How to replace a lawn with full of weeds?

[pavani]

 

 

Hi All,

We recently brought a house with spacious side yard. However the lawn is having full of weeds along with the grass.

Our plan is to divide the lawn into 3 parts 

1.Veggie garden to the right 

2.Patio at the central area (Extending the existing open sitting area)

3.Lawn area (turf grass)

4.Garden edging running throughout the yard with Besser blocks for some plants.

With full of weeds in the side yard  , I am not sure where to start.

1.Could I be able to section the yard into 3 projects and start one after the other ex: veggie garden. If yes ,would the existing weeds in the second section effect the veggie garden? 
2.Do I have to consider replacing entire lawn with turf first to have a strong base and then start the smaller projects?

3.Is there any way out just to kill the weeds and keeping the existing grass as-is and slowly replace the existing grass with turf as the smaller projects takes place?

4.We want to put the patio at the central space of the side yard . However we don’t want the patio to block the sun light we receive from the east facing side yard to the house. Open to hear any suggestions regarding the placement of the patio

[Jason]

Hi @pavani,

Congratulations on the new house. We're looking forward to seeing how you can transform it into your own home. Feel free to post anytime you need a hand - we're here to help. 

It's a common challenge you're faced with. Have a look at these previous discussions for some expert advice from our resident Bunnings D.I.Y. experts Mitch and Eric:

• Whole lawn is weed

• How to kill weeds in the lawn?

• How to remove weeds and grow a new lawn?

Hope that helps get you started. Have a read and I'm sure Eric will be happy to address your specific questions when he's back on the site tomorrow. 

Jason

[pavani]

Thanks Jason. Gone through the given links and got a bit of understanding on how to kill the weeds. 
Looking forward to get answers on the specific questions on how to and where to start 

[EricL]

Hello @pavani

I believe your proposed garden layout is the ideal way to do it. Having the patio in the middle means that should it cast any shadows it will be behind the fence and not cover any of your plants. If you are planning on starting a vegetable garden, I recommend manually removing all the turf and weeds in the proposed location. In this manner, you won't get any weed infestations in your garden. You might also want to look into raised garden beds as an option for your garden project.

On closer inspection of the pictures, it would seem that the area has been overrun with weeds. I'm not sure if there is any turf left to save. The good news is that it is relatively simple to put new turf on. I suggest having a quick look at this guide - How to plan a garden makeover by @Adam_W. It should give you ideas on how to start your garden renovation. My best advice for your project is to plan it on paper to give you a very solid idea of what you want the garden to look like.

Here is a handy step-by-step guide: How to lay turf

Let me call on our experienced members @Adam_W and @homeinmelbourne for their recommendations.

If you have any other questions we can help with, please let us know.

Eric

[pavani]

Thanks Eric. As weeds are huge , manually removing all the weeds in each section could be tedious. Could you suggest any tools for weed pulling and tilling  the soil sectional wise manually. 

[MitchellMc]

Hi @pavani,

You could use a Ryobi 36V Cordless Cultivator RCV36 - Tool Only or Ryobi Petrol 25.4CC Easy Start Cultivator. Or, if you wished to do this by hand, you could use a Cyclone Garden Tiller. If you want to kill the weeds, you could lay Builder's Plastic down over the area for several weeks. 

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell