[Abbica]

Hi, we are doing up our lawn soon and we live down a drive in the middle of a field and need to put up farm fencing. We haven't touched our garden yet and need to start preparing our soil for seeds for spreading in April. Would it be better to go digging up the wholes now for the fence poles etc and then sowing our seeds or would we be better sowing the seed in april and perhaps in August doing our fence then? Just don't want all the digging and trench work to ruin our lawn or would it?

[Sive]

I would imagine you are better off doing any "structural" work before you establish your grass. Is there any reason why you wouldn't do your fence first ?
Could I suggest to you also to think ahead....if you plan to plant a hedge along the fence, you could put bare-root plants in straight after you build the fence......no point in having to dig out grass in another year when you decide to plant a hedge ! You can save yourself a lot of work by forward planning !

[Abbica]

Thanks Sive, that is good advice. We do want to plant bare rooted red robin laurel along our fence, so realistically we should start doing our fence in February (can you plant laurel then?), get the soil weedkilled and prepared in March, sow seed in april. God, I am wrecked thinking of it. So this would be the recommended course of action?

[James Kilkelly]

Fence before lawn would be my advice as well.
Laurel can still be planted bareroot or from containers in Feb.

[Abbica]

thanks again James