2015 Lawn thread

[Flip Martian]

Can anyone recommend something to zap moss and weeds which is pet friendly? My wife has 2 cats and everything I look at which is "pet friendly" says "keep animals off for 24 hours before watering in" or similar. I doubt the cats are stupid enough to eat the granules but one at least spends most of his time in the back garden.

Thanks to this thread I now know what Yorkshire Mist is - we have some alongside dandelions and daisies. And moss. I plan on buying a scarifier but doesn't seem a lot of point until I can get at the moss and weeds. Tried digging some of the dandelions out but its an endless task.

So is there anything I can use to kill moss and weeds that won't threaten the cats? At the moment my wife is thinking we have to wait until they pop their clogs.

The "help them on their way to heaven" option is not an option.

[Cactussed]

Keep them indoors for 24 hours?

[red_slr]

AC43 said:

Anyway; stripes are back on the agenda.

Stripes you say...

[Flip Martian]

Cactussed said:

Keep them indoors for 24 hours?

That would be the ideal (and obvious!) solution but its unlikely to be possible.

[jagnet]

Flip Martian said:

So is there anything I can use to kill moss and weeds that won't threaten the cats? At the moment my wife is thinking we have to wait until they pop their clogs.

Nothing that's effective anyway, that I can think of. For things like dandelions, with their long tap roots, you really need a selective weed killer to kill each plant off completely. Most pet friendly solutions such as vinegar only damage the parts of the plant that they touch and aren't selective, so are worse than useless.

For the sake of one day, I'd just keep the cats indoors.

Depending on how bad your moss is, you may want to wait until the autumn to deal with that. It'll take a fortnight to kill it off, (possibly requiring a second application so realistically a month). By the time you've raked it out you'll be looking at a very thin and patchy lawn in mid to late June which is really getting a bit late to be overseeding. It's not insurmountable, but you'll likely need to be watering it a lot through the early part of the summer to keep the seedlings alive.

If it were me, I'd concentrate on weed killing, feeding the grass and light aeration with a fork (rather than hollow tine aeration), meanwhile plan for your major renovations in Sept/Oct (which is a better time for it than spring anyway imho).

[Flip Martian]

jagnet said:

Nothing that's effective anyway, that I can think of. For things like dandelions, with their long tap roots, you really need a selective weed killer to kill each plant off completely. Most pet friendly solutions such as vinegar only damage the parts of the plant that they touch and aren't selective, so are worse than useless.

For the sake of one day, I'd just keep the cats indoors.

Depending on how bad your moss is, you may want to wait until the autumn to deal with that. It'll take a fortnight to kill it off, (possibly requiring a second application so realistically a month). By the time you've raked it out you'll be looking at a very thin and patchy lawn in mid to late June which is really getting a bit late to be overseeding. It's not insurmountable, but you'll likely need to be watering it a lot through the early part of the summer to keep the seedlings alive.

If it were me, I'd concentrate on weed killing, feeding the grass and light aeration with a fork (rather than hollow tine aeration), meanwhile plan for your major renovations in Sept/Oct (which is a better time for it than spring anyway imho).

Thanks for that, very much appreciated. I'll do that. I know my back lawn (a third of which USED to be part of the field at the back of our house) is quite clay like and the lawn hasn't been aerated in years. I'll concentrate on weeds, feeding and aerating for now. Many thanks!

[jagnet]

Flip Martian said:

is quite clay like and the lawn hasn't been aerated in years.

In which case in the autumn I'd definitely look at hollow tine aeration then top dressing with a sand and compost mix to help improve the soil. Spiking it now will start loosening it, which will make the autumn aeration that much easier.

[Flip Martian]

jagnet said:

In which case in the autumn I'd definitely look at hollow tine aeration then top dressing with a sand and compost mix to help improve the soil. Spiking it now will start loosening it, which will make the autumn aeration that much easier.

Duly noted! Thanks.

[niki265]

Flip Martian said:

Can anyone recommend something to zap moss and weeds which is pet friendly? My wife has 2 cats and everything I look at which is "pet friendly" says "keep animals off for 24 hours before watering in" or similar. I doubt the cats are stupid enough to eat the granules but one at least spends most of his time in the back garden.

Mo Bacter

http://www.djturfcare.co.uk/products/MO-Bacter-Org...

Used it for first time this year and seems to be doing a good job of reviving a tired mossy, thin lawn, also animal/child friendly. No issues reported by our neighbours who have 2 ageing cats, they've also used it on their lawn,

[CoolHands]

how long do grass seeds take to grow? I planted some a week ago (I dug up compacted surface first) and covered with top soil, watered every eve. So far nothing!

[ukwill]

some of ours at the mo



Have got several more stupid great big pine trees dotted around the house. Am forever picking up pine cones & clearing the gutters out...

I put the laurels in last December - they must have grown over a foot already.

[Flip Martian]

niki265 said:

Mo Bacter

http://www.djturfcare.co.uk/products/MO-Bacter-Org...

Used it for first time this year and seems to be doing a good job of reviving a tired mossy, thin lawn, also animal/child friendly. No issues reported by our neighbours who have 2 ageing cats, they've also used it on their lawn,

Thanks, will take a look.

[Turbodiesel1976]

E

ukwill said:

some of ours at the mo



Have got several more stupid great big pine trees dotted around the house. Am forever picking up pine cones & clearing the gutters out...

I put the laurels in last December - they must have grown over a foot already.

Good effort

[Condi]

CoolHands said:

how long do grass seeds take to grow? I planted some a week ago (I dug up compacted surface first) and covered with top soil, watered every eve. So far nothing!

2-3 weeks normally. Mine had been down a week and nothing, then I was away last week and with all the rain they've come up good.

[bstw]

Flip Martian said:

niki265 said:

Mo Bacter

http://www.djturfcare.co.uk/products/MO-Bacter-Org...

Used it for first time this year and seems to be doing a good job of reviving a tired mossy, thin lawn, also animal/child friendly. No issues reported by our neighbours who have 2 ageing cats, they've also used it on their lawn,

Thanks, will take a look.

I was quite disappointed with Mo-Bacter, I used it last year and this year have more moss than ever before.

With regards to pets, we have a cat and i use granular feed and Verdone to kill weeds on our lawn and it's never done him any harm.

If you've got a decent sized lawn buy the concentrated Verdone and a sprayer.

[Flip Martian]

bstw said:

I was quite disappointed with Mo-Bacter, I used it last year and this year have more moss than ever before.

With regards to pets, we have a cat and i use granular feed and Verdone to kill weeds on our lawn and it's never done him any harm.

If you've got a decent sized lawn buy the concentrated Verdone and a sprayer.

Will add to my list, many thanks!

[popeyewhite]

CoolHands said:

how long do grass seeds take to grow? I planted some a week ago (I dug up compacted surface first) and covered with top soil, watered every eve. So far nothing!

I put the top soil down first, then the seeds pressed gently into it. Made sure they're damp every evening. If you've covered them in top soil they may well take a while to push through.

[Denis O]

Grass looked pretty awful back on April 8th. A lot of work, loads of mows and a liberal application of Weed & Feed and it was really starting to look good.

AND THEN A FECKING MOLE HAS ARRIVED

Grass is on 4 levels and the little bd has only infested 1 of them. It started with finding some small hills near the edge of the fence and right by a tree but the hills are getting further into the lawn. Get 1 every couple of days. I've just been clearing up the dirt so it looks okay. Maybe at some point it will collapse because of the tunnels underneath.

I've heard that a water hose down the hole can be effective in drowning the little gits. I'll give that a try but are there any other effective ways to send him on his way.

[530dTPhil]

Completing on this today, so a crash course in lawn care is needed to keep it looking this good. There is a house included as well!

[Trevor450]

Denis O said:

Grass looked pretty awful back on April 8th. A lot of work, loads of mows and a liberal application of Weed & Feed and it was really starting to look good.

AND THEN A FECKING MOLE HAS ARRIVED

Grass is on 4 levels and the little bd has only infested 1 of them. It started with finding some small hills near the edge of the fence and right by a tree but the hills are getting further into the lawn. Get 1 every couple of days. I've just been clearing up the dirt so it looks okay. Maybe at some point it will collapse because of the tunnels underneath.

I've heard that a water hose down the hole can be effective in drowning the little gits. I'll give that a try but are there any other effective ways to send him on his way.

http://www.trapman.co.uk/mole-trap-catching-hints.htm

I've caught several in my garden and fields with these.