[Richard Slater]

Assuming a height of cut of about 50mm / 2 inches, how the seed bed be levelled relative to the hardscaping, be that hard edging for the borders of the path that runs down the side of the garden?

A: Level with the path so that the grass "sticks out" above the path

• + can run the reel straight over the path to cut the grass smoothly along the edge
• + the grass kind of pops in the garden this way
• - over time might settle to below the path line requiring topping up 10mm at a time
• - mower will not actually be touching the soil and will be a few mm over the soil on the turf

B: Below the level of the path

• + as thatch layer turf builds up will come up to meet the path level
• - looks kind of dull
• - could be dangerous to the reel
• - will need to strim round the edges otherwise I will end up with a raised edge

C: Above the level of the path

• + as the grass settles will end up dropping down
• - looks ugly
• - very hard to fix after the fact, however can be acheived with a verticutter and blowing the soil out

Here is the plan of the back garden:

 

[Redtenchu]

Nicely written, pros and cons to everything we do. I prefer A, it's the most cosmeticly appealing.

 

[Jericho574]

A looks the best
B could be dangerous to the reel
C is what I've been "blessed with"

 

[wardconnor]

I like option A. Option C is a pain. I have some of all three options in various places. I try to lift my B areas with sand to be an option A.

 

[Mightyquinn]

I too like option A but I have a lot of Option C. The best way I have found to remedy the issue is to take my verticutter and set it low and go along the area to remove some of the soil, once it's loose you can use a broom or a blower to move the soil to another area or remove it all together.

 

[g-man]

All of the above will be a function of your soil type. A heavy clay soil will look like B when it is dry and like C when it is wet. Also consider that B will eventually become more like A as the organic matter in the soil increases over time. If I could go back in time, I would start my lawn at B.

 

[Richard Slater]

Thanks for the comments, I've updated a couple of the pro's and con's

Interesting that clay can have such a pronounced effect, I have very loam'y/silt'y free draining soil so I suppose that will have a less pronounced effect on the height of the soil. I think I am going to go for 'A' as I am concerned that I will damage the hardscaping and/or the reel is all slate so will show damage quite substantially.

 

[ken-n-nancy]

I'm a big fan of "Option A" for both appearance and maintenance reasons.

Looks like a wonderful garden layout. Can't wait to see pics after it's done!