newbie ,advice to start border

[amberspy]

hi there
im looking for advice im quite new to gardening in a way ,last year i got decking at back ,so got lot pots on there ,now im thinking of tackling the lawn its quite squareish ive few swings and chute for kids there ,but im looking to try make bottom of garden maybe a circle or a shaped border but no idea how to get started i not i need take grass of were border going to be ,no idea best way to shape it or best way to get grass off
any advice be great
sorry for long email

[SarzWix]

Hi

I've moved your thread out of Growing Techniques into an appropriate board.

Many Thanks

http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...here_4846.html

[Creemteez]

Hi Amberspy,
I suggest you get yourself a legnth of hose pipe or washing line and arrange it in the shape you want the edge of you boarder to be.
If you have an upstairs window that over looks your garden, it makes it easier to see if the shape "works".
Once you are happy with your design, use a spade or an edging tool - if you have one - to follow the shape created by the hosepipe. Just use your feet to pust the spade straight down through the grass for a couple of inches. You won't need to go any deeper as lawn grass roots don't go very deep
When you've marked out the edge of your new bed in this way, it would be worth "cutting" the grassy area you DON'T want into strips in the same way. Then you can remove the grass by holding the spade almost flat and pushing it under the turf so it detatches it from the soil. (This is hard to describe - I hope I'm making sense!) The turf should lift off in strips. Whatever you do, don't throw the turfs away! If you have room somewhere out of the way, stack them up - grass side to grass side, and in a few months you'll have some lovely loam to either add back to your new border or use mixed with All Purpose Compost for filling pots.
Once you've taken the grass off dig the soil beneath over using a garden fork (it'll be much easier that a spade), remove any dandelion roots, add a bag or two of compost and you're good to plant!
Don't hurt yourself in the process and get friends/family to help!

[Two_Sheds]

I am digging up my lawn for borders too.
I'm very lazy, and am just burying my turf a spit (8 inches) deep. Not much of it is regrowing, and it's less work than taking it off, stacking it up and composting it.

I mark out my edges with a trail of flour (circle ish shapes) and then dig them out.

[Eyren]

A very thorough description there from Creemteez! If you find that pictures help, here's my blog page about the herb bed I created a few weeks ago:

Creating a herb garden (Small Plot? No Problem!)