Covering/Removing a Lawn

 
Hi,

I have moved into a new house (new to me - NOT new) and the back lawn
is a
disaster, it is more like a field, lumpy, big clogs, uneven etc.
No amount of
cutting will make it good.

I want to convert the area into a sitdown, barbacue area with a pergala
or
similar structure. It has a good border area with well established
trees and
bushes but I need to make it more habital.

I am no expert so I am unsure if I need to take the lawn up and throw
it or
simply cover it with "something" and then cover with gravel,
flags or paving
etc. I have no desire to have a lawn, the area I need
is for sitting and
visitors etc. I am looking to have borders or small
rock garden areas etc.

The garden is about 12 metres by 10 meters.

Thanks in advance

Peter Rhodes




--
Peter Rhodes

 

You have lots of options. Gravel, brick, concrete pavers, large
concrete tiles, asphalt paving, concrete paving....

If it were mine, I'd put down concrete pavers because I like the look.
You could have several patio areas connected with walkways, leaving
room between for small planting areas.

You might also be happy with concrete paving, expecially if you opt for
stained concrete. I've seen beautiful installations with saw-cut
patterns and different colors.

All of these options will require you to remove the existing sod and a
few cm of dirt. Then you'll put down sand to get the right level.
Finally, the finished surface goes on. The exact process varies with
the product. --
Steve B.
New Life Home Improvement

 
And the exact process also varies with the grading.  You need at least
6" of base material.  That plus the thickness of the pavers determines
the height.   Depending on what the finished grade needs to be
determines if material needs to be removed and how much.  The other
factor is what type of soil is there to begin with.

 

And the exact process also varies with the grading.  You need at least
6" of base material.  That plus the thickness of the pavers determines
the height.   Depending on what the finished grade needs to be
determines if material needs to be removed and how much.  The other
factor is what type of soil is there to begin with.

I'll second the paver idea and suggest you design it using more than one
color paver.  I used peach color around the front and side, between the
house and a perimeter sidewalk (broken up by a small pond and fountain in
front near the door) and continued it around part of the rear of the house.
In the rear, I used a perimeter of about 5' of peach pavers, with two small
(2' x  6') set-in gardens, to which I ran micro-irrigation lines.  Outside
the peach pavers, I used brick red color pavers for a sidewalk, and marked
the outside edge of the  walkway with a single row of peach.  Outside of
that the edge is scalloped with four half circles and I planted a rose bush
in the gaps between each of the circles, so I have a straight edge to mow
against.

Now I'm going to extend it further around the rear side (it's an "L" shaped
house) to eliminate an awkward area to mow at the end of the current pavers.

This project just kind of grew like Topsy.  The original owner had filled in
the gap between the perimeter sidewalk and the house with gravel, which
always looked dirty.  Once I got started I discovered that in the rear the
perimeter sidewalk was sloped slightly towards the house and was funneling
rainwater under the foundation of a rear porch, so I had to remove that part
of the perimeter sidewalk and replace it the the pavers walkway, sloped
properly.  Once all of this was done I've been able to take down the gutters
on two sides of the house, eliminating a 1 - 2 times a year maintenance
problem.

My goal in all of this was to spend money (capital investment) up front and
minimize later maintenance requirements.  So far it's meeting that goal and
is an asset to the house as well.