Do I Need A Lawn Roller

Discussion in 'Landscaping and Outdoors' started by gibbsy09, Sep 5, 2021.

  1. gibbsy09

    gibbsy09 Member

    Hi I'm going to be seeding a patch of my lawn soon, the area is 10m by 5m, I have riddled all the soil so it's quite clean, free of big stones and pretty soft, but I want it to be nice and flat and level as possible, and I want the seeds to bed in good to the soil, so I was thinking of getting a lawn roller but they are pretty expensive, but the most annoying thing is there is not alot of positive reviews for them, and I'll probably never use it again, so I was looking for any tips or tricks or alternatives, Thanks.
     
  2. sparky steve

    sparky steve Screwfix Select

    Hiring a roller may be an option for you?
    https://www.hss.com/hire/p/garden-roller

    Grass seeds are extremely lightweight, they'll nestle better in the uneven soil.
    I believe it's best to go over the scattered seeds with the lawn roller after seeding to ensure they actually make contact with the soil. By pressing them into the soil with the roller, they're more likely to stay in place and not get blown away by the wind.
     
  3. Kas228

    Kas228 Screwfix Select

    You don’t really need a roller to be honest, it’s always best to cover the seeds with a very thin layer of top soil anyway to help germination and stop the birds getting to them. As a make do get a 3 or 4 inch post of suitable length a screw or nail a large flat piece of timber to the bottom and then go over the whole area tamping down with the flat surface on the bottom, it will be quite heavy so will do the job just nicely. A bit of manual work but it will do the job and that will suffice rather than laying out for a roller you will never use. 5x10 m should only take 30 mins or so
     
    Deleted member 246321 likes this.
  4. ramseyman

    ramseyman Screwfix Select

    Garden rollers are a waste of time. The golden rule in creating a level seed bed is not to try to squeeze the 'hills' down but to level the 'valleys' up. You sound as if you have created a good friable tilth so on an area that size walk on your heels over it, lengthways and crossways then rake down. You could enlist a bit of help doing that and its certainly better than the gym for your calf muscles. After raking get a bit of four by two about eight feet long and attach a handle to it, bracing the ends to the handle with a couple of bits of batten. Drag that over length ways and cross ways to obtain a good level finish. You might need to do this whole operation two or three times but if you want a level lawn this is the stage to do it, not try to squeeze high spots down once you're through the winter with grass established but with soft spots which have settled.
     
  5. stevie22

    stevie22 Screwfix Select

    Nothing beats the good old gardener's shuffle
     
  6. gibbsy09

    gibbsy09 Member

    Hi thanks could you draw me a little diagram to explain what you mean with the wood and the batons please.
     
  7. ramseyman

    ramseyman Screwfix Select

    Useless at drawing, have a look at Screwfix product code 68216. That’s what you’d be replicating but heavier duty and wider ( without the teeth) for dragging the tilth level
     
  8. gibbsy09

    gibbsy09 Member

    This is what I have at the moment it looks is if it is high enough just now, but I think I'll manage to squeeze in a top layer as kas suggested, the wood at the back is where I'm creating the wedge, and behind that, there's going to be a small bank of dirt for those little shrubs in the picture, lol, the barriers are for downstairs dog lol, I'll have to put down netting to keep his dog off the seeds, and the birds, so I'm planning to hopefully create some hoops from thin PVC piping for the net to lay on top, the area was full of bricks from two old coal boxes lol.
     
  9. gibbsy09

    gibbsy09 Member

    Lol I forgot to add the pic
     

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  10. gibbsy09

    gibbsy09 Member

    Hi how do I find this do I do a search on the forum, Thanks.
     
  11. gibbsy09

    gibbsy09 Member

    Although I was thinking that the hoops may interfere with the seeding, each hoop is 20mm thick, and I'll probably put down about six, or am I just over thinking things, I am guilty of this lol, but the net needs to be so far off the ground.
     
  12. Abbadon2001

    Abbadon2001 Screwfix Select

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