Garden do -over. Vines/Roots

john.halsteaduo1JDSpS

Hi all,

I'm certain there will be a few groans. 

There are a lot of videos and how to's online on what you need in order to level a lawn and re-seed it. However, I'm stumped and don't know what to do.

First thing - the garden's a mess. We moved into our house last august, the garden was a jungle of weeds and vines, complete with a very, very overgrown fence down the middle of the garden. I've dug all this out and had some work to put a proper fence in.

The ground now has old roots sticking out of the soil and is lumpy. (Oh, that garden roller is seized - I'm trying to dismantle it).

#1 Is there a tool (manual or engine driven) that will help me deal with this. It's unrealistic that I'm going to be able to pull all of those out (but they are very very dead)

#2 What do i do next? Scarify? Rotovate? Apply weed killer? Also, to level this out, do I first get coarse sand for the garden and then lay top soil over the top?

(Bottom of the garden is shadowed by some trees - I'm trying to get permission to trim the edges back)