Mowing the lawn

The six scaredy cat young plants have arrived - they’re little plugs and seedlings.
However the cat seems to have got the message and uses the side area which is ok, although i planted some bulbs there.. probably ex-bulbs.
Will repot tomorrow as i’ve just walked 15 miles and everything is seized up.

Today has been a scorcher. So the watering can this evening.
 
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Back to putting the sprinkler on the lawn. Won’t be cutting it for a bit unless we get some rain again. Hasn’t rained in ages here. Nothing on the forecast either.
 
I only said to other half yesterday had she seen the colour of the grass, its going very brown already.

We ow have some rain forecast for tomorrow. I was planning to grab some feed and weed but now the timing doesn't work.
Typically you want to put that down 48 hours before some rain comes to wash the feed part into the soil.

Week after next looks likely though as its now showing wet all week, so will get some ordered and keep a closer eye on the forecast.
 
Mercenary Keyboard Warrior said:
I only said to other half yesterday had she seen the colour of the grass, its going very brown already.

We ow have some rain forecast for tomorrow. I was planning to grab some feed and weed but now the timing doesn't work.
Typically you want to put that down 48 hours before some rain comes to wash the feed part into the soil.

Week after next looks likely though as its now showing wet all week, so will get some ordered and keep a closer eye on the forecast.
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I've been giving mine a couple of watering can after dusk simply to keep the new grass seed alive. It seems quite happy in the sun but the ground is already starting to harden up in the baking sun. Will need to put in another batch of seed in the ground too this week. I noted through my sunglasses that some of the grass had a darker almost blue-black tint to them so I think the old rye is finding the current sun/heat a problem already. The new seed seems happy as Larry.

I repotted the scaredy cat, in the conservatory and some of the plug soil was in the ground. The cat seemed like she wasn't happy about it and then smelt the soil and vacated the area.. seems to work :D
 
I'm fully expecting a hosepipe ban here in the next month or so if the weather doesn't change. Our grass is looking a little sad at the moment.
 
fez said:
I'm fully expecting a hosepipe ban here in the next month or so if the weather doesn't change. Our grass is looking a little sad at the moment.
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Given the last year and winter I'd be surprised. They've had considerable water to replenish, perhaps not in the SE (bewl bridge) but in areas with collection and runoff like Wales (lln brenig) for example.

Regional Reservoir Level Highlights (April 2026)
  • London & Thames Valley: Reservoirs were 94% full, with West London at 93% and Lee Valley at 96%. Farmoor in Oxfordshire was at 99%.
  • North West & Pennines: Total regional stock stood at 94% as of 19th April, with Haweswater & Thirlmere at 98.3% and Pennine sources at 87%.
  • South West: Major strategic reservoirs (Colliford, Roadford, Wimbleball) are reported to be full, with Devon and Cornwall levels ahead of targets.
  • Anglian Water Region: As of 13th April, Ardleigh was at 87.58%, Grafham at 86.51%, and Pitsford at 95.92%.
  • Bristol Water: Cheddar reservoir was at 95% storage on 22nd April, higher than the same period in 2025.
  • Scotland: Levels are strong, with the South (98%), West (99%), and East (98%) areas all holding high capacity, while the North is at 93%.
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NickK said:
Given the last year and winter I'd be surprised. They've had considerable water to replenish, perhaps not in the SE (bewl bridge) but in areas with collection and runoff like Wales (lln brenig) for example.
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We always have enough rain in the UK to never see a hosepipe ban. The issue is nothing to do with rainfall and everything to do with drier summers and the fact we haven't build a new ******* reservoir since the early 90s I think it is. So population has gone from ~57m to ~68m and water usage has increased hugely but we haven't built any new storage for it.

SE water had the absolute gall to have a section in their FAQ suggesting that actually England isn't a wet country and thats why we have hosepipe bans. Not that they haven't got remotely enough storage and that they lose monstrous amounts of water to leaks in their crumbling infrastructure.
 
fez said:
We always have enough rain in the UK to never see a hosepipe ban. The issue is nothing to do with rainfall and everything to do with drier summers and the fact we haven't build a new ******* reservoir since the early 90s I think it is. So population has gone from ~57m to ~68m and water usage has increased hugely but we haven't built any new storage for it.

SE water had the absolute gall to have a section in their FAQ suggesting that actually England isn't a wet country and thats why we have hosepipe bans. Not that they haven't got remotely enough storage and that they lose monstrous amounts of water to leaks in their crumbling infrastructure.
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Good point - I'd not considered population growth, however the state of the water infrastructure is another point - but perhaps a little outside of mowing lawns.
 
NickK said:
Good point - I'd not considered population growth, however the state of the water infrastructure is another point - but perhaps a little outside of mowing lawns.
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Its all an ecosystem maaaaaaan.

My lawn thirsts.

(for electrolytes)
 
Did my first cut of the year at the weekend. Used the strimmer first to calm it down then went over with the mower to pick up the cuttings. Looks okay except for the weeds and the flowers that have found their way onto it.
 
Cut the lawn last saturday after its previous cut but there wasn't a lot unless theres a substantial change in the weather that'll be the last cut before autumn I reckon its already starting to suffer from drought hasn't rained in almost two months last time was early march maybe. That'll be 3 times this year so far and thats it previously it was too wet now theres nothing left to cut as its too dry!

dirtychinchilla said:
Having read this thread, and mowed the lawn for the first time this year, I have been spending maybe 15 mins a day detaching the lawn. It's not a massive lawn, but christ it's tedious. The volume of the stuff you pull out is incredible!
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How do you plan on reattaching it? Glue it back on? :P
 
my lawn mower is making some horrendous noises now. I think the motor is on its last legs as nothing is loose or obviously trapped in it.

hopefully it will hang on a bit longer as am out of work so could do without extra expenses.

it's had a good innings , it's just a Bosch electric, I have done zero maintenance on it and it's 18 or 19 years old so not going to spend money on it.

does anyone know when the bushes are shot on an electric motor, how long will it usually go on for before terminal death.
 
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bigmike20vt said:
my lawn mower is making some horrendous noises now. I think the motor is on its last legs as nothing is loose or obviously trapped in it.

hopefully it will hang on a bit longer as am out of work so could do without extra expenses.

it's had a good innings , it's just a Bosch electric, I have done zero maintenance on it and it's 18 or 19 years old so not going to spend money on it.

does anyone know when the bushes are shot on an electric motor, how long will it usually go on for before terminal death.
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Our bosch cabled electric has been going for a similar time with one cable break taped up. Can you buy just the bushes? I used to keep washing machines going through several iterations of bush replacement at one tije.
 
Overseeded, added some topsoil and feed the lawn today, bit later then i would have liked this year but busy with other things and couldint find the time. looks like ass currently but will hopefully be worth it in 3-4 weeks.
 
Starting to see large clumps of what I'm assuming is some sort of rogue grass coming through in my back lawn (the purpley course shoots). I'm assuming this'll be a pain in the arse to get rid of?

Not sure what it is, but looks grassy so not hopeful of removing it easy. I've already got clumps of some of other rogue grass that I'm just nuking and reseeding with lawn grass which has worked a treat, but this stuff looks a lot more diffuse through the lawn.

IMG_6598.jpeg
 
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