It's about time I sorted our back lawn out…a couple of years of kids playing footie in it has taken the lush, bowling green sheen off it.

What's the options:

1) re-turf the whole lot
2) Cut out the worst bit, re-turf that and re-seed the rest
3) re-seed the lot
4) Ignore it

I need to keep costs down, and reckon if I am going to re-turf the lot it's going to be around £100 in turf, then a skip…

Dig it over and turn it into a veggie patch, save further pounds on food.

Get hold of some top soil and lawn seed and mix it together.

Water the lawn thoroughly.

Scatter the soil and seed mix onto the lawn to a depth of about 1cm all over.

Water again.

Leave for 4-6 weeks (stay off it)

Cut and enjoy.

If you're going to turf it and want something that'll stand up to wear & tear then check out RTF turf – it's quite broad leafed so won't give that bowling green look but it'll stand up to kids playing football a lot better than normal turf mixes.

^ that sounds cheaper and easier than digging the whole lot up and starting again…

As for the veggie patch – my youngest would be gutted if she didn't have a garden to play in!

And sort out the back door, plant something in that border, tidy those pots etc…

Umm.. rake the bare bits, re-seed it all with heavy-duty seed and FERTILISE it a lot. You might also look for shade tolerant grass too, since it looks quite shady back there.

Don't re-turf. That'll cost you £300 for decent grass versus £10 for a bag of seed.

We got cheap turf for our house, saving £200 is, and it's absolutely crap.

Yep. That's the garage door and it is pretty bad!

We have lived here 8 years, and this is the first time I have wanted to get the garden sorted…I have a long list of jobs..

playing footie in it has taken the lush, bowling green sheen off it

😆

I would paint a goal on the wall next to the pots and use that side instead 😉

But will they keep playing football on it? If so, it'll just get knackered again. A mate with the same problem had a sort of AstroTurf put down. Seriously convincing. Every so often, he gives it a sweep. Good as new 🙂

My lad is a bit older now, and has been told that him and his mates will have to play football on the field which is at the end of our street. It only got bad when we bought a goal for him – suddenly it went from him practising keepie uppies in the back, to up to 8 of his mates having matches!

I have just put astro down in my yard. Pretty easy and looks convincing enough. Went for a sand based one at £26/m2 but the range is HUGE! Try http://www.lazylawn.co.uk/

Astroturf on your lawn? How awful!

My mate has just got some 'NoMow' basically posh astroturf, when I first heard about this I thought he was taking the pi$$ and it wopuld be terrible – after seeing it and weighing up the benefits I'm tempted myself

Obviously, if there's no more football, then go for lawn. But don't knock it molgrips 🙂

re-seeding it easy and with watering it'll pop up in no time @ the moment, but if your kids are still playing on it whilst you trying to re-grow it, it'd be a waste of time.

My old neighbours had an astroturf garden. Looked properly "council" but seemed to do the job, it enabled their kids to boot a leather ball around all night long making a continuous thud-thud-thud for hours on end with no wear to the grass…

yoshimi – Member

My mate has just got some 'NoMow' basically posh astroturf, when I first heard about this I thought he was taking the pi$$ and it wopuld be terrible – after seeing it and weighing up the benefits I'm tempted myself

How much is this NoMow stuff?
It looks class!

re-turf it, takes no time and it looks good straight away, what's a £100 compared to looking at it all the time worring about it.

+1 for seeding.

Your existing spread looks good enough to not demand too much turning over/raking/prep beforehand, so you might not even need any topsoil.

I messed around with some seeding last summer and it didn't take. This year I had another go but prepped it properly and it's come up a treat in 5-6 weeks.

Prep > sow > fertilise > water > water > water

Sorted.

EDIT: and it'll probably only cost £20 or so in seed, £5 on ferty, and a few quid on any topsoil if you need it

get a pool put in!

4). Like you don't have better things to do. If you must do something with it, make it wet, make it even wetter, have at it with a fork for a bit, put some seed down.

Seed it in the Autumn. I turned 1/2 and acre from similar to that to fairly decent grass but strimming/sowing and it's now pretty good.

Use hardy grass like paddock stuff – easier to grow although it doesn't give the "Chelsea flower show" effect!

Get your kids an xbox, some 17 rated games, a bebo account and some ritalin. Should put paid to any crazy notions of running about the garden enjoying themselves!

Seed with clover or clover + grass. It's harder wearing than grass alone, grows much slower and does't need watering in ths summer.

Add a bike.

You could easily fit a pump track in there

Option 4 is the cheapest.

HTH

Get a big bucket and mix compost and grass seed like loads of grass seed I used b&q value.Rake bald patches till you roughen them up the scatter your mix on top stamp it down water and leave to grow keep watering and hey presto grass.I use this method every year as i walk over the grass all winter and there is a path formes

Pretty poor photo and I haven't done the edge yet but this is Lazylawn Supreme V2

That looks fake as ****.

That's because it is. It will however survive (guaranteed for 15 years) in my northfacing poorly draining yard, and allow us to sit out on it in comfort and not bring mud into the house when hanging out the washing

…I'd rather have mud in the house!

Pretty poor photo and I haven't done the edge yet but this is Lazylawn Supreme V2

It does look a bit like you laid a carpet 🙂

Not for me, but I suppose I can see the appeal if you're really not into living things.

does it feel like an astro turf pitch.
Could think of nothing worse – what happens when your dog pees and lays a turd on it?

Fake grass = suburban hell IMO

My lawn is looking very sorry for itself with some very large patches. Has anyone here used one of those companies that come along every few months to put some sort of feed down for you? Price doesn't seem outrageous and they promise good results.

It feels like fake grass but not like old fashioned astroturf. The "grass" is a mixture of different length, coloured and textured blades so it has longer ones and short curly ones at the top. Don't have a dog, but they are recommended for greyhounds which apparently dig a lot as it is very resistant. And yes it comes on a roll, just like a carpet and you cut to fit.
Bearing in mind I couldn't grow grass without digging the whole yard up and getting new top soil in etc and I have a 6 month old daughter who will be crawling soon it is exactly what we were after and it looks and feels how we thought it would.

Oh and we do have a herb border out of shot full of lavender bushes and rosemary so hopefully by next year we will have plenty of insect/birds/plants etc about

Clover has no place on a playing surface! Pasture ley mixture parhaps?

Clover can't be mown like grass, it dies back and leave patches if mown; it's meant for cows. you'll want an amenty blend with ryegrass that should establish quickly but then not need mowing all the time like a sports blend.

I'll do you bowling green seed if you like but it's a bitch to keep.