2015 Lawn thread
Discussion
Traditionally the end of August or beginning of September is the recommended time for scarifying, but since you're a little further north you could probably do it now if you're keen to get going. Temperatures in your neck of the woods aren't exactly likely to be scorchio, so just water it frequently afterwards and I reckon you'll be fine.
Edited to add: Another way of looking at it is to observe what the grass has been doing. If it's growing strongly then now is a good time to scarify; but if it has slowed right down due to heat and drought then you should wait until conditions improve. My grass virtually stopped growing about a month ago, but it is growing again now.
Edited to add: Another way of looking at it is to observe what the grass has been doing. If it's growing strongly then now is a good time to scarify; but if it has slowed right down due to heat and drought then you should wait until conditions improve. My grass virtually stopped growing about a month ago, but it is growing again now.
Edited by Dr Mike Oxgreen on Monday 10th August 11:08
Stripey lawn by Lewis Craik, on Flickr
With all the sun/rain we've had recently and after some lawn feed a few weeks back I'm really pleased with how my lawn is looking now. Normally in early August I'd go over it with a lawn weedkiller, but it looks weed free at the moment, so I'll just continue with the spot applications.
Dr Mike Oxgreen said:
Edited to add: Another way of looking at it is to observe what the grass has been doing. If it's growing strongly then now is a good time to scarify; but if it has slowed right down due to heat and drought then you should wait until conditions improve. My grass virtually stopped growing about a month ago, but it is growing again now.
This is definitely what you want to be looking at. If the grass is dormant due to dry weather then scarifying it and removing much of its remaining water reserves is going to cause it far more harm than good. Also, if the ground is dry then you're going to struggle to scarify to any depth and you'll find that the grass is getting uprooted when the tines can't slice into the ground properly, rather than having them cut neatly through the soil and grass roots.So you don't want to do it too early if the conditions aren't right, but neither do you want to do it too late and not give the lawn time to recover or fresh grass seed time to establish before the frosts start.
This is definitely the time to be looking to start if you can, and if conditions will allow.
It's still far too dry here to be renovating (despite a brief rain shower passing overhead as I type) so in the meantime I'm busying myself with my charcoal pit making some biochar from garden prunings ready for when I can start on the lawn.
Craikeybaby said:
Having a more or less weed free lawn thanks to a healthy turf rather than frequent applications of weedkiller is so very satisfying. That grass is looking lovely and healthy.Started mowing the lawn yesterday and immediately about half a dozen little white butterflies flew up from the grass. They were maybe three quarters of an inch across, with slightly translucent white wings, and they didn't really fly with much purpose, as if they were panicked and didn't know where to go. By the end of the mowing there was about twenty of them flying around at low level.
I thought they might be baby butterflies until my wife reminded me that's not really the way that butterflies are made.
Anyone know what they might have been? Whatever they were, they loved the grass as they didn't seem interested in the flowers nearby.
I thought they might be baby butterflies until my wife reminded me that's not really the way that butterflies are made.
Anyone know what they might have been? Whatever they were, they loved the grass as they didn't seem interested in the flowers nearby.Twilkes said:
Started mowing the lawn yesterday and immediately about half a dozen little white butterflies flew up from the grass. They were maybe three quarters of an inch across, with slightly translucent white wings, and they didn't really fly with much purpose, as if they were panicked and didn't know where to go. By the end of the mowing there was about twenty of them flying around at low level.
I thought they might be baby butterflies until my wife reminded me that's not really the way that butterflies are made. Anyone know what they might have been? Whatever they were, they loved the grass as they didn't seem interested in the flowers nearby.
Sure they are called white flys usually harmless to the grass but maybe not your other plants they are very common at this time of year.I thought they might be baby butterflies until my wife reminded me that's not really the way that butterflies are made.
Anyone know what they might have been? Whatever they were, they loved the grass as they didn't seem interested in the flowers nearby.R8VXF said:
moles said:
Barny can you not see the clippings on the lawn I know you said you mow 3 times a week but even so with watering I'd imagine the clippings are 10-15mm long do they not show on the lawn at all?. How low are you cutting the lawn with the classic seed?.
They generally disappear from view in a day or so, I just go round and make sure any large clumps are redistributed. Currently mowing on setting 4 of 5 on the mower.
ETA: Don't worry jagnet, I am cross cutting during the week, I just like the long stripes on the weekend
Edited by R8VXF on Tuesday 11th August 11:04
jagnet said:
R8VXF said:
ETA: Don't worry jagnet, I am cross cutting during the week, I just like the long stripes on the weekend
I'm glad that I'm not the only one that does that then. That lawn is really looking good now
Cheers fella, has taken a lot of work and there is still plenty more to do, but I am finding it very satisfying seeing the progress so far.
This was my garden when I moved in about 5 years ago!
)
Harrumph! Rain stopped play on my glyphosating this evening. I've got half of the lawn sprayed; I just hope it doesn't get washed away overnight.
The red dye is a little disappointing. Despite my living within half a mile of Horsell Common, you wouldn't know the aliens had landed on my lawn. But it did produce a very subtle colour change that was just enough for me to see where I'd been.
Hopefully I'll be able to finish tomorrow.
The red dye is a little disappointing. Despite my living within half a mile of Horsell Common, you wouldn't know the aliens had landed on my lawn. But it did produce a very subtle colour change that was just enough for me to see where I'd been.
Hopefully I'll be able to finish tomorrow.
Dr Mike Oxgreen said:
Traditionally the end of August or beginning of September is the recommended time for scarifying, but since you're a little further north you could probably do it now if you're keen to get going. Temperatures in your neck of the woods aren't exactly likely to be scorchio, so just water it frequently afterwards and I reckon you'll be fine.
Edited to add: Another way of looking at it is to observe what the grass has been doing. If it's growing strongly then now is a good time to scarify; but if it has slowed right down due to heat and drought then you should wait until conditions improve. My grass virtually stopped growing about a month ago, but it is growing again now.
Edited to add: Another way of looking at it is to observe what the grass has been doing. If it's growing strongly then now is a good time to scarify; but if it has slowed right down due to heat and drought then you should wait until conditions improve. My grass virtually stopped growing about a month ago, but it is growing again now.
Edited by Dr Mike Oxgreen on Monday 10th August 11:08
Thanks Doc. It's not growing much at present and as there's a dry spell forecast next week, I'll leave it another fortnight.
R8VXF said:
Cheers fella, has taken a lot of work and there is still plenty more to do, but I am finding it very satisfying seeing the progress so far.
This was my garden when I moved in about 5 years ago!
It's interesting how much larger the garden looks now that it's broken up with the borders and plants.Nick_MSM said:
Dr Mike Oxgreen said:
Harrumph! Rain stopped play on my glyphosating this evening. I've got half of the lawn sprayed; I just hope it doesn't get washed away overnight.
The red dye is a little disappointing. Despite my living within half a mile of Horsell Common, you wouldn't know the aliens had landed on my lawn. But it did produce a very subtle colour change that was just enough for me to see where I'd been.
Hopefully I'll be able to finish tomorrow.
I didn't realise that you were so close to Horsell Common, that really would've been in keeping. It's a shame that the dye was so subtle, it had so much potential The red dye is a little disappointing. Despite my living within half a mile of Horsell Common, you wouldn't know the aliens had landed on my lawn. But it did produce a very subtle colour change that was just enough for me to see where I'd been.
Hopefully I'll be able to finish tomorrow.
jagnet said:
R8VXF said:
Cheers fella, has taken a lot of work and there is still plenty more to do, but I am finding it very satisfying seeing the progress so far.
This was my garden when I moved in about 5 years ago!
It's interesting how much larger the garden looks now that it's broken up with the borders and plants.Japveesix said:
Twilkes said:
RichB said:
Whitefly is tiny, certainly not 3/4" across.
Yep, these were definitely of a baby-butterfly-mistakeable size.Wish I'd caught a few more in the mower now.
Gassing Station | Homes, Gardens and DIY | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff