2015 Lawn thread
Discussion
richierich37 said:
Thanks Jagnet, I think I'll need to top up with dressing and seed next year to build depth as you say!
It does look lovely!Do you know what's going on under the surface in that triangle surrounding the manhole cover? It's a pity that area isn't quite doing as well as the rest. Perhaps the soil is shallower?
Dr Mike Oxgreen said:
It does look lovely!
Do you know what's going on under the surface in that triangle surrounding the manhole cover? It's a pity that area isn't quite doing as well as the rest. Perhaps the soil is shallower?
Thanks Mike, that area belongs to my neighbour and he didn't want me touching it when he seen the damage I did with the verticutter.............bet he thinks otherwise now?!?!? Do you know what's going on under the surface in that triangle surrounding the manhole cover? It's a pity that area isn't quite doing as well as the rest. Perhaps the soil is shallower?
richierich37 said:
Thanks Mike, that area belongs to my neighbour and he didn't want me touching it when he seen the damage I did with the verticutter.............bet he thinks otherwise now?!?!?
Ah, I see. Well it just goes to show how much benefit your work has done! He's kicking himself now - I bet he asks you do his bit as well next year!OK guys, following from my earlier post I spent the weekend scarifying the lawn. 800m2 with a little electric machine took some doing with countless trips to the tip and it now looks like the Somme but I'm taking that as a good sign 
I'll be overseeding this evening, will I be able to use my spreader for this? it's this type
http://www.greenfingers.com/product.asp?dept_id=50...
Would it also be sensible to run the roller over the seed as well to try and help contact with the ground ?
Lastly how do I go about watering it? We're getting quite a heavy dew in the mornings will this be enough or am I going to have to get a the sprinkler out as well.
I'll be overseeding this evening, will I be able to use my spreader for this? it's this type
http://www.greenfingers.com/product.asp?dept_id=50...
Would it also be sensible to run the roller over the seed as well to try and help contact with the ground ?
Lastly how do I go about watering it? We're getting quite a heavy dew in the mornings will this be enough or am I going to have to get a the sprinkler out as well.
Personally I find it easier to spread seed by hand, but that's because my drop spreader is very slow when used with seed. You might find that your rotary spreader works better - certainly worth a try. The only problem is preventing seed being flung into areas you don't want it, but perhaps you could do the outer edges of your lawn by hand. For 800m2 you're going to want to use the spreader if it works well with seed.
A roll over the seed will do some good - soil contact, as you say. Personally I like to cover the seed with a thin layer of dressing, either compost or topsoil. But for 800m2 that could get expensive and time-consuming. Rolling is probably a more practical solution for a larger lawn.
Watering - difficult to know what to recommend for a lawn of that size. Keeping it moist is really important though, and even at this time of year it will dry out if we get a sunny day with no rain. Dew helps, of course, but it's not really enough on its own. The ideal solution would be a travelling sprinkler - one of those things that follows a hose laid out in the path you want it to travel. In fact, I quite fancy one of those myself...
Edited to add: Just read that travelling sprinklers aren't really suitable for newly-seeded lawns, because the surface gets disturbed by the spiked wheels and the hose dragged behind the tractor. Oh well...
A roll over the seed will do some good - soil contact, as you say. Personally I like to cover the seed with a thin layer of dressing, either compost or topsoil. But for 800m2 that could get expensive and time-consuming. Rolling is probably a more practical solution for a larger lawn.
Watering - difficult to know what to recommend for a lawn of that size. Keeping it moist is really important though, and even at this time of year it will dry out if we get a sunny day with no rain. Dew helps, of course, but it's not really enough on its own. The ideal solution would be a travelling sprinkler - one of those things that follows a hose laid out in the path you want it to travel. In fact, I quite fancy one of those myself...
Edited to add: Just read that travelling sprinklers aren't really suitable for newly-seeded lawns, because the surface gets disturbed by the spiked wheels and the hose dragged behind the tractor. Oh well...
Edited by Dr Mike Oxgreen on Tuesday 29th September 09:41
Bit late to the party but here is my back lawn..
Its the first year I've tried to get a decent lawn after years of it being used as a football pitch/play area. While its always been kept short, it was full of moss, daisies, clover, dandelions etc etc. I've had some help from a local lawn specialist and I'm really pleased so far. Apart from a few stubborn patches of moss in the shadier areas, its virtually weed free now.
Following the first weed treatment back in April, there were a lot of completely bare patches where the weeds had died off (there were a lot of them
) but through the summer the grass has grown back without any reseeding and it looks very good. Still a long way to go but I've almost got a lawn my dad would be proud of now.
Its the first year I've tried to get a decent lawn after years of it being used as a football pitch/play area. While its always been kept short, it was full of moss, daisies, clover, dandelions etc etc. I've had some help from a local lawn specialist and I'm really pleased so far. Apart from a few stubborn patches of moss in the shadier areas, its virtually weed free now.
Following the first weed treatment back in April, there were a lot of completely bare patches where the weeds had died off (there were a lot of them
) but through the summer the grass has grown back without any reseeding and it looks very good. Still a long way to go but I've almost got a lawn my dad would be proud of now. FrankHovis said:
Bit late to the party but here is my back lawn..
Its the first year I've tried to get a decent lawn after years of it being used as a football pitch/play area. While its always been kept short, it was full of moss, daisies, clover, dandelions etc etc. I've had some help from a local lawn specialist and I'm really pleased so far. Apart from a few stubborn patches of moss in the shadier areas, its virtually weed free now.
Following the first weed treatment back in April, there were a lot of completely bare patches where the weeds had died off (there were a lot of them) but through the summer the grass has grown back without any reseeding and it looks very good. Still a long way to go but I've almost got a lawn my dad would be proud of now.
That looks very nice Frank but from a non-lawn perspective I'd say you need a bigger patio to grass ratio Its the first year I've tried to get a decent lawn after years of it being used as a football pitch/play area. While its always been kept short, it was full of moss, daisies, clover, dandelions etc etc. I've had some help from a local lawn specialist and I'm really pleased so far. Apart from a few stubborn patches of moss in the shadier areas, its virtually weed free now.
Following the first weed treatment back in April, there were a lot of completely bare patches where the weeds had died off (there were a lot of them
) but through the summer the grass has grown back without any reseeding and it looks very good. Still a long way to go but I've almost got a lawn my dad would be proud of now. Octobers lawn diary now out at Lawnsmith http://www.lawnsmith.co.uk/lawn-diary/october-lawn...
R8VXF said:
Octobers lawn diary now out at Lawnsmith http://www.lawnsmith.co.uk/lawn-diary/october-lawn...
Thanks for that, great info on there! Salgar said:
So, am I playing with fire if I try and use the same knapsack sprayer to spray Ferrous Sulphate as I recently used for glyphosate? Even if I rinse it out a bunch of times.
Whilst it's always best practice to keep herbicide equipment separate, washing it out and spraying it through several times (with detergent the first couple of times) should be adequate. If in doubt, fill with water and spray a small test area a couple of days beforehand and watch for any deterioration of the grass.FrankHovis said:
While its always been kept short, it was full of moss, daisies, clover, dandelions etc etc. I've had some help from a local lawn specialist and I'm really pleased so far. Apart from a few stubborn patches of moss in the shadier areas, its virtually weed free now.
A short cut makes the lawn more prone to weed invasion - with that and wear and tear from children's games it's open season for everything except desirable grasses. Different grass species and cultivars spread at different rates, so relying on the existing grasses to fill in bare patches can result in a mottled look to the lawn. It's also an open invitation to opportunist coarse weed grasses which will occupy those areas far faster than the desirable grasses. I would always want to overseed in such situations.You're not too far north, so there'd still be time to get some seed down in the next week to help fill in those thinner areas and provide a more consistent colour throughout the lawn. The results come spring would be worth the relatively small expense and would help ensure that spring weeds are kept at bay naturally. Lawnsmith's classic seed would be a good match for your lawn from what I can see in the photos.
There's signs in your lawn that its growth rate outpaces the frequency of mowing for that height of cut. I would either cut higher, or more often. The golden rule is not to remove more than one third of the grass height in one go. I would be wanting to raise the height of cut anyway now that we're heading towards winter.
richierich37 said:
Thanks Mike, that area belongs to my neighbour and he didn't want me touching it when he seen the damage I did with the verticutter.............bet he thinks otherwise now?!?!?
I'd be so tempted to go all out on getting my turf to visually overpower his in that situation
After years I'm going to ditch our lawn care provider. They are obviously cutting corners, using less weed killer / fertiliser to maximise their profits. A typical treatment takes the guy 3 minutes front and the same again on the back lawn for £25 a time! I'm going to give it a go myself.
I've run into some difficulties with my lawn and would welcome some advice...
Quick recap - I recently scarified (huge amount of thatch removed) and re-seeded last week; the seed doesn't look like it's going to take and on closer inspection there is still a layer of muddy thatch which is really matted (see pic). When I was scarifing I used a very low setting so I'm not quite sure what has happened.
Quick recap - I recently scarified (huge amount of thatch removed) and re-seeded last week; the seed doesn't look like it's going to take and on closer inspection there is still a layer of muddy thatch which is really matted (see pic). When I was scarifing I used a very low setting so I'm not quite sure what has happened.
Agreed, I wouldn't be worrying just yet. Keep it moist and the seeds will germinate, they might just take a little more encouragement as they're not covered with a layer of soil.
If you can sift some topsoil / sand / compost over the top it'll help retain some moisture around the seeds.
If you can sift some topsoil / sand / compost over the top it'll help retain some moisture around the seeds.
Nervousness is perfectly normal after you've scarified, and let me tell you it's even worse if you've killed off what everyone else thought was a perfectly good lawn and now you're desperately hoping the seed is going to save your blushes. I'm rapidly forming the opinion that lawncare is not a good hobby if longevity is something you aspire to.
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