20 sq ft of earth - how do i patch it???

[Moonstone6]

HI There,

Next week we are going to be ripping out roughly 20 sq ft of decking from our garden which was there when we moved in.

Obviously this is going to leave a very large patch of earth that is underneath, but we cannot afford to buy astroturf, and i have been advised that grass seed wont cut it on that scale, so i was wondering how i could fill it with grass (or anything really) so to avoid having this big ugly patch of earth which will just begin growing weeds??

Thank you

[rowanwitch]

of course you can re seed it, dig it over really well removing any large stones and working the soil to a fine crumb texture, and firm down well levelling it as you go with the edge of a long plank
rake the surface and water well, sow grassseed of an appropriate type depending on shade/amount of use etc and keep off it not the best time to do this but if you keep the soil well watered and manage to keep the birds off youwill get a fair result,, covering the soil with polythene once you have sown the seed will help until the seed starts to grow.

Good luck, just be patient you may need to seed any bare patches later but by next spring you should be ok

[flitty]

Why not turf it.You can have it delivered in rolls and make sure the surface is flaT AND STONE FREE AND JUST LAY IT AND ROOL IT THEN KEEP IT REALLY WELL WATERED. pOSSIBLY PUT A BIT OF SAND AND BONEMEAL UNDERNEATH TO FEED IT. mUCH EASIER THAN SEEDING.

SORRY ABOUT CAP LOCKS, COMPUTER KEYBOARD PLAYING UP

[Clanad]

That's actually not a very large patch... 20 square feet is on the order of 5 feet wide by 4 feet long... unless you mean 20 feet square, in which case you're looking at 400 square feet... truly a daunting job.

Assuming your first estimate is correct, it would be a short bit of work to spade it up, turn it over level and smooth the clods, removing any grass or weed clumps, re-seeding with a mixture of shade and sun grass seed (don't skimp on the seed), rake it in and water daily, never ever letting it dry out. For really good results see if you can locate (probably a farm supply type store) about a pound of oats seed... the kind a farmer would sow and plant. Plant it with the grass seed (more sparingly, probably just a couple of handfulls). It makes a really good 'nurse' crop to shade the new grass seedlings and draw moisture to them. After the frist mowing... voila! it's gone! Best of luck!

[Moonstone6]

Hi

Sorry, yes i did mean 20 feet square, its a huge piece of land really (it had a swimming pool in the middle of it), so a very scary job!

I'd like to give the grass seed a go but my partner thinks it will be futile as we have a dog who is bound to want to route around in it. But i guess if i try the polythene sheet over the top, it would stop him!?