New Lawn and Garden without digging.

richard_macfarlane_1

I am creating a new lawn from seed on in a garden that had an artificial lawn; There are no weed. It would take me two days to dig and so I might have to hire a rotavator. I had an idea of aeriating the soil by just pushing a fork into the soil and moving it about and raking the surface to dislodge soil. I would put compost and horse manure on the surface and rake it into blend it all together. I might lightly dig. I don't want to spend too labour time in this therefore might have to use a rotavator. Do you think this would work? Thanks

Fairygirl

You'd certainly need to improve the base before seeding. Whether you use a rotavator or any other means will depend on the size of the area, and how bad the sub base is.
I'd use a soil based product, or just soil, for the new layer, rather than manure and compost [compost will just disappear] and you'll need to let it settle for a while so that any dips can be addressed, then follow the usual process of firming and raking before seeding. You can also add a sprinkling of BF&Bone a couple of weeks before seeding, which is ideal for giving the ground a head start. 

Grass needs decent drainage and light to thrive well, so if it's a shadier site, you'll need to use appropriate seed. 

Busy-Lizzie

I've used a rotavator before sowing a lawn as it was a big area. I would use compost and manure and rotavate it in. Then the ground needs flattening again, Alan Titchmarsh walks all over it with tiny shuffling steps. He says invite friends to help, give them a drink or lunch. Then rake it to make sure it's flat and to loosen the surface before sowing.

Is it a big area?

StephenSouthwest

What have you got there under the surface at the moment?

richard_macfarlane_1

Busy-Lizzie said:

I've used a rotavator before sowing a lawn as it was a big area. I would use compost and manure and rotavate it in. Then the ground needs flattening again, Alan Titchmarsh walks all over it with tiny shuffling steps. He says invite friends to help, give them a drink or lunch. Then rake it to make sure it's flat and to loosen the surface before sowing.

Is it a big area?

Just a garden but will take me a few days just to dig. but rotavator probably two hours but will have to hire it. I wanted to do it a bit cheaper.

richard_macfarlane_1

StephenSouthwest said:

What have you got there under the surface at the moment?

Clay soil and sand has been put on top.

richard_macfarlane_1

I know what the process of prep for the lawn is but the person I'm helping hasn't got much money. The forking part would loosen the compact soil and worms would help but there would still be too hard labour so would have to go with rotavator,