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Help to get a better lawn for my kids to play

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  • s30avos30avo Posts: 31
    I’ve not levelled it yet! Just mowed and raked! It’s hard to see the slope from the picture. Want to get the weeds killed off before I put the topsoil down and level it! I was laughing at the lazy gardener comment
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  • s30avos30avo Posts: 31
    Hahahahahaha no the first pictures were to give the people an idea of what it looked like at its worst and to try put me on the right path to helping me fix it!
  • glasgowdanglasgowdan Posts: 632
    Unfortunately you've just delayed things now.  The weeds need sprayed, but you MUST spray green leaves. So you now need to wait for the weeds to grow back, then spray them.

    I renovate lawns like yours regularly and it's not that hard a job at all. 
  • LiriodendronLiriodendron Posts: 8,271
    The reason for suggesting weedkiller was the sort of weeds you have in your current "lawn".  As you have discovered, dock plants (the weeds with the big leaves) have thick, deep roots which are difficult to dig out (they go down a couple of feet if they're mature plants), and which will re-grow if you leave bits in the ground.

    Sorry, I didn't manage to follow this thread yesterday or I'd have urged you to kill the weeds BEFORE mowing etc.  It works by being absorbed through the leaves of the weed, then being transferred to the roots.  No leaves left so no chance to kill the weeds... until they grow again...
    Since 2019 I've lived in east Clare, in the west of Ireland.
  • s30avos30avo Posts: 31
     Can you not just spray weed killer down onto the steam/root? Aw man, my effort today has been wasted 😂 
  • s30avos30avo Posts: 31
    Could I dig the full lot and try get the weeds from the roots when I do that?
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  • LiriodendronLiriodendron Posts: 8,271
    I guess your soil isn't heavy clay, Freddies Dad, or you wouldn't be able to "lift out" dock roots easily - they fork, and in my experience go down for ever...  I'd always prefer to get rid of the perennial weeds before laying turf or seeding a new lawn.  Otherwise you'll be cursing the weeds for years.

    @s30avo - weedkiller doesn't work on the stems & roots, I'm afraid.  You can dig over the area to get out the roots, if you're feeling energetic - this might help with the levelling too.  Or if you don't fancy the hard work, you can either do it Freddies Dad's way (which worked for him!), or wait for the weeds to grow new leaves before spraying them with weedkiller. 
    Since 2019 I've lived in east Clare, in the west of Ireland.
  • FireFire Posts: 18,146
    Spring or autumn is an easier time to start this.
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