Turning an overgrown garden into lawn.

mndy1, Jun 8, 4:37am
We have a garden overgrown with convolvulus and onion weed and want to put it back into lawn. What's the easiest way to do this. It's backbreaking work. It's about 5 meters square.

nonumbers, Jun 8, 4:49am
Pay someone to do it?
Whatever - it'll be a long job convolvulus doesn't give in easily. But maybe talk to a turf company?

harrislucinda, Jun 8, 5:44am
Will have to sprayed first too late now can be dug over the rolled then spring lay lawn seed

mndy1, Jun 8, 6:38am
It's the digging over that's the problem!
Unfortunately can't afford to pay anyone. or hire a bobcat.

lythande1, Jun 8, 7:05pm
Why dig? Spray it and plant lawn seed.

laurenlee, Jun 8, 7:19pm
I had a patch like that-I covered it with black plastic and odds and ends of old wood,and left it for a couple of months. After uncovering,it was easy to scrape up weeds and affected soil with sharp spade.I am not sure how it would work with onion weed though.

..pip.., Jun 8, 7:27pm
Spray spray spray then borrow some chickens. They are great at levelling dirt.

mrfxit, Jun 8, 9:26pm
#1 Roundup
#2 As soon as you have a full cover of growth back, Roundup again.
#3 Let die & dig the top over then plant lawn seed.

kenw1, Jun 9, 5:23am
i would not use roundup, that will kill any grass varieties that have survived.

Go to a rural supply place and get some broad leaf weed killer, they will know the best stuff to use. Probably something with a 24D base.

Then keep on spraying, onion weed is hard stuff to get rid of, but you want to preserve what grass cover you have.

Have a look on here http://www.rainbowbrown.co.nz/they have lots of info about controlling specifics and sell 5 litres.

mrfxit, Jun 9, 6:13am
When it's bad, it's best to start fresh & often much cheaper & faster with less hassle.

tweake, Jun 9, 6:39am
i did this on mine last year. however i had raised gardens which meant a lot of digging and moving soil to get the levels.

use roundup or other means to kill everything. you do not want any grass varieties to survive because that will mean all the weed grasses will survive to and they are very hard to get rid of later.

if you do not need to level it then don't dig. digging brings up all the old seeds and you will have tons of weeds to deal with. but if you have to shape it do so, just means you may have to do a 2nd round of weed kill before seeding.

maclad, Jun 9, 6:40am
It will be much better to start fresh rather than try patching up. If you want a nice lawn there is only the hard yards to go, so guessing you have work to do. Unless it is done properly you will only end up with another mess/disappointing lawn. As for using roundup, well it kills almost everything and if you want a good lawn that is what you need to do. Just cos it is grass does not mean it is a good lawn grass.

kenw1, Jun 9, 6:58am
Unfortunately Roundup will not kill everything.

mrfxit, Jun 9, 7:39am
DUH well of course not, but used sensibly / correct dosages & follow ups correctly, it's a dang good product for soft plants such as you find in lawns.

Kills blackberry after a couple of correct doses
Small shrubs etc dead

firefly001, Jun 10, 7:37pm
Roundup Doesn't kill clover and some lawn purists don't like clover in their lawn. I don't mind it as it doesn't gtow high

maclad, Jun 11, 4:08am
Why would you use Roundup on a lawn when it doesn't kill all lawn weeds but will kill the grasses and then you need to over sow. There are specific products which kill most, if not all lawn weeds and do not harm grass.

tweake, Jun 11, 7:36am
roundup kills clover. certainly none left after i did mine!

roundup will kill 99% of plants in the lawns. there are a few weeds which take a bit of killing. may take 2-3 spraying to work or other methods.
after everything has died back you will see what round up hasn't worked on. then you can use a special method on those plants.

most of the grass friendly sprays only kill certain types of weeds. you normally have to use a mix of products to get a wide range of kills.
but they are useless against weed grasses which you don't want in your lawn and you will kill your new lawn trying to get rid of them later.

mrfxit, Jun 11, 9:13am
THAT ^ ^ spot on.
Been using Roundup in it's various brands for many years.
The success kill rate on the harder woody weeds depends on how & when you use it.

fordcrzy, Dec 17, 2:54pm
Its getting too late in the year to be doing grass. take it from me we just did our lawn. got the spray on lawn its bloody fantastic. everyone in the neighbourhood has commented on how amazing it looks. we sprayed the old stuff with round up for over two months. then he came in with his mini tractor and levelled it and then sprayed on the seed mulch