Lawn Care Thread

[Smiler.]

I did a quick search but couldn't find the thread.

Could some kind person point me in the right direction - the one that has details of those chaps who visit your lawn quarterly & bring is back to life.

Ta

[Kudos]

Greenthumb

[Gazzas86]

Not trying to Hi-Jack your thread, I'm new to this home ownership stuff, and i want to have a great looking lawn, moved it for the first time yesterday, and my lawn has moss growing in it, whats the best way to get rid of the moss and get some good grass growing in place?

Cheers

Gaz

[Bonefish Blues]

Gazzas86 said:

Not trying to Hi-Jack your thread, I'm new to this home ownership stuff, and i want to have a great looking lawn, moved it for the first time yesterday, and my lawn has moss growing in it, whats the best way to get rid of the moss and get some good grass growing in place?

Cheers

Gaz

See mail above yours. Really hard to do it for the same price as Green thumb.

[Smiler.]

Thanks chaps

[allgonepetetong]

Bonefish Blues said:

See mail above yours. Really hard to do it for the same price as Green thumb.

I wouldn't necessarily agree with that. It wouldn't cost more financially, but it certainly would in time and effort. It all depends really how much work you are prepared to do yourself.

Personally I find maintaing a lawn theraputic and extremely rewarding so wouldn't consider letting anyone else do it for free, let along paying them to.

Now is a good time to begin your lawn program, not the best but winter is over so conditions are improving so by no means not the worst.

Have your grass started growing yet? If it has give it a very slight clip, being sure not to remove more than a third of the overall length and 3 days later apply a 3 in 1 lawn treatment. Give it another couple of weeks, mow it again and then rake out all the dead moss and weeds.

Now you'll probably have bare patches where the moss was, so you need to re-seed to prevent weeds and more moss growing back in that space, so create a seed bed and re seed, or better still, top dress the whole lawn and overseed the whole lot.

This is usually done in September when the soil is warm and moist, but it can be done in April, it just means the soil is cooler so the seed will take 3 weeks to germinate instead of 2 in September.

Chemicals are the key with lawns, chemicals and watering.

Get a book, try Lawn Care Expert and away you go, it's really not difficult.

[masteryoda]

Sorry to hijack, but hopefully relevant to OP. How do you get rid of small ruts and what looks like clumps of denser grass in spots?

[clarkey]

masteryoda said:

Sorry to hijack, but hopefully relevant to OP. How do you get rid of small ruts and what looks like clumps of denser grass in spots?

Level these off with a mixture of topsoil and sand, seed and they'll be gone soon. Same with high spots that you scalp - dig out, level with topsoil and sand, and reseed.

If you have a lot of moles in the garden, you end up doing this pretty often....

[sparkythecat]

allgonepetetong said:

...apply a 3 in 1 lawn treatment.

Care to recommend any particular product?

[masteryoda]

clarkey said:

Level these off with a mixture of topsoil and sand, seed and they'll be gone soon. Same with high spots that you scalp - dig out, level with topsoil and sand, and reseed.

If you have a lot of moles in the garden, you end up doing this pretty often....

cheers what does the sand do - stabilise? (sorry for being thick!)

[Blackpuddin]

We've been using GreenThumb for a couple of years with decent results but the moss has moved in with a vengeance this winter. It's very common at the moment according to GT, they are bringing some special jollop (for free) when they do this year's first treatment early next month.

[jontysafe]

I have a company that sells all sorts of lawn products online but not allowed to post here cos of advertising.

But I`ll go ahead anyway to help out http://www.totalweedcontrol.com

[TimJMS]

If you've got moss, for sure you can kill it with chemistry, but it'll be back.

Moss usually means excess acidity or poor drainage. Correct those issues first and then you're in with a fighting chance.

[clarkey]

masteryoda said:

cheers what does the sand do - stabilise? (sorry for being thick!)

It helps with drainage. It's worth putting a top dressing over all of it in the autumn. You just rake all the rubbish out (a powered scarifier is handy), then brush over a 50/50 mix of sand and top soil. There's no need to reseed, and it deals with small variations in level nicely. It's amazing how healthy it will look a couple of weeks afterwards.

[markbigears]

We moved to a new house last year with a large garden that was more thatch, moss and weeds than grass. My best tip is get one of these: http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/7...

You wouldn't believe the amount of rubbish that I got out. I reseeded and top dressed it with compost and it looks fantastic. I've just given it the first cut of the year and an early nitrogen feed. Is it just me, but i'm looking after my lawn as much as I polish the car!

[Simpo Two]

TimJMS said:

Moss usually means excess acidity or poor drainage. Correct those issues first and then you're in with a fighting chance.

Yep. And shade, and also compaction. Essentially any condition that favours moss over grass.

[racing green]

Simpo's right, its no good spending dosh on one cure if the underlying problems mean it will come back. Post a pucture of the lawn and surround so that we can see what may be causing this. Moss is bad this year

[JulesBliss]

is Greenthumb good? or does it depend on the franchise. I am in Herts and my lawn needs some work. Turfed last year and its really thick, but now quite patchy. I think it needs a good scarify etc

[B17NNS]

This is a cracking little book for all things lawn based.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Lawn-Expert-Dr-Hessayo...

[kentmotorcompany]

Before spending any money on products or services. I always think regular cutting is the first and most important thing to do.

Cut a minimum of once a fortnight, once a week if you can. Also set the height as high as you can. Shorter grass looks smarter when its freshly cut in the short term, but longer grass wears better and dries out slower.
If you do this you will be have a lawn about 90% as good as it will ever be. After this water during long dry periods. Then if you want to spend money an EVEN application (maybe a contractor might be better for this) of a good weed and feed a few times during the growing season will be about all you need to do.

Old house.


New house when we moved in.



New house about 6 months later.


The most recent photo was from just simple regular cutting, before any watering or fertiliser went on. It was and still is quite full of weeds, but it is all thick and bright green, and therefore the weeds just don't matter as much

If you want to spend money, a decent mower will make life a lot easier. £200-400 on a second hand Hayter or Honda petrol mower (I use a petrol rotary mower, with a driven roller on the back for the stripes) will be much better than the same money spent on something brand new from the likes of B&Q.

Like someone above said, your lawn will be as good as the work you are prepared to put into it, so if you enjoy doing it rather than see it as a chore you are always more likely to succeed.

Edited by kentmotorcompany on Wednesday 21st March 06:53