Green Fingered Forum Users - Aerating lawn

BennyC

BennyC

BennyC

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Joined
25 Sep 2006
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I'm considering aerating my lawn and was wondering if anybody else here does?

I moved in to my house around 6 months ago and had the turf put down by the builders in November. They didn't appear to do an amazing job with the back garden in comparison to the front however it has taken and is growing.

I used a 4 in 1 feed recently and it grows rather rapidly and looks nice and plush & green. However after mowing, admittedly it is a bit short this time, it's true state can be seen. It is patchy in places with bits of dying grass all over the place:

20120522-na6y8mjd4gue8a2guwrfcb67kh.jpg


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A good comparison here:

20120522-rthmcy52swsd3dy5auhe4t1dne.jpg


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One of the worst parts where two rolls have been joined and nottaken well at all:

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When it has a few days/weeks growth it looks fairly respectable:

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From memory it the turf was laid onto a thin bed of sand and did take a while for the roots to grow down and the turf to attach in to the ground underneath.

I plan to aerate with a garden fork every 10/15 cm to a depth of about 10 cm to encourage some root growt, the exchange of gasses and to promote some water retention. The hose pipe ban probably isn't helping too much at the moment.

I guess I'm also after any other advice for natural remedy's before turning to any other products.

Thanks,

BennyC
 
Looks like you are simply cutting it too short and possibly with a dull mower blade. Don't apply any fertilizer if you aren't able to water it. If you're lucky it's just gone dormant from lack of water and will bounce back when it starts raining more often. If you're unlucky, it didn't establish well enough and died of thirst, nitrogen burn or possibly disease. Aerating isn't going to do much without being able to water it. The third pic, the top stuff looks good to me, I'd mow just below that height to even it up, about 3".
 
Some solid tine aerating would possibly help but the first picture to me looks more like you took more than a third off the length when you cut the grass, this stresses the grass and can cause problems.
Were the two rolls have been joined this is a sign of not enough watering and also using a 4 in 1 fertilizer in drought conditions isn't great as this can scorch the grass.
To be honest I can't tell from the pictures exactly what's what and don't understand the good comparison picture, is this before and after cutting?

It all depends how much time and money you are willing to put in to achieve the look you require, I cut mine twice a week and also aren't in a hose pipe ban.

I can't tell if it is mossy / was mossy, if the 4in1 contained iron sulphate this would have killed the moss but it there was a lot you may need to overseed to fill the gaps left.

I personally wouldn't bother aerating yet, spend you time and effort getting a regular mowing regime, possible get a local second hand electric scarifier off ebay, you should get one for £20 as you look in the first picture like you have some dead grass / thatch that could do with raking out or alternatively just give it a good raking.

I'll refer you to a thread I did a couple of years ago as this has some useful tips for getting your lawn in top shape.

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18012554&highlight=lawn+renovation

This is how mines looking at the moment, enjoy your gardening :)

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I aerated ours in the autumn as it was getting waterlogged. I also filled the holes made by the fork with sharp sand. It looked a bit of a state after i did it as I put 3 bags of sharp sand into the lawn, but now it seems to be growing stronger than ever.

I think I might get some seed for any patchy areas, just to fill it in a bit.
 
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