Lawns- keep or move?

[Ouch]

Given there's been recent discussion on lawns here recently, I figured this would be a good place to ask..

my back-garden project, along with patios and drainage will feature a lawn. There is one already, it's pretty good, fairly flat, weed-free and fairly resilient to the abuse its had recently. However it only occupies about 3/4 of the space I'm intending to be lawn.

So I've got 2 options as I see it:

1 - Add turf around the edge, and hope it doesn't look too much like a patchwork.

2 - Hire a turf cutter, and move the whole lawn into the front garden where the lawn is in much poorer state and could do with nuking. Then re-turf the whole back garden area.

The second option appeals as it would also give me the chance to fix a few low spots where I backfilled (badly) after installing a land drain, plus also I get to fix the front garden a bit (bring the level up around an irritating IC cover), and have and even, level lawn in the back. - Is it worth the extra hassle though? Has anyone transplanted a lawn in this way successfully? What do I need to beware of?

[Jimmy Conway]

Why's front lawn so bad? Find out why and if possible remedy problems before relaying. Shade? Waterlogged? Poor soil? Etc....

Hire a decent turf cutter. I hired one that was apparently good but it was crap, one of the brew cabin contributors could possibly advise what's a good one.

You want turf cut to even thickness so it's easier to lay.

Don't cut it too thin or you might get shredded edges.

Make sure turf is cut in straight lines, making it easier to lay. If you overlap turf cutter from one line into another it's best left aside if possible as it will complicate laying procedure using bits different widths.

Wouldn't do any harm to rotivate ground before laying.

Get pre plant fertiliser from garden centre to encourage root development.

The hard work is probably in the ground preparation, worth taking your time.

Hope this helps.

[lemoncurd1702]

Option 3:New turf, front and back.

[lutonlagerlout]

turf is relatively cheap to buy
why bother trying to relay old stuff?
the work is in the prep
LLL

[Ouch]

There's nothing wrong with the old lawn at the back - in fact it's rather good, lush, thick, not 'clumpy', pretty weed free. the only problem is it's not big enough. Hence my desire to re-use it rather than essentially destroy it.

Front lawn has suffered from abuse as well as weeds, poor levels, a poor-draining patch and a too-high IC. Abuse from having various bulk bags dropped on it and left over the winter, weeds of every and all types, there's a low patch where I removed some pampas-grass years ago which now doesn't drain too well.. the list goes on..

Thus my thinking: replace bad with good, put new where good was.

[lutonlagerlout]

replace bad with new, leave good well alone
LLL :;):

[Ouch]

...even if good isn't big enough and needs turf around 2 edges?

[seanandruby]

Seems that whatever you do it will involve a lot of work. I would work out the most viable and easiest option. Sounds like you need to sort the weed problem before laying anything there. This job sounds like a labour of love which only you can solve.
I bet there isn't a person on here who looks at his garden and thinks i need to change something. I'm in a rented cottage and have changed the layout 3 times in the 18 months i've been living here. It's all time consuming work.