If I can create a depth of 6cm of soil on top of the tarp, would that be sufficient for the grass?

 

Well we would not do that, but why not post your question in the Lawns section of the forum.

There are folk in there with much better knowledge of Lawns, believe some members like @Liz the pot, are or were doing that professionally.

 

good idea, let me do that.

 

@JackBauer it really would be better to remove the tarp for good drainage. Grass needs a minimum of 10cm to develop it's roots properly.