Post Your Garden!

Participant · 16 May 2020 at 07:05

Good work lee1101.

I like compost for top dressing too. It's fine so easy to work / level off, it's organic so good for the soil and new grass, and it holds moisture well so encourages germination of the grass seeds.

JRJ · 20 May 2020 at 13:47

lee1101 said:
That’s the one, It’s great for the money. Just forget about using the grass bag as you’ll fill it up in seconds!

Grass bag is useless for the amount that comes off, oh and wear trousers if you prop the door open

Funky-Melon · 20 May 2020 at 14:13

JRJ said:
Grass bag is useless for the amount that comes off, oh and wear trousers if you prop the door open

I've got a large amount of stones etc that were hidden so decided to play it safe and empty the bag every 30 seconds

JRJ · 20 May 2020 at 16:27

Funky-Melon said:
I've got a large amount of stones etc that were hidden so decided to play it safe and empty the bag every 30 seconds

That lasted about 2 mins for me :rolleyes:

, scraping the dried and chopped up earthworms and god knows what else off my shins that was fun.

lee1101 · 20 May 2020 at 17:04

Funky-Melon said:
I've got a large amount of stones etc that were hidden so decided to play it safe and empty the bag every 30 seconds

How did it go? Quite scary when you are doing it isn't it!

I gave my lawn its first cut today since it was overseeded. Set the mower to its highest setting and gave it a little trim. Really happy with the progress so far. Its very green and thickening up nicely!
I must have had a lot of good roots left over after scarifying as there is a good mix of new shoots and established grass.

There are some very small patches that will need a bit of tlc, mainly due to the blackbirds deciding to rip up the new shoots searching for worms! I also have a few small weeds which I have never had before.
I assume this is due to top dressing being very exposed to all sorts of things landing on it. Will have to sort this out later!

Anyway, a few boring pics from today

Funky-Melon · 20 May 2020 at 19:24

lee1101 said:
How did it go? Quite scary when you are doing it isn't it!

Grass looks great

It went well, I think.....

Most of my lawn is dead anyway as the garden wasn't looked after before we moved in (only been in it 5 months and the entire house is a back to brick project) and the previous owner had a pool on the lawn which didn't help matters. I started on the lowest setting and just ripped the lot up with it

I'll get some pictures up soon, though I'm thoroughly embarrassed by my garden

Andybtsn · 23 May 2020 at 10:54

Guys, can anyone recommend a type of hedge to plant at the top of the garden in front of the fence? I know it will take years to reach that of the height of the hedge on the left, I'm not sure if there's any faster growing types, suspect not.

fobose · 23 May 2020 at 11:27

Maybe a laurel?

Dis86 · 23 May 2020 at 11:55

@Andybtsn do you need security from it?

Andybtsn · 23 May 2020 at 11:58

Dis86 said:
@Andybtsn do you need security from it?

Well the fence will remain there but ideally if that did ever blow away (it’s ancient) the separating our garden from the field behind would be ideal.

Andybtsn · 23 May 2020 at 11:59

fobose said:
Maybe a laurel?

thanks, apparently growth is up to 60cm a year so sounds good.

Dis86 · 23 May 2020 at 12:09

Andybtsn said:
Well the fence will remain there but ideally if that did ever blow away (it’s ancient) the separating our garden from the field behind would be ideal.

Laurel is good - i'm a fan aesthetically however won't offer much security. I'd also recommend copper beech. Great all year round.

Box, Hawthorn or potentially even Gorse are good options if you want a bit of a barrier though.

psd99 · 24 May 2020 at 09:32

Andybtsn said:
Guys, can anyone recommend a type of hedge to plant at the top of the garden in front of the fence? I know it will take years to reach that of the height of the hedge on the left, I'm not sure if there's any faster growing types, suspect not.

how about leylandii that grows really quickly.

Siliconslave · 28 May 2020 at 10:52

we got some decent size Portuguese laurel a few years back and its grown really well

ash_scotland88 · 28 May 2020 at 14:28

I'd recommend some native hedging, it's the decent thing to do for bugs and wildlife, they provide flowers and berries almost reat round, and if you're selective can be things us lot can eat too.
Sellers out there offer mixed packs.

TNA · 1 Jun 2020 at 14:47

lee1101 said:
Thanks guys, I’m pleased with how it looks so far

I got the seed and feed from Lawnsmith as they were one of the only companies delivering in good time during the lockdown. I went for their classic grass seed as it seems the best all round. Lots of great reviews on their website as well.

I seeded the the entire garden by hand after scarifying, then raked in the compost top dressing. Then seeded again fairly lightly with one of the hand spreader thingys. I also bought some of the reflective bird tape off amazon to keep the pigeons and starlings off! It actually worked amazingly well, didn’t see a single bird in the garden for the first 10 days.

I got some sandal spikes from their too, I missed that part above!

Forgive my ignorance, new to this stuff. When you say seed and feed are you referring to this:

https://www.lawnsmith.co.uk/prod/lawn-grass-seed/classic-lawn-grass-seed.htm

or were there other things you also ordered from them?

Great result you got by the way, well done.

lee1101 · 1 Jun 2020 at 15:23

TNA said:
Forgive my ignorance, new to this stuff. When you say seed and feed are you referring to this:

https://www.lawnsmith.co.uk/prod/lawn-grass-seed/classic-lawn-grass-seed.htm

or were there other things you also ordered from them?

Great result you got by the way, well done.

Thank you! I’m new to all this as well

Yes that’s the seed that I used. I also ordered this fertiliser https://www.lawnsmith.co.uk/prod/lawn-fertiliser-products/starter-lawn-feed.htm
I used that one as I pretty much stripped my lawn so it was like starting from scratch!

I also ordered the sandal spikes to aerate the lawn a bit. Not sure I would recommend them though as it takes ages and I was constantly taking them off to clean clumps of mud off the spikes!
I would have preferred a proper roller one. It was these anyway, they are cheap at least!
https://www.lawnsmith.co.uk/prod/lawn-aerator-scarifier/lawn-aerator-sandals.htm

I gave it another cut yesterday at a slightly lower height. All good so far

If anything might be a bit thick

TNA · 1 Jun 2020 at 16:33

lee1101 said:
Thank you! I’m new to all this as well

Yes that’s the seed that I used. I also ordered this fertiliser https://www.lawnsmith.co.uk/prod/lawn-fertiliser-products/starter-lawn-feed.htm
I used that one as I pretty much stripped my lawn so it was like starting from scratch!

I also ordered the sandal spikes to aerate the lawn a bit. Not sure I would recommend them though as it takes ages and I was constantly taking them off to clean clumps of mud off the spikes!
I would have preferred a proper roller one. It was these anyway, they are cheap at least!
https://www.lawnsmith.co.uk/prod/lawn-aerator-scarifier/lawn-aerator-sandals.htm

I gave it another cut yesterday at a slightly lower height. All good so far If anything might be a bit thick

It looks excellent to me

I got the same scarifier from screwfix, just need to order the CLASSIC Grass Seed and Starter Lawn Fertiliser from Lawnsmith.

I am not sure if I could get away with not using any extra soil you mention you got from wickes, I may try this in a small patch in my front garden, if it works out I will just use the Grass Seed and Starter Lawn Fertiliser.

Any other tips you have, like things you wish you knew before starting let us know

lee1101 · 2 Jun 2020 at 13:38

I think to get a good result you need something as a top dressing like soil or compost. It helps the seeds to keep moist and out of sight of the Birds! The seed doesn’t really germinate very well if it’s just sitting on top of the topsoil. I guess it all depends on how much you are taking up when you scarify as well.

Kaka · 2 Jun 2020 at 14:43

As well as keeping the seed moist, the addition of topsoil/sand/compost is to also help the seed establish its root system before it properly takes root in your subsoil. Newly germinated seed are fragile so that loose layer of medium provides an ideal environment for the seed to grow before rooting down further. You can still grow grass by just chucking seed directly on top of your soil and not adding anything, but the success rate will be far lower particularly if you don't have the ideal soil to start with.