Lawn Care advice

[bettz]

Any tips on getting the grass back to looking healthy? The dog doesn't help we've been following her around with a watering can hoping that'll help.

Think I mowed the grass a little to short this weekend,plus I've bits that still need grass seeding but I've been putting it off as the weather's quite warm.

I've got a bag of evergreen 4 in 1 sitting in the shed

 

[Kaka]

Most lawns will be looking a bit sorry for itself during this weather unless you water it regularly.

There's a few things that can help such as not mowing too short and mulching. Taller grass provides more shade to the ground meaning it will dry out less. Mulching will return some of the nutrients back into the soil once it breaks down feeding the lawn.
If watering the lawn, do a thorough soak as it will promote a deeper and stronger root system.

 

[Participant]

Looking at that I would:

Fertilise with some Scott's lawn food or similar, closely following the instructions about application rates and time before and after mow

Mow higher and more regularly (twice a week)

Top dress and overseed, using a good top soil and compost, probably in the autumn now due to kids and approaching warm weather, ensuring it's level, as it looks scalped in a couple of places. If possible scarify before overseeding.

Get a sprinkler (tenner from Amazon) and water every few days if there's no rain. Water every day until the seed germinates and is established.

Don't worry about not overseeding due to warm weather as long as you are disciplined with the watering. Shouldn't be too hard to water that area. It's great weather for germination with the higher temperatures. Just put a thin layer of compost down over the top of the seeds. I've found grass seed germinates much better when covered by material rather than just sitting on top of it.

 

[toprock]

Cut too short, try 4.5-5 on the mower, as with the lack of rain for 2 months now all lawns are feeling the effects.

 

[Bloodrayne]

Hope you don't mind me jumping in with a semi-related query OP - but my front lawn is looking particularly sad for itself currently, very yellow, very dry - is it worth watering regularly to attempt to revive it? Or will it likely perk up when it stops being sunny? As it's on the front sprinkers are out so it would be something I'd have to actively manage, but wasn't sure if grass just goes dormant and returns when conditions allow (and if watering would just encourage more daisies), or if I've neglected gardens throughout my whole adult life...

Sadly, it's also a lawn that we share with a neighbour who has helpfully cut it today, so it's very short and very dry... It might be a lost cause...

 

[Kaka]

Depends how long it's been at that stage. If you are to start now you need to be consistent with the watering. Do a thorough deep soaking to ensure the roots are getting the required amount of water, at least once or twice a week.

 

[Bloodrayne]

Thanks - since the start of the weekend I would say, very dry, grass not springy at all, yellow and obviously any water will ‘sit’ on the top initially because it is so dry...

Not sure if it’s too far gone, or if I need to intervene before I end up with naught but mud - however the various council grass verges are just as bad, so perhaps grass is hardy enough to cope with the dry spell so long as it’s not being trampled?

 

[CaptainRAVE]

Most grass will survive a drought, even if it looks like the lot is dead. Can't harm to give it a sprinkle of water every evening though.

 

[#Chri5#]

I read somewhere the other day that you need to put 1" of water on the lawn for it to be any use. Stick a couple of tubs out if you're using a sprinkler and see how long it takes to get that much water in them.

 

[Bloodrayne]

Most grass will survive a drought, even if it looks like the lot is dead. Can't harm to give it a sprinkle of water every evening though.

See I thought that - but then read that apparently you're not meant to water in the evenings, it's meant to be more of a morning thing? Google brings up all kind of advice, but I'm not sure how relevant it all is to my lawn (far from perfect, just don't want it to descend into mud).

It sounds like it should be fine... but I might invest in a sprinkler all the same.

Thanks

 

[CaptainRAVE]

Early in the morning is probably better.

 

[toprock]

Currently sprinkler on every night, only two turns of tap, but leave going for 30 minutes then rotate to do another area, leaves it absolutely drenched underfoot. Grass still lush and green, but was starting to yellow a few weeks back, no rain here since start of May, bar two days of spitting.

 

[Dynix]

Give it a good watering in the morning (not evening if you can avoid it) - I give 20-30 minutes per half of the garden. During Spring/Summer, I use "EverGreen Spray and Feed Lawn Food Spray" once a month (ish) which makes it a really lovely lush green colour and helps kick it up the bottom a little. Let it grow longer and cut the grass higher.

We also use "Dog Rocks Urine Patch Preventer" with our dog. Results vary and you'll find the reviews are very mixed, but we've found that it definitely helps with our dog, but it's hard to avoid completely when it's as hot as it is lately!

 

[DXP55]

First off you need to make sure you don't have any Chaffer grubs in there - My back lawn looks the same - If you can pull out those dead looking parts with your hand then you probably have - Those holes just pulled out and I could lift grass like a rug - If you haven't got grubs then a massive scarify /raking will work wonders then do as others have said - weed and feed - let it grow higher - keep raking and in summer start feeding - do you have a female dog - they ruin lawns.

This is my back lawn - since this picture I have scarified it again and again and the only grass to show now is patchy - My plan is to kill it off as soon as possible before winter then keep scarifying - I have nearly 2" of thatch to get up - Then next spring I will rake it as level as I can - spread bags of compost on and re-seed.

This is my top front lawn - did the same last year on this but also dug it over - got loads of grubs out of it - leveled and seeded and since this picture I have cut it numerous times and it looks great. - It not an easy job so I hope you don't have the grubs which by the way eat the roots of your grass.