The 2024 Lawn Thread
Discussion
Feels like an absolute age that I scarified and overseeded and still there's almost nothing to show for it.
This is SE England.
Normally by mid-April I'd have lush stripes on the lawn by now. It's late April and it's still mud and seeds - and the forecast is for even colder the next few days!
This is SE England.
Normally by mid-April I'd have lush stripes on the lawn by now. It's late April and it's still mud and seeds - and the forecast is for even colder the next few days!
oyster said:
Feels like an absolute age that I scarified and overseeded and still there's almost nothing to show for it.
This is SE England.
Normally by mid-April I'd have lush stripes on the lawn by now. It's late April and it's still mud and seeds - and the forecast is for even colder the next few days!
Mine too. Put down grass seed a few weeks ago, but it's done very little. This is SE England.
Normally by mid-April I'd have lush stripes on the lawn by now. It's late April and it's still mud and seeds - and the forecast is for even colder the next few days!
I've just popped home in my lunch break to cut the lawn as we have had a couple of dry breezy days here in the southwest.
Two small lawns, the rear is about 5x10 metres and the front about 5x5 metres. The rear was fine but when I started up the Flymo on the front it went pop! Sparks and smoke from the handle so its probably dead although I will open it up later on to have a poke around.
What is everyone's thoughts on small Flymo type mowers. I don't need anything fancy due to the size of the lawn and cordless isn't a huge issue as I have sockets front and back. Are Flymo still good or is it worth looking elsewhere?
Two small lawns, the rear is about 5x10 metres and the front about 5x5 metres. The rear was fine but when I started up the Flymo on the front it went pop! Sparks and smoke from the handle so its probably dead although I will open it up later on to have a poke around.
What is everyone's thoughts on small Flymo type mowers. I don't need anything fancy due to the size of the lawn and cordless isn't a huge issue as I have sockets front and back. Are Flymo still good or is it worth looking elsewhere?
A quick question for those who are more experienced.
I timed my application of autumn and winter fertilisers so that they;d be dropping off around 4 weeks after wen I thought i'd be seeding. Here I am. now, having overseeded on the 26th of April. My lawn wont have had anything from the 3rd of March until 24th May
I don't want to apply something that the new seeds wont be able to cope with or will simply be outgrown by the current grass. Am I over thinking this or not? If no, where do I go form here.
I timed my application of autumn and winter fertilisers so that they;d be dropping off around 4 weeks after wen I thought i'd be seeding. Here I am. now, having overseeded on the 26th of April. My lawn wont have had anything from the 3rd of March until 24th May
I don't want to apply something that the new seeds wont be able to cope with or will simply be outgrown by the current grass. Am I over thinking this or not? If no, where do I go form here.
Stedman said:
A quick question for those who are more experienced.
I timed my application of autumn and winter fertilisers so that they;d be dropping off around 4 weeks after wen I thought i'd be seeding. Here I am. now, having overseeded on the 26th of April. My lawn wont have had anything from the 3rd of March until 24th May
I don't want to apply something that the new seeds wont be able to cope with or will simply be outgrown by the current grass. Am I over thinking this or not? If no, where do I go form here.
Last spring when I did a deep scarify + overseeding I used this:I timed my application of autumn and winter fertilisers so that they;d be dropping off around 4 weeks after wen I thought i'd be seeding. Here I am. now, having overseeded on the 26th of April. My lawn wont have had anything from the 3rd of March until 24th May
I don't want to apply something that the new seeds wont be able to cope with or will simply be outgrown by the current grass. Am I over thinking this or not? If no, where do I go form here.
https://www.lawnsmith.co.uk/starter-lawn-feed
Worked a treat.
Stedman said:
A quick question for those who are more experienced.
I timed my application of autumn and winter fertilisers so that they;d be dropping off around 4 weeks after wen I thought i'd be seeding. Here I am. now, having overseeded on the 26th of April. My lawn wont have had anything from the 3rd of March until 24th May
I don't want to apply something that the new seeds wont be able to cope with or will simply be outgrown by the current grass. Am I over thinking this or not? If no, where do I go form here.
I think your overthinking it. It's quite common to put feed down at the same time as overseeding.I timed my application of autumn and winter fertilisers so that they;d be dropping off around 4 weeks after wen I thought i'd be seeding. Here I am. now, having overseeded on the 26th of April. My lawn wont have had anything from the 3rd of March until 24th May
I don't want to apply something that the new seeds wont be able to cope with or will simply be outgrown by the current grass. Am I over thinking this or not? If no, where do I go form here.
If you think the lawn wants some feed, add some slow release summer feed or whatever you usually use?
.could not get a good photo that shows it off well.
But thick and broad leaf grass that is just very different to everything else.
The lawn as per earlier posts has had a good power rake, overseed, fertilised and we are getting some nice new growth.
But with this section - I guess rip up as an extreme or get in with the bladed scarifier to thin out???
But thick and broad leaf grass that is just very different to everything else.
The lawn as per earlier posts has had a good power rake, overseed, fertilised and we are getting some nice new growth.
But with this section - I guess rip up as an extreme or get in with the bladed scarifier to thin out???
When the weather permits cut your grass lower and verti cut .... In general broad leaved grasses die if cut at less than 8-10 mm , whereas fine leaved fescues will tolerate being cut at 4-6 mm .... obviously you need to be using a decent cylinder mower to achieve those cutting heights.
I'm trying to sort out my lawn this year so bought an electric rake/scarifier.
I've had a first pass with the scarifier on the first setting where it just started cutting the the earth. That got a lot of moss and thatch out, and was scoring the earth below. Is that ok for overseeding and levelling with topsoil, or should I do it on a lower level for seeding rather than moss removal?
I've had a first pass with the scarifier on the first setting where it just started cutting the the earth. That got a lot of moss and thatch out, and was scoring the earth below. Is that ok for overseeding and levelling with topsoil, or should I do it on a lower level for seeding rather than moss removal?
98elise said:
I'm trying to sort out my lawn this year so bought an electric rake/scarifier.
I've had a first pass with the scarifier on the first setting where it just started cutting the the earth. That got a lot of moss and thatch out, and was scoring the earth below. Is that ok for overseeding and levelling with topsoil, or should I do it on a lower level for seeding rather than moss removal?
That sounds OK to me... I think the weather is the most important thing... In the North west it's still cold and now dry , the ground is baking hard all of a sudden. I think you need warm humid days with warm nights to get a decent germination , covering with germination sheets might also help , if the area is not too large.I've had a first pass with the scarifier on the first setting where it just started cutting the the earth. That got a lot of moss and thatch out, and was scoring the earth below. Is that ok for overseeding and levelling with topsoil, or should I do it on a lower level for seeding rather than moss removal?
The Three D Mucketeer said:
98elise said:
I'm trying to sort out my lawn this year so bought an electric rake/scarifier.
I've had a first pass with the scarifier on the first setting where it just started cutting the the earth. That got a lot of moss and thatch out, and was scoring the earth below. Is that ok for overseeding and levelling with topsoil, or should I do it on a lower level for seeding rather than moss removal?
That sounds OK to me... I think the weather is the most important thing... In the North west it's still cold and now dry , the ground is baking hard all of a sudden. I think you need warm humid days with warm nights to get a decent germination , covering with germination sheets might also help , if the area is not too large.I've had a first pass with the scarifier on the first setting where it just started cutting the the earth. That got a lot of moss and thatch out, and was scoring the earth below. Is that ok for overseeding and levelling with topsoil, or should I do it on a lower level for seeding rather than moss removal?
Could do with some advice on what to do with my lawn, re grew it from scratch last year after killing off the previous mess and re soiling and seeding, it's had a few treatments of fertiliser and iron, and overall is looking quite good but does have a few issues:
The colour varies a bit - there are random patches of darker/lighter shades of green, this seems to have become more apparent recently as I've not noticed this too much in the past. I did use a blend of seed but it was mixed and sown evenly, whereas this seems to be random patches and streaks of one particular type growing faster and appearing darker than the rest.
There is a LOT of clover and what I think is yarrow. The occasional broadleaf gets pulled out by hand, but clover/yarrow (or something similar) has really taken hold in some areas, I have hit it with weed killer and it seems to have killed some of it but there really is quite a lot.
Apparently clover appears when nitrogen is low, I know the soil is very very dry, I think I might need to aerate and apply some high nitrogen fertiliser instead of 696?
The colour varies a bit - there are random patches of darker/lighter shades of green, this seems to have become more apparent recently as I've not noticed this too much in the past. I did use a blend of seed but it was mixed and sown evenly, whereas this seems to be random patches and streaks of one particular type growing faster and appearing darker than the rest.
There is a LOT of clover and what I think is yarrow. The occasional broadleaf gets pulled out by hand, but clover/yarrow (or something similar) has really taken hold in some areas, I have hit it with weed killer and it seems to have killed some of it but there really is quite a lot.
Apparently clover appears when nitrogen is low, I know the soil is very very dry, I think I might need to aerate and apply some high nitrogen fertiliser instead of 696?
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