Autumn lawn care.......

[R.O.S.S.I]

Not sure how I missed this

Still early Autumn so a renovation isn't an issue if ground temps are going to remain above 10oC.

It all depends on the state of the lawn to begin with. If it's got big dips and humps and full of weeds and just crap, you are best to nuke it in the Spring and start again as doing it now is going to take you in mid/late Sept and the new seed may not establish well enough for the Winter. Again, it's dependant.on the temps and weather so, generally, the further South you are, the longer your growing season.

Essentially tho it's:

1. This step is only required if you want a full clean slate like described above - Spray with a non selective herbicide e.g Glyphosate around end of March/start of April. The timing should be about 3-4 weeks prior to you reseeding to give it time to kill off the old grass and weeds and then for the weedkiller to decompose so it won't affect new seed

<4 weeks later>

2. Scalp the lawn and make sure it's all lifted (bagged mower)

3. Scarify on multiple passes to remove all the dead growth and bag it all (you can use your mower again to help lift the hidden debris once you have raked it all up)

4. Apply topsoil and level out to remove all the dips. Any high spots can be dug out if necessary. You want a nice level seed bed

5. Overseed with your grass seed

6. Top dress with compost (not 70/30). 70/30 is ok for levelling but contains very little nutrients and doesn't hold moisture as it's mostly sand. Using compost provides nutrients into the seed bed for when the seed germinates and also holds moisture better to keep the seed bed moist.

7. Optionally you can fleece the seed but it's only really needed if the ground is cold for heat retention and if you have a a bird issue eating your seed.

8. Water in. Ideally you would 3-4 times a day for the first 7-10 days. Little and often - the idea is to keep the seed moist but not soaked. The seed will absorb the moisture and with the heat from the ground, swell and burst letting the seedling germinate .. if it's kept wet, you have the potential of the seed rotting away.



If your lawn is decent enough and just needs a mini renovation (you're happy enough with the level and the weed count so doesn't need nuked) then you can follow the above but miss out steps 1 and 4.


There's a good few videos on YouTube that demonstrates a lot of it. Try Daniel Hilbert Lawn Expert

I'll warn you though - lawncare can be a right rabbit hole. If you're not careful, it can become an obsession and an expensive one at that

My original question about maintenance was referring to a lawn that is pretty well established.

I don't want to kill mine off and start from scratch, I just want to set it on the right foot to get through the winter.

Would you say my approach is decent enough of:

1. Mowing it down
2. Scarifying the lawn
3. Aerate with hollow tune aerator
4. Fertilise and add any treatment
5. Seed in patches that are bare and give a general overseed across the lawn
6. Apply a top dressing and use a lute to level it off
7. Cover with sheet to stop birds pecking at it!

Should i apply some top dressing down and rake new seed into it, or just spread new seed onto the newly scarified and aerated lawn and spread thin layer of soil on the top?

I've got a pallet which im going to fashion into a DIY lute.

Also, would 70/30 top dressing be a better choice for me wanting to overseed on already decent soil/grass? I was always lead to believe that it would be the best choice.

 

[Richie]

My original question about maintenance was referring to a lawn that is pretty well established.

I don't want to kill mine off and start from scratch, I just want to set it on the right foot to get through the winter.

Would you say my approach is decent enough of:

1. Mowing it down
2. Scarifying the lawn
3. Aerate with hollow tune aerator
4. Fertilise and add any treatment
5. Seed in patches that are bare and give a general overseed across the lawn
6. Apply a top dressing and use a lute to level it off
7. Cover with sheet to stop birds pecking at it!

You have a couple of steps mixed up so, taking what you have put above and modifying it a bit:

1. Mowing it down
2. Aerate with hollow tune aerator - optional, depends on your ground but wont do any harm
3. Scarifying the lawn (do the scarifying after the aerating. This will help break up the plugs left on the top which can then go back into the soil.
4. Fertilise and add any treatment see point A below
5. Seed in patches that are bare and give a general overseed across the lawn
6. Apply a top dressing and use a lute to level it off - see point B below
7. Cover with sheet to stop birds pecking at it!


A: Dont fertilise when overseeding. You have cut the existing grass short and all fertilising will do is allow the established grass to grow quick and crowd out the grass seed even more. Also, fertiliser can scorch new seed. You can add actual fertiliser after the grass has had around its 2nd cut when the new seed is a bit more established.

B: You use a lawn lute to level the ground BEFORE you seed it. Using it after just pushes the seed around making it gather in clumps resulting in too much seed competing in one area and bare spots in others.

Should i apply some top dressing down and rake new seed into it, or just spread new seed onto the newly scarified and aerated lawn and spread thin layer of soil on the top?

I've got a pallet which im going to fashion into a DIY lute.

Seeding should be done on an already levelled and prepared base. Once you seed, all you should be doing is spreading a thin layer of compost over it and then sheeting (if you want to sheet that is)

Also, would 70/30 top dressing be a better choice for me wanting to overseed on already decent soil/grass? I was always lead to believe that it would be the best choice.

70/30 is a mix of 70% sand and 30% topsoil. It is used to level and make a base for the seed to be sown on and also used to spread over and level an established lawn however there is very little nutrients in it as its mostly sand (sand has no nutrient value but is ok with a thin layer as the seed roots will push through to the ground below). When you have sown your seed, you should use a decent quality compost to cover your seed. As the seed germinates, it has easy access to nutrients from the compost to help establishment (then you can fertilise as mentioned above from the 2nd cut)

70/30 is marketed as "Top Dressing" but, for new seed, compost is better.


The new seed needs 3 things to germinate:

1. Moisture (not soaking, just constantly moist soil which the seed can absorb and swell)
2. Heat (ground temps above circa 10°C but depends on grass type - Rye can germinate at lower temps, followed by Fescue and then Bentgrass
3. Soil contact - don't be afraid to lightly tramp the area once you have the compost top dressing down to make sure the seed to soil contact is good

 

[R.O.S.S.I]

So i want to use an aerator as ive got very clay'y ground and we do have quite poor drainage in areas so figured an aerator would help.
Noted on the scarifying, do i still want to scarify potentially clay clumps back into the ground?
So i need apply some top dress on the ground after scarification and level it off first - then add my seed on top of that - gotcha!
Is there a particular type of compost i should use to cover the seeds then instead of 70/30? I thought using 70/30 on top was good too as it allows easier growth of seeds through it as it will only be a thin layer to lightly cover the seed?

 

[Richie]

Noted on the scarifying, do i still want to scarify potentially clay clumps back into the ground?

In that case do the aerating after the scarifying and rake up the cores that come out.

Is there a particular type of compost i should use to cover the seeds then instead of 70/30? I thought using 70/30 on top was good too as it allows easier growth of seeds through it as it will only be a thin layer to lightly cover the seed?

Not really any particular. One that spreads easy and isn't full of crap. That Daniel Hibbert uses Field Compost No4 but it can be quite pricey depending on how much you need. TBH, I just used bags of compost from B&M and it worked fine. I forget which I used. The last renovation I did, I didnt even put any covering on the seeds and it worked fine. You will need to fleece them if you do this though else the birds will have a feast (ask me how I know )


DH has a lot of videos but this one seems to be the most concise:

Once you've done it a couple of times, it all starts to make sense

TBH though, I am hoping my one next year will be the last for a long time as it gets annoying ... I did one this year but the weather up here has been absolutely crap so, although the grass has taken ok, I ant to do one more to bolster the sward a bit and then leave it alone

 

[Richie]

Would you recommend using a Lawn Lute with top soil to level, after killing off existing lawn/weeds?

We had soil put in last November, this spring/summer it's been about 60% grass, 40% weeds and lumpy as anything.

I fancy the idea of making it my next project.

Sorry, I didnt see this... A Lawn Lute is a good tool but its one of those things you rarely use once you have the lawn level and is really for the obsessive people that want a bowling green flat lawn. When you couple that with the cost, it can be quite pricey. 95% of people will be happy with a large landscaping rake and the result it gives.

Of course, if you want to make your own then go for it... They can be built for much cheaper than retail.

 

[R.O.S.S.I]

In that case do the aerating after the scarifying and rake up the cores that come out.



Not really any particular. One that spreads easy and isn't full of crap. That Daniel Hibbert uses Field Compost No4 but it can be quite pricey depending on how much you need. TBH, I just used bags of compost from B&M and it worked fine. I forget which I used. The last renovation I did, I didnt even put any covering on the seeds and it worked fine. You will need to fleece them if you do this though else the birds will have a feast (ask me how I know )


DH has a lot of videos but this one seems to be the most concise:

Once you've done it a couple of times, it all starts to make sense

TBH though, I am hoping my one next year will be the last for a long time as it gets annoying ... I did one this year but the weather up here has been absolutely crap so, although the grass has taken ok, I ant to do one more to bolster the sward a bit and then leave it alone

Ok I'll have a look at B&M and not over think the compost choice. I'll deffo need to cover it though as I've seeded patches in the past which the birds have had a go at!

Thankfully I've only got a tiny patch of grass at about 28sqm, so not a big job in the slightest!

Sorry, I didnt see this... A Lawn Lute is a good tool but its one of those things you rarely use once you have the lawn level and is really for the obsessive people that want a bowling green flat lawn. When you couple that with the cost, it can be quite pricey. 95% of people will be happy with a large landscaping rake and the result it gives.

Of course, if you want to make your own then go for it... They can be built for much cheaper than retail.

I've seen people make them pallets and pallets off cuts. By attaching rope to them and dragging across the lawn surface. However my lawn isn't massively bumpy or anything so may be overkill for me.

 

[Richie]

Ok I'll have a look at B&M and not over think the compost choice. I'll deffo need to cover it though as I've seeded patches in the past which the birds have had a go at!

Thankfully I've only got a tiny patch of grass at about 28sqm, so not a big job in the slightest!


I've seen people make them pallets and pallets off cuts. By attaching rope to them and dragging across the lawn surface. However my lawn isn't massively bumpy or anything so may be overkill for me.

I didnt realise it was 28m2... You wont need to worry about a lute or pallet, a large landscaping rake will be fine and the renovation wont be that time consuming. About 4-5x 30l bags of compost should suffice TBH.

 

[R.O.S.S.I]

Yeh its not a big patch at all, so keen to put a bit of work into it and stand it in good stead for winter and next year! Main challenge is stopping the dog pee'ing on it!

 

[Blackvault]

I wish my lawn were only 28m2, as ours is something around 660m2!

Would it be best to renovate in small sections, based solely on the price of toil soil?

 

[R.O.S.S.I]

I didnt realise it was 28m2... You wont need to worry about a lute or pallet, a large landscaping rake will be fine and the renovation wont be that time consuming. About 4-5x 30l bags of compost should suffice TBH.

Would you say it is advisable once ive used the hollow tine to aerate the lawn, to use some 70/30 (or straight sand) across the lawn to fill in the gaps and aid drainage, or is it best practice to just leave the ground with lots of holes?

 

[Richie]

Would you say it is advisable once ive used the hollow tine to aerate the lawn, to use some 70/30 (or straight sand) across the lawn to fill in the gaps and aid drainage, or is it best practice to just leave the ground with lots of holes?

There are 2 opinions on it TBH and both have their points.

1. Leave the holes empty - argued that this alleviates compaction as the ground can "spread" into the holes
2. Fill with 70/30 - argue it improves drainage as it introduces sand right into the soil bed.

I dont really have an opinion TBH. I guess it depends what you are trying to achieve. Is your ground compacted or just poor drainage overall is the question to ask.


I have never deliberately filled them in. That's not to say that some 70/30 hasn't went into the holes when I was levelling however.

 

[R.O.S.S.I]

Its quite poor draining in general tbh as we have pretty thick clay under the garden, so think I may go the route of filling with 70/30.

 

[john_smith]

I get spammed this quite a lot on insta

The Lawn Pack

Custom lawn delivery packs specially designed to give you a healthy green lawn in just 4 weeks. With each pack measured out exactly for your lawn size, we provide a simple, stress-free way to transform and maintain your lawn.

thelawnpack.co.uk

Any good or just an expensive package you could buy yourself if you knew what to buy?

 

[CaptainRAVE]

I don’t do much at all in the autumn. Cut a bit higher and less often. I then come back to it in the spring for feeding, spot weed killer and last year a top up of clover seed, but that definitely won’t be needed next year.

 

[R.O.S.S.I]

I get spammed this quite a lot on insta

The Lawn Pack

Custom lawn delivery packs specially designed to give you a healthy green lawn in just 4 weeks. With each pack measured out exactly for your lawn size, we provide a simple, stress-free way to transform and maintain your lawn.

thelawnpack.co.uk

Any good or just an expensive package you could buy yourself if you knew what to buy?

I'm giving this a go, 100% could buy everything separately for cheaper but easier for me who is a complete novice and not sure what chemicals and treatments I need.

Going to use this after I scarify and aerate in the next week or so. Should hopefully last me for my autumn maintenance and my spring.

 

[john_smith]

Good luck. Their adverts certainly make it look "easy" and the results look great.

 

[sparton_SPA]

Question

I have sprayed a serving of Iron Sulphate - worked a treat.
A week later scarified the lawn

Now we are mid-September, what does everyone recommended I use for weed killer and lawn feed?

 

[Richie]

Any of the 4-in-1 will be sufficient for this time of year TBH.

 

[SoundsGood]

Question

I have sprayed a serving of Iron Sulphate - worked a treat.
A week later scarified the lawn

Now we are mid-September, what does everyone recommended I use for weed killer and lawn feed?

Be careful with iron based treatments, they can easily stain paths and patios etc