Transformation - field into lawn

[Floodfamilyagain]

Hello, the barn we are hoping to buy for renovation is situated on the edge of a field about 1 1/2 acres in size.Part of which will eventually be converted into our garden/lawn area.( I'm not that ambituous to turn the whole field into garden!)
What is the best approach to cultivating part of the field into a garden/lawned area? Start from scratch and plough? resow? It has course grass dispersed between big weeds and at the moment is uneven.
I want advice on the best approach to doing this from those of you that may have taken on such a task? What equipment would you highly recommend purchasing rather than say hiring or borrowing? I know this is going to take some years and a LOT of hard labour to turn into an established garden so have put my rose tinted specs away!
Any advice greatly appreciated
Natalie

[Iceni]

LAST EDITED ON 04-May-04 AT 08:52 AM (BST)

Live with the land as is for at least a year. Last year our field was fine and we decided which part to leave as wildflower meadow (this had already been done over the years by the previous owners cutting for hay and not feeding the land) and which part to make into flower/veg and lawn garden.

This year a goodly part is flooded (it did not flood last year at all) and the grass that we cut in a recent dry spell is now like silage - so we will not be having a lawn. We have decided to grow willows along the wet area and I have the cuttings gaily rooting in water.

There are hundreds if not thousands of bulbs in the wildflower meadow - so we will finally see this year what they are - the cowslips, lungwort and the other myiraid wild flowers gave us a show last year that we could not recreate in a formal setting and they are doing it again this year if a little later.

Being a barn field like ours you need to find out what they used the field for - best of luck - oh, I can hear a chainsaw, better go and see what the 'lads' are up to.

Di
http://www.iceni-it.co.uk

[Pucette<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3>Pucette<FONT><P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt">"Qui ne connaît pas la campagne lhiver, ne connaît pas la campagne et ne connaît pas]

As far as the grass goes it depends on what kind of finish you want but regular mowing will favourise the grasses, and the more often it is done the finer the grasses favourised. So you will get what is acceptable to most people just by mowing but if you want a croquet lawn you would be better off starting from scratch.
If you want a large vegetable garden it is a good idea to get it ploughed and harrowed first; borders or a small patch can be done with a spade and fork.