The lawn thread

kai · 14 May 2014 at 14:25

Had the lawn re-laid on Monday, including the builders sorting out the drainage, there was a lot of topsoil put down!

it's looking

how long would people recommend before I can mow it?

chipperhead · 14 May 2014 at 14:42

kai said:
Had the lawn re-laid on Monday, including the builders sorting out the drainage, there was a lot of topsoil put down!

it's looking

how long would people recommend before I can mow it?

You're going to have to leave it until the turf starts knitting in with the soil below otherwise it'll probably just rip it up or suck it into the mower depending on type.
Keep watering it really well and a rough guess I'd say a couple of weeks.

NoNameNoNumber · 16 May 2014 at 20:16

Evening all... My turn to ask for some advice if I may

During a clearout of a load of waste I chucked a load of loft insulation and bits of plaster board out of the window with the best intention of clearing it up pronto... Cue bike crash-shoulder surgery-9 weeks later bla bla blah

Anyway, I'm fitt ish and strong ish again now so last week I started to clear it up, found bees nests but managed to rid the junk of them and here is the state of the grass below...

The grass down this side of the garden has always been full of moss due to being shaded for a good part of the day. This grass spent maybe 9-10 weeks under sodden insulation with no light...

I should've consulted you lot sooner but earlier today I went and bought some grass seed and a 4 in 1

Gave it a good watering and we'll see what happens...

Also, pulled a few shrubs up that were mid-lawn, filled them in with compost, went over with a lawn roller and laid seeds. Sprinkled this half of the garden with said 4 in 1...

I'll keep updates coming, I guess once the patches start to gro and have rooted well I'll need to scarify... This is my first attempt at lawn care

Participant · 18 May 2014 at 15:46

Another mow and a pass with an electric lawn rake today. A fair amount more moss came up, but not nearly as much as before, so I think I've broken the back of it now. Looking quite patchy:

Probably time to get some grass seed down.

Nazbit · 30 Jun 2014 at 15:40

So how is everyone getting on? This thread has been pretty quiet for a while.

Here is my effort over the last two months...

Early May:

Late June:

It needs thickening up in places, particularly along the right hand side and there are a few weeds to get on top of.

I'm pleased with the improvement so far though, glad I put the effort in.

chipperhead · 30 Jun 2014 at 20:05

I still need to top dress mine and a few other things but the kids Guinea Pigs make a lovely square were the run has been.
Also despite trying to get the dog to wee in the yard she has still made a mess of the grass in a few places. I need to look into getting the stuff you put into their water bowl.

Participant · 6 Jul 2014 at 15:44

Any of you lawn gurus know what this stuff is?

I want to get rid of it, but it doesn't seem to respond to Iron Sulphate or Verdone weedkiller.

bloodiedathame · 29 Jul 2014 at 23:13

That looks like Yarrow. http://www.lawnweeds.co.uk/yarrow.html

SDK^ · 30 Jul 2014 at 11:15

My lawn has grown well, still some way to go to reach the quality of Chipperheads above.

My focus now is on weed control as they are starting to take over. Going to weed and feed and pull out all of the dandelions over the next few weeks.

chipperhead · 30 Jul 2014 at 11:36

SDK^ said:
My lawn has grown well, still some way to go to reach the quality of Chipperheads above.

My focus now is on weed control as they are starting to take over. Going to weed and feed and pull out all of the dandelions over the next few weeks.

Don't pull the dandelions out unless you can guarantee to get all the roots.
Use the weed and feed and let the chemicals do the work.

D.P. · 30 Jul 2014 at 14:39

weeds still taking over my lawn. There are some weeds that seems to be completely immune to lawn friendly weed killer.

DXP55 · 30 Jul 2014 at 15:46

Participant said:
Any of you lawn gurus know what this stuff is?

I want to get rid of it, but it doesn't seem to respond to Iron Sulphate or Verdone weedkiller.

I got loads of that - so much so I sprayed whole lawn this morning with Glysophate 360 - that should kill it.

Yes - I know it kills everything that was object.

Dave

Kemik · 30 Jul 2014 at 16:10

Damn, looking at some of these lawns make me jealous! Soon as my decking is done I can start to concentrate on sorting the lawn. However, if my gf was here she would tell me to first the 15 other jobs I have started and not finished.

My problem is the lawn is so bumpy

The house builders didn't care, they just threw the turf down.

CaptainRAVE · 5 Aug 2014 at 10:08

For some reason, our lawn is all patchy in the middle. The edges in the shade are lush and green. It looks like the developers used grass that doesn't like much sunlight (it gets all of the afternoon and evening sun). I keep it suitably watered and don't cut it too short, but don't know what else to do

I like a lush lawn

andicole0 · 5 Aug 2014 at 10:15

I came across this web site this morning, cheating I know

http://www.lazylawnkent.co.uk/

Andi.

TheCrow · 5 Aug 2014 at 12:33

After trying to rake out one side by hand (which did improve things but almost killed me) I decided to get an electric lawn rake. My front lawn is very heavily thatched which is to be expected with all the kids playing on it and lack of real maintenance.

So after 3 passes (different directions) of the rake this is how its looking just now:

Hopefully it will recover quickly as the wife wasn't too impressed with my lawn "improvements".

Question
The lawn rake I got can also do scarifying, should I do this now or wait till it recovers then attack it again. I can always leave it till next year if it should be done at the start of the season?

Nazbit · 5 Aug 2014 at 15:55

Following on from post 65, this is what I've got at the moment...

I've left it a little bit longer in this weather, last week it had its second and final batch of spring/summer feed.

I do need to control the weeds now, I have been holding off to let the new seed establish. I might get away with spot treating on this lawn but my back garden will need spraying fully.

What are you guys using? Verdone? Resolva?

Then I've got a few bits to clear and reseed after the summer.

chipperhead · 5 Aug 2014 at 16:34

TheCrow said:
Question
The lawn rake I got can also do scarifying, should I do this now or wait till it recovers then attack it again. I can always leave it till next year if it should be done at the start of the season?

When you say scarifying is it spinning solid metal blades or springy metal tines?

Nazbit said:
Following on from post 65, this is what I've got at the moment...

What are you guys using? Verdone? Resolva?

Then I've got a few bits to clear and reseed after the summer.

I use Verdone.

TheCrow · 5 Aug 2014 at 16:49

chipperhead said:
When you say scarifying is it spinning solid metal blades or springy metal tines?

I have both, the tines were used to do the raking. It also has an attachment of the solid blades, they look like they will do some damage, but guess thats what they are meant to do. They are straight so should just leave some narrow lines down the grass.

chipperhead · 5 Aug 2014 at 16:54

TheCrow said:
I have both, the tines were used to do the raking. It also has an attachment of the solid blades, they look like they will do some damage, but guess thats what they are meant to do. They are straight so should just leave some narrow lines down the grass.

At this time of year the grass is under enough stress with the heat and lack of rain for solid blades.
Its best to leave it till September for the next round of lawn maintenance such as this and top dressing etc.