GARDEN FROM HELL Newly built bungalow, garden full of tall weeds and other seasonal growth

stefan995

Hello everyone, I'm a very ammatour gardener, who's only experience is just mowing the lawn every so often. 

I've just moved into a brandly new built bungalow. The garden is full of very tall weeds and other "seasonal" growth (about 3~4 feet tall). This is a property that I'm renting, via estate agents, who said that the landlord is gonna put a turf down when we first viewed the property. I've now lived here for over two weeks and the estate agents aren't even returning my phone calls any more. So I've decided to tackle this all by myself.

My plan is to get rid off all the weeds, stinging nettles and all other ugly growth, and install a brand new lawn. 

Only problem is I have no clue how to do it 😅

See the attached photographs for reference, but be warned as it might make some garden enthusiasts faint.

Please note that the ground is made of a very dirt heavy and rocky layer full of small pebbles; not hard per se, as your foot could be pressed down into it. But I dont think it can qualify as soil where new grass seeds could be planted.

My immediate plan of action is to start by cutting all the ugly growth so that I can walk around the yard, yank out everything and just bin the whole lot. I aim to install a brand new lawn, but I have no clue on how to even get started, especially since the ground doesn't seem suitable for lawn growth. I think I will need to add some soil to it, but again, I have no clue what the best type for it will be, or how to even do it.

So any advice will be very much appreciated.

I have a very determined personality, bordering stubbornness, so I don't care how much hard work or time this will take.

And I hope you could all join and have fun with me on my journey to fully transform this garden.

Any adivce will be greatly appreciated. But please keep it very simple as my only experience in gardening is pushing a lawn mower around and using brute force to yank weeds out 😂

Sandygarden

That actually looks like a wildflower meadow with potential! If you want a lawn, the cheapest way to get one is by seed in Sept. that gives you the summer to start getting rid of the stones/rubble, digging out your weeds. Once cleared, you basically rake it level and sow your seed. Grass will grow in pebbly, poor soil, but if you improve it, you will get thicker, lusher growth. Another idea- you could remove big stones/ rocks and mow a big circle in the middle. You woul

Sandygarden

You would be surrounded by the wildflowers and it would be very ‘on trend’. 

B3

Your garden definitely has some or even high fertility. It could be so much worse!

hogweed

Hard to judge from the photos how big your garden is - 15ft x 25 ft? maybe? 
Get yourself a spade and a fork, starting at one side, just dig your way round the whole garden, taking out all these weeds by their roots. Then rake the soil level and rake off all the stones that don't go through the tines of the rake. If you can get that done over the next 1-2 months, you can keep an eye on anything else that pops up and dig/hoe it off. That should take you to September when you can sow lawn seed which is by far the cheapest option. 

Theveggardener

stefan995, Have you checked with your landlord that it is alright for you to do things in the garden. I only ask as he might want something different to you. Friends of our are in rent a house and all they are aloud to do is cut the grass and weed the flower beds. I offered them plants but the landlord said their not aloud to put any plants in at all and he would take them to court. Whether or not he would win such a case is another matter after all they would be doing is improving things for him. I would check with the owner not just the estate agent and get it in writing just in case before you start spending money.

Fairygirl

I'd agree with NannaBoo. Check what, if anything, you're allowed to do before doing anything. 
It would be very disappointing if the landlord turned round and told you to remove everything you'd done. Many are perfectly happy for tenants to tidy up and improve a space, but others aren't.

stefan995

Hi all, thank you very much for all the advice, you've all been extremely helpful. I will start working on it this weekend 😊

ForTheBees

Given the lack of grass in that mix of growth it that strikes me as a someone's intentional 'meadow'.  Unless you need the area as grass for children and/or pets to play on or room to host garden parties, I'd leave it and throw more flowers in to the mix (extra poppies, cornflower, oxeye daisies, bugloss, field scabious, ...). 

That just needs an annual tidy up. A lawn is going to demand constant mowing and care, and will probably still repay you with some mix of dead patches, moss, and weeds...

Edit: just saw that it's a new build, so not intentional, just nature reclaiming brownfield.

TinyGardenGIrl

Another one to say you could just add more wildflowers to some or most of it and call it a meadow.  Saves you cutting the grass. 

TinyGardenGIrl

This may provide ideas

https://forum.gardenersworld.com/discussion/1030765/so-pleased-with-my-plug-plant-wild-flower-area#latest