2015 Lawn thread
Discussion
looks like red thread to me.I'd try to get rid of it with cultural methods first before turning to the fungicides. Water deeply and infrequently rather than little and often, and water in the morning rather than at night as mentioned. Remove all the grass clippings. On an established lawn you only need water when the grass loses its 'springiness'.
Red thread can be a sign of nitrogen deficiency, and whilst that does make it more likely, even well fertilised lawns can get it. If you haven't fed the lawn recently then it's worth doing so if that isn't going to over fertilise it. You want good vigorous growth to help get rid of the affected grass tips.
I'd also cut a little lower for a bit until the grass has recovered, but don't drop the cut height all in one go.
This is the ideal time of year for the Laetisaria fuciformis fungus, with the warm weather and humid conditions increasing periods of leaf wetness. Evening watering further exacerbates the problem.
Well the lawn's recovered well from its verticut and topdress a week or so ago.
When I did it the weather forecast for this week was for heavy rain every day so ideal for a bit of overseeding as well - nicely predicted, met office
I'm glad that I didn't go OTT with the scarifier.
The coarser grasses are now much reduced:
I even got the Ransomes out of the shed for some striping. It must be summer
When I did it the weather forecast for this week was for heavy rain every day so ideal for a bit of overseeding as well - nicely predicted, met office
I'm glad that I didn't go OTT with the scarifier.The coarser grasses are now much reduced:
I even got the Ransomes out of the shed for some striping. It must be summer
CoolHands said:
Condi said:
jagnet said:
I've been very impressed with the Silverline impulse sprinkler, even more so given that it's under £10. It seems well built and is easily adjusted for distance and angle (all the way up to full circle).
You can hook them up in series to save using a multiport adapter near the tap, although you'll need very good water pressure and flow to support more than a couple.
I've found that it works even better from a height, so I plant it in a pot on the raised patio to sprinkle the lawn below.
http://www.toolstation.com/shop/p41077You can hook them up in series to save using a multiport adapter near the tap, although you'll need very good water pressure and flow to support more than a couple.
I've found that it works even better from a height, so I plant it in a pot on the raised patio to sprinkle the lawn below.
£3.80 from toolstation! Working very well on my lawn, and a nice little replica of the big rain guns we use on the farm.
Guys, some advice pls.
We've just had some work done in the back garden (new patio) and as part of this, had some new turf laid. I've watered it and its come up lovely.
Which now highlights the fact that much of the remaining lawn is just chockers full of coarse grasses and general rubbish following about 10 years of neglect by the previous owners.
As I see it, my options are to either
- take up the old stuff and either seed or turf; or
- deep scarify, topdress, overseed with nicer grass, weed, feed, rinse and repeat until I get the desired result.
The section of the back lawn I want to tackle is probably 1000sqm, hence why I am considering options as taking up, diposing of old turf, topsoiling then returfing would be MUCH £££ which don't grow on trees.
Also, we have 2 young boys so I suspect the lawn will take a battering for many years to come, so wondering if the second option might be the best route (taking longer and probably costing as much in the long run).
Any thoughts?
We've just had some work done in the back garden (new patio) and as part of this, had some new turf laid. I've watered it and its come up lovely.
Which now highlights the fact that much of the remaining lawn is just chockers full of coarse grasses and general rubbish following about 10 years of neglect by the previous owners.
As I see it, my options are to either
- take up the old stuff and either seed or turf; or
- deep scarify, topdress, overseed with nicer grass, weed, feed, rinse and repeat until I get the desired result.
The section of the back lawn I want to tackle is probably 1000sqm, hence why I am considering options as taking up, diposing of old turf, topsoiling then returfing would be MUCH £££ which don't grow on trees.
Also, we have 2 young boys so I suspect the lawn will take a battering for many years to come, so wondering if the second option might be the best route (taking longer and probably costing as much in the long run).
Any thoughts?
0000 said:
CoolHands said:
Condi said:
jagnet said:
I've been very impressed with the Silverline impulse sprinkler, even more so given that it's under £10. It seems well built and is easily adjusted for distance and angle (all the way up to full circle).
You can hook them up in series to save using a multiport adapter near the tap, although you'll need very good water pressure and flow to support more than a couple.
I've found that it works even better from a height, so I plant it in a pot on the raised patio to sprinkle the lawn below.
http://www.toolstation.com/shop/p41077You can hook them up in series to save using a multiport adapter near the tap, although you'll need very good water pressure and flow to support more than a couple.
I've found that it works even better from a height, so I plant it in a pot on the raised patio to sprinkle the lawn below.
£3.80 from toolstation! Working very well on my lawn, and a nice little replica of the big rain guns we use on the farm.
This months lawn diary is out for those that haven't seen it: http://www.lawnsmith.co.uk/lawn-diary/july-lawn-ca...
Cactussed said:
Guys, some advice pls.
We've just had some work done in the back garden (new patio) and as part of this, had some new turf laid. I've watered it and its come up lovely.
Which now highlights the fact that much of the remaining lawn is just chockers full of coarse grasses and general rubbish following about 10 years of neglect by the previous owners.
As I see it, my options are to either
- take up the old stuff and either seed or turf; or
- deep scarify, topdress, overseed with nicer grass, weed, feed, rinse and repeat until I get the desired result.
The section of the back lawn I want to tackle is probably 1000sqm, hence why I am considering options as taking up, diposing of old turf, topsoiling then returfing would be MUCH £££ which don't grow on trees.
Also, we have 2 young boys so I suspect the lawn will take a battering for many years to come, so wondering if the second option might be the best route (taking longer and probably costing as much in the long run).
Any thoughts?
Loads of threads on this but FWIW this year I followed advice from here and improved by front and rear lawns by first using some Verdone to take out the weeks and iron sulphate to take out the moss/give them a feed.We've just had some work done in the back garden (new patio) and as part of this, had some new turf laid. I've watered it and its come up lovely.
Which now highlights the fact that much of the remaining lawn is just chockers full of coarse grasses and general rubbish following about 10 years of neglect by the previous owners.
As I see it, my options are to either
- take up the old stuff and either seed or turf; or
- deep scarify, topdress, overseed with nicer grass, weed, feed, rinse and repeat until I get the desired result.
The section of the back lawn I want to tackle is probably 1000sqm, hence why I am considering options as taking up, diposing of old turf, topsoiling then returfing would be MUCH £££ which don't grow on trees.
Also, we have 2 young boys so I suspect the lawn will take a battering for many years to come, so wondering if the second option might be the best route (taking longer and probably costing as much in the long run).
Any thoughts?
On the smaller front one I also aerated using a fork and overseeded/added a bit of topsoil.
The front one looks better, TBH, but the back one shows is much improved and shows how much benefit just the Verdone and iron sulphate deliver.
PS; I also been watering both lawns 3-4 times a week which has also helped them thrive. Also, I don't cut them very short.
PPS; buy the book, The Lawn Care Expert
jagnet said:
Well the lawn's recovered well from its verticut and topdress a week or so ago.
When I did it the weather forecast for this week was for heavy rain every day so ideal for a bit of overseeding as well - nicely predicted, met office I'm glad that I didn't go OTT with the scarifier.
The coarser grasses are now much reduced:
I even got the Ransomes out of the shed for some striping. It must be summer
What did you do to reduce the coarse grasses? I'm currently raking and then pulling them out by the root. Yes, I have back ache When I did it the weather forecast for this week was for heavy rain every day so ideal for a bit of overseeding as well - nicely predicted, met office
I'm glad that I didn't go OTT with the scarifier.The coarser grasses are now much reduced:
I even got the Ransomes out of the shed for some striping. It must be summer
That's not really the issue.
I've been weeding, feeding, regularly cutting, have scarified and hollow tined etc. Gets watered and the grass that's there is doing fairly well.
It's just that the grass is very coarse and broad leafed with a lot of thatch. I will obvs keep scarifying but wondering if it might be better to just blitz it in one go or continue to try making progress with what's there.
I've been weeding, feeding, regularly cutting, have scarified and hollow tined etc. Gets watered and the grass that's there is doing fairly well.
It's just that the grass is very coarse and broad leafed with a lot of thatch. I will obvs keep scarifying but wondering if it might be better to just blitz it in one go or continue to try making progress with what's there.
Cactussed said:
That's not really the issue.
I've been weeding, feeding, regularly cutting, have scarified and hollow tined etc. Gets watered and the grass that's there is doing fairly well.
It's just that the grass is very coarse and broad leafed with a lot of thatch. I will obvs keep scarifying but wondering if it might be better to just blitz it in one go or continue to try making progress with what's there.
Not sure how you can end up with a lot of thatch if you've been scarifying. But it you have, scarify more surely?I've been weeding, feeding, regularly cutting, have scarified and hollow tined etc. Gets watered and the grass that's there is doing fairly well.
It's just that the grass is very coarse and broad leafed with a lot of thatch. I will obvs keep scarifying but wondering if it might be better to just blitz it in one go or continue to try making progress with what's there.
I had clumps of course grass (Yorkshire fog) in my front lawn and I pulled them out one by one. It was easy, though, as it was small. Then overseeded the resulting gaps
I haven't bothered doing that at the back as it's too large and it takes a battering from my kids anyway.
Actually, I've not really deep scarified the back. I've done the front to death and its come up a treat, so perhaps I'll invest a bit more effort in the back lawn and see how it comes out.
another question.
I've got a few areas where old trees were taken down (I suspect) and the lawn has depressions. Best way of levelling them? they're sizeable (perhaps 20sqm) and need to come up maybe 4-6 inches.
Can I just chuck some topsoil over it and then seed and water? Will the new grass grow into the existing stuff underneath? Again, want to avoid lifting turf on large areas...
another question.
I've got a few areas where old trees were taken down (I suspect) and the lawn has depressions. Best way of levelling them? they're sizeable (perhaps 20sqm) and need to come up maybe 4-6 inches.
Can I just chuck some topsoil over it and then seed and water? Will the new grass grow into the existing stuff underneath? Again, want to avoid lifting turf on large areas...
Cactussed said:
- deep scarify, topdress, overseed with nicer grass, weed, feed, rinse and repeat until I get the desired result.
For a 1000 m2 area that's the way I'd go with it unless you were trying to achieve croquet lawn levels of perfection. Even then, topdressing it is going to need about 16 tonnes of topdressing for a 1cm depth. It's a slower process versus starting again, but unless the soil underneath is in dire condition it will come good.
WinstonWolf said:
What did you do to reduce the coarse grasses? I'm currently raking and then pulling them out by the root. Yes, I have back ache
I stressed them out as best I could by reducing watering and fertiliser without causing too much stress to the finer grasses, then verticutting with the scarifier on a high setting to get rid of much of the side growth, which impacted the coarse grasses more than the finer ones.I did topdress and over seed but it's still a bit early to see the effects of that.
Afterwards I applied a liquid foliar feed to the lawn, which the finer grasses were able to make more use of as they hadn't had been reduced so much by verticutting.
The finer grasses now have more of an upper hand in the competition stakes, with the fresh grass seed starting to germinate to help that even more.
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