My garden is on a slant, I used the tiller to break up the old grass, I then raked it to see how it sat, I then ordered some topsoil/sand mix, added about 2 and half tonnes, raked it again then used a roller to go over. I then knelt down to visually see how it went up and down, slowly I added and removed topsoil to level. I then rolled on fresh grass
It seemed so daunting beforehand, especially when a lot of videos on TH-cam are from proper landscapers! I’m still shocked at how things have turned out 🤣
@@NoviceGardener I’m always shocked at how my diy turns out, for all the wrong reasons haha. Where did you buy your topsoil in the end ? The great thing about ‘novice’ videos are that they show mistakes most will make. The pro’s don’t. Keep em up !
Nice one 👍🏻 I got it from a local supplier, just a farm about 5 miles down the road to where I am. Worked out much cheaper! I used some of the Westland top soil on the lawn on the top tier recently and it was so expensive in comparison.
Great work so far. I would suggest getting the Scott spreader as it doesn't clog up and is about £30. It will be useful anytime you need to spread fertilizer or seed. It's worth the money.
I may have a look at this. I was hoping to seed it this weekend but it still gives it to be cold early next week - may be better for me to wait until next weekend now.
Just come in from using the same fertiliser. I've stripped my lawn all the way back to mostly dirt this year. Got the fertiliser on, will top soil and seed in the next few days. Hoping for warm weather and some rain this week.
Nice one! I’ve spent approximately £2000 all in on the garden since we started the renovation, but I’ll do an update video once it’s complete with exact figures for everything 👍🏻
Great videos. I have a similar project on the go at the moment! If you started this again would you use a landscapers rake or a lawn lute to flatten the topsoil? I can see that you’ve used a lute in a later video and not sure what tool to buy for levelling prior to turfing. Cheers!
I think I'd go with the lawn lute if I was to start from scratch again. It was so much quicker and easier when getting the level. Don't get me wrong, the rake was superb (and much cheaper too!), but the lawn lute made things much smoother. I hope that helps 👍🏻
Totally newbie question…..we had lots of beds for growing veggies, which we have removed and will prepare the area for a lawn. Can we use all the compost that was previously in the vegetable patches instead of “top soil”? 🤷♂️
Awesome videos, really helpful to see it in action after reading so many different ideas online. I was wondering how much in square meters the space you were working on in this video was? I have about 10m^2 (new build aswell with the crappiest and hardest of clay soil full of boulders) and I was weighing up the option of either trying one of those clay breaker type products to work in along with compost and then maybe lay it with a couple of mm of top soil. I'm just trying to decide whether I need to go 5 tonnes or above with extra top soil.
My area is just over 30sqm and I used 5 tonne just to get a decent layer of top soil. I’ve got about 100mm of good top soil across the lawn and I’m going to be topping this up each year. The clay below is an absolute nightmare! I’m not sure how the housing developers get away with leaving it in such a state! It was riddled with bricks and all sorts once I started digging. Hope that helps, sorry for the late replay!
Hi, this might not be the right platform to ask this question, but here goes. My garden is really uneven, I want even it up as cheaply as possible(it currently has patchy grass), I can get hold of fresh horse manure, can I just throw that on and keep leveling it?
Great series of vids, watched them all with great interest. I'm in exactly the same boat with a sloped garden. What do you reckon you've roughly spent so far, if you don't mind me asking. Trying to weigh up having a crack at it ourselves vs getting someone in. Has it taken longer than you though initially?
Cheers 👍🏻 We’ve probably spent about £2000 so far. We had a few quotes before we started which were well in excess of £6000! Initially we thought it would take 6 weeks during the summer as I had time off work, but that deadline went out the window quickly! I recon we’re still another 6 months away from finishing, but that’s just because we’re trying to get odd jobs in around our work. But despite that, I’m so glad we decided to do it ourselves. Learnt loads along the way - but I have made plenty of mistakes too 🤣
@@NoviceGardener that's a decent saving! Really rate how accurate you got the paving tiles too. I guess a bonus of doing it yourself is you're fully in control of details like that. Looking forward to the next installment.
We have a very similar situation in our new build! Garden sloping towards the house and clay... Our drainage is shocking too! We are looking to do something similar to what you've started. Eagily awaiting your next video!
Had this problem in a new build, if they’re still doing work on site, see if you can get them to install a French drain for you.. the drainage in your garden shouldn’t be your problem to resolve. Best of luck . Definitely look into a French drain
I got 5 tonnes for just over £100. But I had a quote recently of £120 for 2 tonnes - prices have definitely gone up! But still far cheaper than going down the Rolawn route!
I'll be rolling turf on top of my new lawn. Biggest problem is levelling, I won't buy a lute that I'll only use once so I'll add some weight to my rake and take my time. I don't think the lawn will be perfectly level.
I thought the same about a lawn lute - some of the prices are ridiculous for something you’ll only ever use a handful of times! Hope your project goes well 👍🏻
I got 5 tonnes. But to be honest, you can't buy too much! The more the merrier! The worst thing you can do is put too little down as the roots won't have a thick enough soil level to grow into. How big roughly is the area in m2?
If you put 1" of soil down and then walk on it and repeat, you will get a very good compaction. Too bad that you did not have a rental yard that had the large rubber drum with a handle to compact the soil.
You didn't need a spreader lol you did it the old fashioned way and I'm sure that was good enough people always wanna input their ideas but little things like that are just gimmick...i have 6 years pro groups keeper experience including scaping and hand spreading works just as good as any spreader it's just more time consuming and requires a slight of finesse that's all....
Could have used a roller would have saved you untold time and a yellow plastic rake, you'd have got a better level and run on the soil. Decent thorough job though.
The real problem with clay is compaction. Walking on clay, even when slightly wet can create dips in the soil above. The problem is the new top soil may be dry, but the clay beneath damp or indeed saturated with water.
their are a lot of theses types of videos saying "how to level the lawn" on a lawn that's already 95% leveled
My garden is on a slant, I used the tiller to break up the old grass, I then raked it to see how it sat, I then ordered some topsoil/sand mix, added about 2 and half tonnes, raked it again then used a roller to go over. I then knelt down to visually see how it went up and down, slowly I added and removed topsoil to level. I then rolled on fresh grass
Haha I really like the way you level the dirt by walking on it. No tool required. XD
Nice job. Look up a levelling lute. I never realised how good they were until I used one myself.
Great video thanks, I've just put 3 tons of top soil on my new lawn area and in the process of leveling so this was very useful.
Thanks for the landscaping rake tip!
Looks great, You've done a cracking job of leveling it.
Nice one! 👍🏻
Thank God it didn’t rain on that day😅. Love the video, thank you!
I know! I managed to get a gap in the weather! We got quite a bit of rain after I recorded this luckily.
Thanks! Watching you do it in timelapse was really useful so now I know what I need to do.
Glad it helped 👍🏻
Excellent videos, learning so much thanks mate
Hey, great videos, nice to see it from a true diy point of view, gives me a bit of faith.
It seemed so daunting beforehand, especially when a lot of videos on TH-cam are from proper landscapers!
I’m still shocked at how things have turned out 🤣
@@NoviceGardener I’m always shocked at how my diy turns out, for all the wrong reasons haha. Where did you buy your topsoil in the end ? The great thing about ‘novice’ videos are that they show mistakes most will make. The pro’s don’t. Keep em up !
Nice one 👍🏻
I got it from a local supplier, just a farm about 5 miles down the road to where I am. Worked out much cheaper! I used some of the Westland top soil on the lawn on the top tier recently and it was so expensive in comparison.
Awesome work. My wife and I are about to tackle the ground under our trampoline. Some great tips here, thanks.
Great job and heavy work 👍👍👍
Nice work fella 👍
Nice one! 👍🏻
2:50 i see the moonwalk is the key to success :D
Great work so far. I would suggest getting the Scott spreader as it doesn't clog up and is about £30. It will be useful anytime you need to spread fertilizer or seed. It's worth the money.
I may have a look at this. I was hoping to seed it this weekend but it still gives it to be cold early next week - may be better for me to wait until next weekend now.
Just come in from using the same fertiliser. I've stripped my lawn all the way back to mostly dirt this year. Got the fertiliser on, will top soil and seed in the next few days. Hoping for warm weather and some rain this week.
Looking good 👍
Cheers!
Amazing work!
Cheers 👍🏻
Spot on 👍👍
Great help thanks
I have enjoyed the series, I would be interested in costs and suppliers
Nice one! I’ve spent approximately £2000 all in on the garden since we started the renovation, but I’ll do an update video once it’s complete with exact figures for everything 👍🏻
Great videos. I have a similar project on the go at the moment! If you started this again would you use a landscapers rake or a lawn lute to flatten the topsoil? I can see that you’ve used a lute in a later video and not sure what tool to buy for levelling prior to turfing. Cheers!
I think I'd go with the lawn lute if I was to start from scratch again. It was so much quicker and easier when getting the level. Don't get me wrong, the rake was superb (and much cheaper too!), but the lawn lute made things much smoother.
I hope that helps 👍🏻
Totally newbie question…..we had lots of beds for growing veggies, which we have removed and will prepare the area for a lawn.
Can we use all the compost that was previously in the vegetable patches instead of “top soil”? 🤷♂️
Great video ty
Cheers!
Awesome videos, really helpful to see it in action after reading so many different ideas online. I was wondering how much in square meters the space you were working on in this video was? I have about 10m^2 (new build aswell with the crappiest and hardest of clay soil full of boulders) and I was weighing up the option of either trying one of those clay breaker type products to work in along with compost and then maybe lay it with a couple of mm of top soil. I'm just trying to decide whether I need to go 5 tonnes or above with extra top soil.
My area is just over 30sqm and I used 5 tonne just to get a decent layer of top soil. I’ve got about 100mm of good top soil across the lawn and I’m going to be topping this up each year.
The clay below is an absolute nightmare! I’m not sure how the housing developers get away with leaving it in such a state! It was riddled with bricks and all sorts once I started digging.
Hope that helps, sorry for the late replay!
How much top soil did you put down in total? And what brand?
It was 5 tonne all in, and I just contacted a local supplier. It ended up being cheaper too as it was delivered loose.
What type of timber do you use around the soil?
I haven't yet, but I'm looking to sort the edging in the next few weeks with some treated timber.
Brilliant thank you
How much top soil in inch did you do? I’ve got a new build myself
It’s about 100mm deep across the lawn
Great video! I’m currently looking to do the same on my sloping garden. Did you need to apply for planning permission or anything from the council?
Nice one! 👍🏻
No planning permission needed for something like this which is handy. You can just crack right on!
Hi, this might not be the right platform to ask this question, but here goes. My garden is really uneven, I want even it up as cheaply as possible(it currently has patchy grass), I can get hold of fresh horse manure, can I just throw that on and keep leveling it?
To be honest, I’m not 100% sure, but there’s no harm in trying!
May I know the total slope difference of the garden?
600mm from the patio to the bottom of the garden?
That’s right, it was about 600mm altogether
Did you get a "bath tub effect" by not working the new topsoil into the clay soil with a tiller?
Nope, all was good once the soil went down.
Can you tell me which one your video that shows how to level the clay
Great series of vids, watched them all with great interest. I'm in exactly the same boat with a sloped garden. What do you reckon you've roughly spent so far, if you don't mind me asking. Trying to weigh up having a crack at it ourselves vs getting someone in. Has it taken longer than you though initially?
Cheers 👍🏻 We’ve probably spent about £2000 so far. We had a few quotes before we started which were well in excess of £6000!
Initially we thought it would take 6 weeks during the summer as I had time off work, but that deadline went out the window quickly! I recon we’re still another 6 months away from finishing, but that’s just because we’re trying to get odd jobs in around our work. But despite that, I’m so glad we decided to do it ourselves. Learnt loads along the way - but I have made plenty of mistakes too 🤣
@@NoviceGardener that's a decent saving! Really rate how accurate you got the paving tiles too. I guess a bonus of doing it yourself is you're fully in control of details like that. Looking forward to the next installment.
Great video.
New subber.
Nice skating 😂
🤣
We have a very similar situation in our new build! Garden sloping towards the house and clay... Our drainage is shocking too! We are looking to do something similar to what you've started. Eagily awaiting your next video!
Had this problem in a new build, if they’re still doing work on site, see if you can get them to install a French drain for you.. the drainage in your garden shouldn’t be your problem to resolve. Best of luck . Definitely look into a French drain
Nice job mate. How big in m² was the area in you laid the top soil. Thanks
Cheers 👍🏻
It is around 35 square metres - give or take.
Where did you get your topsoil from? I’m Merseyside ways so be handy to know somewhere decent for when I do mine in a couple of weeks. Ta.
It was a farm in Rainford. Not sure how far they deliver.
@@NoviceGardener thanks. I’m not far from there. How much did they charge per ton/bag?
I got 5 tonnes for just over £100. But I had a quote recently of £120 for 2 tonnes - prices have definitely gone up! But still far cheaper than going down the Rolawn route!
@@NoviceGardener deffo. I’ve been quoted £45 a ton delivered from a place in downholland or 50 if bagged. So not too bad.
Which sand did you use?
Did you mix the sand?
There was some sand content in this top soil, about 30%.
I'll be rolling turf on top of my new lawn. Biggest problem is levelling, I won't buy a lute that I'll only use once so I'll add some weight to my rake and take my time. I don't think the lawn will be perfectly level.
I thought the same about a lawn lute - some of the prices are ridiculous for something you’ll only ever use a handful of times!
Hope your project goes well 👍🏻
How much (on average) of top soil did you need? My garden is just slightly larger so it would help me calculate 😅
I got 5 tonnes. But to be honest, you can't buy too much! The more the merrier! The worst thing you can do is put too little down as the roots won't have a thick enough soil level to grow into.
How big roughly is the area in m2?
Please hw do you deal with water
If you put 1" of soil down and then walk on it and repeat, you will get a very good compaction. Too bad that you did not have a rental yard that had the large rubber drum with a handle to compact the soil.
You didn't need a spreader lol you did it the old fashioned way and I'm sure that was good enough people always wanna input their ideas but little things like that are just gimmick...i have 6 years pro groups keeper experience including scaping and hand spreading works just as good as any spreader it's just more time consuming and requires a slight of finesse that's all....
Could have used a roller would have saved you untold time and a yellow plastic rake, you'd have got a better level and run on the soil. Decent thorough job though.
What top soil was used
It was 70 soil, 30 sand (roughly anyway). Just from a local supplier.
I just had put 6tons, layed it down and a day later, it's full of little balls of soil
The real problem with clay is compaction. Walking on clay, even when slightly wet can create dips in the soil above. The problem is the new top soil may be dry, but the clay beneath damp or indeed saturated with water.
Lol you’re not supposed to compact clay,you’re supposed to take it out and put sand and start compacting
are u irish tap dancing mate..😂
🤣
Just buy a garden Lute