Lawn advice please!

utajoker · 5 Jul 2019 at 21:46

Hi so this is my first time looking after grass.

New build in April with fresh rolled turf. Watered it for a solid 3 weeks every day until it started raining and let that take over. It has rooted in nicely but it is just really patchy.

Its been down nearly 3 months and looks like this right now:

This was a week ago after a mow the day before:

Basically what do i need to do to get it nice and green and nicely maintained?

I think i may need to reseed a few of the patchy areas?

Any help much appreciated!

bremen1874 · 5 Jul 2019 at 21:49

From the looks of it, you may be cutting it a bit short and stressing it.

Participant · 5 Jul 2019 at 21:58

Fertiliser. Cheapish on eBay. I use Ivisons.

Kaka · 5 Jul 2019 at 23:57

A few things.

Are you watering it enough? Do you know what grass type you have? If you can get close up shots that would help.

Al-Ectrician · 5 Jul 2019 at 23:59

What’s the soil like ?

Drainage ?

BennyC · 6 Jul 2019 at 07:17

Feed it.
Mow it regularly (little & often).

Don't mow during extreme heat or drought.

utajoker · 6 Jul 2019 at 11:13

Kaka said:
A few things.

Are you watering it enough? Do you know what grass type you have? If you can get close up shots that would help.

I haven't watered it since the initial 3 weeks of it being laid. It has rained on and off.

Al-Ectrician said:
What’s the soil like ?

Drainage ?

No drainage issues, i have no idea what the soil underneath is, nothing was put down before the grass was rolled out though. There are a few bits of brick and rock dotted about. Thry did a bit of a crap job who ever put the grass In.

BennyC said:
Feed it.
Mow it regularly (little & often).

Don't mow during extreme heat or drought.

I have been mowing once a week for the last month. I will try raising my cutting blade a bit this weekend.

I did a weed and feed last week also

Scooter72 · 6 Jul 2019 at 11:42

New build gardens and turf are always a struggle. Little tip soil before the lawn was laid and drainage will be poor.

As said above little and often, never take more than a third off and use a fertiliser. I use a mulching lawn mower as well which chops the cuttings into little pieces and leaves them on the grass so at least some of the nutrients will go back in. And you don’t have to do tip runs with grass cuttings

Kaka · 6 Jul 2019 at 11:58

I would suspect it is suffering from heat stress if you haven't been supplementing with water or scorching from the feed and weed. I tend to avoid feeding in the summer unless you have warm season grass and have good irrigation. If you want to add a feed in the summer for your cool season grass, I would either opt for an organic based one or if going the synthetic route then one with a relatively low nitrogen content.

Mowing higher as mentioned would also be beneficial especially in the summer. Longer grass blades will hold more moisture and be better in photosynthesis. Not only that but it will also provide better shade for the soil reducing the need to water as much and cut down on weed infestation by crowding it out.

moon man · 8 Jul 2019 at 06:54

Scooter72 said:
New build gardens and turf are always a struggle. Little tip soil before the lawn was laid and drainage will be poor.

As said above little and often, never take more than a third off and use a fertiliser. I use a mulching lawn mower as well which chops the cuttings into little pieces and leaves them on the grass so at least some of the nutrients will go back in. And you don’t have to do tip runs with grass cuttings

bottom of my garden can get a little like that from time to time ,i also use the mulching attachment on my lawn mower and also set it to level 3 ,not too short so it retains moisture, never used a fertilizer tbh

psd99 · 8 Jul 2019 at 09:10

good post
any tips for moss? its all but taken over my lawn.

Randomface74 · 8 Jul 2019 at 09:14

psd99 said:
any tips for moss? its all but taken over my lawn.

https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=422

psd99 · 8 Jul 2019 at 12:02

thanks looks like the time to start removing this moss will be in early autumn

psd99 · 8 Jul 2019 at 12:06

when you mention mulching lawn mower
what does it mean>?

I got this yellow plastic thing I never use it. it supposedly fits inside the bag - is that a mulcher?

SuperOwl86 · 8 Jul 2019 at 14:26

A mulching mower means you dont need to have the grass collector on. Inside the mower they should be a plug to stop the grass going to the collection box instead it gets cut into fine pieces and is deposited back onto the grass helping to feed at the same time.

200sols · 8 Jul 2019 at 15:07

utajoker said:
Basically what do i need to do to get it nice and green and nicely maintained?

Dig it all up, take out the layer of crap the builders left behind, get in nice new suitable subsoil and sow a decent seed.

SpeedFreak · 9 Jul 2019 at 12:21

200sols said:
Dig it all up, take out the layer of crap the builders left behind, get in nice new suitable subsoil and sow a decent seed.

I wouldn't bother, as long as it's draining ok it should be fine.

I would hollow tine and brush sand in it each year, give it feed, let it grow and only take off about a third of the length for each cut.

SpeedFreak · 9 Jul 2019 at 12:37

edit, wrong thread!

psd99 · 9 Jul 2019 at 13:31

sand? what type of sand building sand?

SpeedFreak · 9 Jul 2019 at 13:52

psd99 said:
sand? what type of sand building sand?

That's what I use, sharp sand is a bit too coarse.