2016 Lawn thread
Discussion
Phooey said:
Has anyone used the Oasis lawn treatment from Greenthumb?
applied it many times, it is a great treatment HOWEVER, its not just a spray and forget kind of treatment. it NEEDS to be watered into ideally already wet soil before dry periods, we try to do this when we are due rainfall so we know it gets watered in.it doesn't mean you don't have to water the lawn during dry periods and it will stay green, it just makes more efficient use of any water it gets, both by drawing any water into the root zone and by storing it there (think of it like having a sponge in the rootzone) obviously without any water for a period or very hot weather, the lawn will still turn brown, but does tend to recover quicker.
if its applied once the lawn is brown, it needs gentle watering over a longer period to work it into the dry root zone.
its at times like this cutting practice makes a massive difference and can mean the difference between a green healthy lawn and brown scorched lawn.
Most customers who have the treatment are on Direct Debit so have 2 per year so we tend to do one early spring and then another around 8 weeks later
hope that helps
Dr Mike Oxgreen said:
To me it looks like you've cut it way too short.
Looks too short for any time of year, but especially at the height of summer when we've been having a dry spell. Add to that the fact that your turf is recently laid.
Does your mower have variable height? If so you need to raise it up substantially.
Keep watering it every few days, giving it a thorough soaking not just a light sprinkling.
Perhaps feed it, using half the dosage recommended.
But most importantly, stop mowing the life out of it!
as he said! lawns LOVE a bit of length! however, the picture isn't the greatest but it also looks to have abit of a pink tinge to it? pick off some of the blades and look closely to see if there are some pink hairs growing on the grass, new lawns are quite prone to red threadLooks too short for any time of year, but especially at the height of summer when we've been having a dry spell. Add to that the fact that your turf is recently laid.
Does your mower have variable height? If so you need to raise it up substantially.
Keep watering it every few days, giving it a thorough soaking not just a light sprinkling.
Perhaps feed it, using half the dosage recommended.
But most importantly, stop mowing the life out of it!
Rib said:
applied it many times, it is a great treatment HOWEVER, its not just a spray and forget kind of treatment. it NEEDS to be watered into ideally already wet soil before dry periods, we try to do this when we are due rainfall so we know it gets watered in.
it doesn't mean you don't have to water the lawn during dry periods and it will stay green, it just makes more efficient use of any water it gets, both by drawing any water into the root zone and by storing it there (think of it like having a sponge in the rootzone) obviously without any water for a period or very hot weather, the lawn will still turn brown, but does tend to recover quicker.
if its applied once the lawn is brown, it needs gentle watering over a longer period to work it into the dry root zone.
its at times like this cutting practice makes a massive difference and can mean the difference between a green healthy lawn and brown scorched lawn.
Most customers who have the treatment are on Direct Debit so have 2 per year so we tend to do one early spring and then another around 8 weeks later
hope that helps
That does help Rib, thank you.it doesn't mean you don't have to water the lawn during dry periods and it will stay green, it just makes more efficient use of any water it gets, both by drawing any water into the root zone and by storing it there (think of it like having a sponge in the rootzone) obviously without any water for a period or very hot weather, the lawn will still turn brown, but does tend to recover quicker.
if its applied once the lawn is brown, it needs gentle watering over a longer period to work it into the dry root zone.
its at times like this cutting practice makes a massive difference and can mean the difference between a green healthy lawn and brown scorched lawn.
Most customers who have the treatment are on Direct Debit so have 2 per year so we tend to do one early spring and then another around 8 weeks later
hope that helps
So, the lawn renovation season will be upon us in a few short weeks' time.
What has everyone got planned? Who's doing the usual scarify, aerate and overseed routine?
Me personally, I'm currently battling Poa annua after I killed and reseeded the lawn last autumn, so my efforts will be concentrated on anti-Poa measures. I treated my lawn in early spring this year with pre-emergent herbicide that prevents germination of weed grasses, and that seems to have been successful against crab grass etc, but obviously I couldn't use that on the newly-seeded lawn last autumn and I think the Poa annua seeds present in the soil grabbed the opportunity for a germination party.
I've decided against scarifying because the lawn isn't desperate for it and with me not working (studying at home for ATPL exams at the moment) whatever money I can save by not renting machines is a benefit. Instead I'm going to apply another dose of pre-emergent herbicide in an effort to prevent germination of further Poa annua seeds, which tend to germinate in the autumn.
A couple of weeks ago I aggressively raked a couple of patches of the lawn that were especially badly affected by Poa annua, where the Poa had begun to die back a bit. It was very noticeable how the shallow-rooted Poa came out much more than the 'proper' grasses. I then overseeded and have been religiously watering these areas during the hot weather.
After seeding, I sprinkled a thin layer of compost over one of the patches but not the other, and have noticed substantially better germination in the composted area. I wish I could claim that this was a planned experiment, but really it was just laziness. So, note to self: even a thin covering of compost on top of your grass seeds greatly improves germination and speeds up the development of the seedling grass. I guess the compost shields the seed slightly from the drying effect of the sun and wind.
So who's doing what to their lawns this autumn season?
What has everyone got planned? Who's doing the usual scarify, aerate and overseed routine?
Me personally, I'm currently battling Poa annua after I killed and reseeded the lawn last autumn, so my efforts will be concentrated on anti-Poa measures. I treated my lawn in early spring this year with pre-emergent herbicide that prevents germination of weed grasses, and that seems to have been successful against crab grass etc, but obviously I couldn't use that on the newly-seeded lawn last autumn and I think the Poa annua seeds present in the soil grabbed the opportunity for a germination party.
I've decided against scarifying because the lawn isn't desperate for it and with me not working (studying at home for ATPL exams at the moment) whatever money I can save by not renting machines is a benefit. Instead I'm going to apply another dose of pre-emergent herbicide in an effort to prevent germination of further Poa annua seeds, which tend to germinate in the autumn.
A couple of weeks ago I aggressively raked a couple of patches of the lawn that were especially badly affected by Poa annua, where the Poa had begun to die back a bit. It was very noticeable how the shallow-rooted Poa came out much more than the 'proper' grasses. I then overseeded and have been religiously watering these areas during the hot weather.
After seeding, I sprinkled a thin layer of compost over one of the patches but not the other, and have noticed substantially better germination in the composted area. I wish I could claim that this was a planned experiment, but really it was just laziness. So, note to self: even a thin covering of compost on top of your grass seeds greatly improves germination and speeds up the development of the seedling grass. I guess the compost shields the seed slightly from the drying effect of the sun and wind.
So who's doing what to their lawns this autumn season?
Edited by Dr Mike Oxgreen on Wednesday 24th August 11:26
I've been considering our lawn since we moved in, last September....
The soil is clay and the grass is mostly thick and unkempt - it took me about 5-6 mows to get the mower from it's highest level to the lowest...
Apparently Green Thumb came in and did 'stuff' to it, but basically it was a mess and had been left to it's own devices... There's a lot of thistles growing in it, as we back on to a farmers field which is left fallow for sheep to graze on. It's not that level either - there are sizeable dips and rises in it, here and there and I suspect it was done on the cheap or as cheap as possible - it was a new build about 7 or 8 years ago.
We have, since moving in, purchased about 1 1/2 times the length of our garden from the farmer... It's been left for who knows how long!! There were and still are bits of 'stuff' and general farming detritus just left on there... I've started to tidy it up and cut everything down on it - Thistles and Nettles. Then I've mowed the lot - on a medium/high setting to see what we were dealing with. Actually it's mostly okay, but quite uneven...
I could rotavate the lot... and turf or seed, but that seems like overkill... The 'old' lawn is okay and mostly de-weeded now, but it definitely needs a good scarify, aerate and some sand added to try and aid drainage - we had a couple of incidents were water just puddled off the field... i.e. it had stopped raining but the water kept on rising! Great!
I am more minded to rotavate the additional part and work with that a little or at least splice it here and there... There seems to be a bit of a bag of sand on there as well - so that could go in to the lawn!!
Apparently there is/was some extra drainage in the field, but this doesn't seem to have had much effect.
There aren't any plants to speak of - none. So I'd like to put a couple of beds in and also a native hedge, to try and suck some of the excess water out of the ground and to try and stop it affecting the lawn as much as it does - not sure how much of an affect that will have on the situation but it can't hurt! It's a blank canvas.
The ideal is to get it a little flatter - not billiard table flat but at least remove the higher bumps and fill in the lower troughs and at the same time to aerate and add sand to try and change the drainage characteristics, but I suspect that I could easily chuck tonne bag after tonne bag at it without much change occurring.. It might be that we add some soakaways in, here and there, but again that could be of no use.. The farmer has half mentioned putting in a land drain.. which could also help - at the moment his son lives next door so is affected and therefore this might actually get done!
Happily open to ideas!! Don't mind spending money or doing the work as we've only been here about 11 months and should be staying here for another 11 years.
The soil is clay and the grass is mostly thick and unkempt - it took me about 5-6 mows to get the mower from it's highest level to the lowest...
Apparently Green Thumb came in and did 'stuff' to it, but basically it was a mess and had been left to it's own devices... There's a lot of thistles growing in it, as we back on to a farmers field which is left fallow for sheep to graze on. It's not that level either - there are sizeable dips and rises in it, here and there and I suspect it was done on the cheap or as cheap as possible - it was a new build about 7 or 8 years ago.
We have, since moving in, purchased about 1 1/2 times the length of our garden from the farmer... It's been left for who knows how long!! There were and still are bits of 'stuff' and general farming detritus just left on there... I've started to tidy it up and cut everything down on it - Thistles and Nettles. Then I've mowed the lot - on a medium/high setting to see what we were dealing with. Actually it's mostly okay, but quite uneven...
I could rotavate the lot... and turf or seed, but that seems like overkill... The 'old' lawn is okay and mostly de-weeded now, but it definitely needs a good scarify, aerate and some sand added to try and aid drainage - we had a couple of incidents were water just puddled off the field... i.e. it had stopped raining but the water kept on rising! Great!
I am more minded to rotavate the additional part and work with that a little or at least splice it here and there... There seems to be a bit of a bag of sand on there as well - so that could go in to the lawn!!
Apparently there is/was some extra drainage in the field, but this doesn't seem to have had much effect.
There aren't any plants to speak of - none. So I'd like to put a couple of beds in and also a native hedge, to try and suck some of the excess water out of the ground and to try and stop it affecting the lawn as much as it does - not sure how much of an affect that will have on the situation but it can't hurt! It's a blank canvas.
The ideal is to get it a little flatter - not billiard table flat but at least remove the higher bumps and fill in the lower troughs and at the same time to aerate and add sand to try and change the drainage characteristics, but I suspect that I could easily chuck tonne bag after tonne bag at it without much change occurring.. It might be that we add some soakaways in, here and there, but again that could be of no use.. The farmer has half mentioned putting in a land drain.. which could also help - at the moment his son lives next door so is affected and therefore this might actually get done!
Happily open to ideas!! Don't mind spending money or doing the work as we've only been here about 11 months and should be staying here for another 11 years.
I moved into a rental property late last year and have been trying to get some improvement on a very neglected lawn, I've failed. While it's better than it was its still a shambles - I need advice.
Photo as of 5 minutes ago:
I've been removing weeds by hand (Inc roots), used general feed & weed and spot weeded too, either I'm doing all of this badly or I have resilient weeds.
Can you offer any advice to try and improve things for next year? Clay soil, lawn is probably 8 years old and installed by the developers. Likely to be lots of rubble under the soil due to location of site. Gradual slope towards fence at top of picture where water pools and turns into a bog. Neighbour behind appears to have installed some kind of membrane along fence line which prevents water draining, he has a plastic lawn,i envy him.
Photo as of 5 minutes ago:
I've been removing weeds by hand (Inc roots), used general feed & weed and spot weeded too, either I'm doing all of this badly or I have resilient weeds.
Can you offer any advice to try and improve things for next year? Clay soil, lawn is probably 8 years old and installed by the developers. Likely to be lots of rubble under the soil due to location of site. Gradual slope towards fence at top of picture where water pools and turns into a bog. Neighbour behind appears to have installed some kind of membrane along fence line which prevents water draining, he has a plastic lawn,i envy him.
Get a hand sprayer (type you pump up) and some liquid lawn weedkiller. Sorts those broad leaved things right out - much, much better than e.g weed and feed granules.
IME hand weeding anything with a big tap root is a hiding to nothing - you just end up either with a big hole, or don't get all the root and it just comes back again.
IME hand weeding anything with a big tap root is a hiding to nothing - you just end up either with a big hole, or don't get all the root and it just comes back again.
Some Gump said:
Get a hand sprayer (type you pump up) and some liquid lawn weedkiller. Sorts those broad leaved things right out - much, much better than e.g weed and feed granules.
IME hand weeding anything with a big tap root is a hiding to nothing - you just end up either with a big hole, or don't get all the root and it just comes back again.
Thanks, I have one of those sprayers already that I used to use for other things so I'll look up some decent lawn weedkiller stuff for it. IME hand weeding anything with a big tap root is a hiding to nothing - you just end up either with a big hole, or don't get all the root and it just comes back again.
I certainly won't be hand weeding again apart from any odd ones here and there - it took me two days, I filled up the wheelie bin with dandelions and then they all came back. My theory was that the holes I'd made would aerate the lawn, I'm quite dim when it comes to these things
The previous two occupants here clearly had zero interest in the garden as you can see from the lack of any garden features, but as it's only a temp thing while I save for a deposit I'm not willing to invest too much in making it nice for the owner.
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