2017 Lawn thread

[Hard-Drive]

Craikeybaby said:

I'd suggest waiting a few more weeks before putting any fertiliser down, my lawn is growing nicely at the moment, but I guess we're still st risk of a cold snap.

I'd also suggest overseeding, in mid to late April.

Thanks for that. Any tips on what fertiliser to use? Got quite a big area so needs to be fairly economic. And what is overseeding?

[Craikeybaby]

I'm feeling particularly proud of my lawn at the moment - we've had a few landscapers round and both of them have commented on how good my lawn looks!

jagnet said:

Craikeybaby said:

* Some sort of moss treatment in the next few weeks - any recommendations for one that won't stain sandstone paths?

Normal moss treatment is based on ferrous sulphate, so it will stain. Also heavy doses of the stuff aren't great for soil organisms - there's a reason that I use it in some of my homemade paint for exterior wood.

For a non stain option you'll need to look into something like Mo Bacter. It won't have the rapid blackening of moss that ferrous sulphate does, but it will deplete it slowly.

Thanks. That looks interesting, I take it that with Mo Bacter I wouldn't need fertiliser afterwards, just leave it a few weeks, then overseed.

Hard-Drive said:

Craikeybaby said:

I'd suggest waiting a few more weeks before putting any fertiliser down, my lawn is growing nicely at the moment, but I guess we're still st risk of a cold snap.

I'd also suggest overseeding, in mid to late April.

Thanks for that. Any tips on what fertiliser to use? Got quite a big area so needs to be fairly economic. And what is overseeding?

I use Scotts Lawnbuilder, but my lawn is a lot smaller than yours. Overseeding is adding more grass seed to the lawn to encourage new growth.

[DoubleSix]

I was a bit disappointed with the (lack of) results I got from Mo Bacter.

Given the price!

[p1stonhead]

Chaos, I'm having new turf put down tomorrow. Any tips or pearls of wisdom/anecdotes I can't otherwise read online for making sure it establishes properly?

[Whistle]

Paid a visit to Lidl and picked up a scarifyer today. I have a sea of moss to rake out.

[richatnort]

Whistle said:

Paid a visit to Lidl and picked up a scarifyer today. I have a sea of moss to rake out.

You did well to get one. I got to lidl for 10 on Sunday and by the time I left 4 other people were at the checkout behind me.

[jagnet]

Craikeybaby said:

Thanks. That looks interesting, I take it that with Mo Bacter I wouldn't need fertiliser afterwards, just leave it a few weeks, then overseed.

Depending on how long it is after application, and soil type/condition, you may need to add a light fertiliser application. I would judge it on how well the seedlings are performing - if they look hungry once they've used their own store of energy then I'd apply otherwise leave it for a while.

DoubleSix said:

I was a bit disappointed with the (lack of) results I got from Mo Bacter.

Given the price!

Sometimes this can happen and imho is to do with the way Potassium can be quickly "locked away" in the soil and become unavailable to the plant. In all soil types only a small proportion of the Potassium is available, there's a large number of factors that reduce this further, eg soil type, moisture levels, temperature, CEC, tilth, etc.

Likewise, the bacillus spp. will do better in certain conditions than others.

Generally Mo Bacter works well, but sometimes people report less success with it.

I do think it's worth trying though, as it's also helful for natural thatch removal, helping turn it into lovely humus.

[Too Late]

Hi

So this weekend i am raking and sorting out the bumps/aerating on the lawn. Next weekend i have 1ton of top soil arriving but i still haven't decided on which seed to get

At the moment i am thinking of getting a 10kg shaded seed as i do have some shaded areas at the front and sides of the garden

http://www.lawnsmith.co.uk/prod/lawn-grass-seed/sh...

Is this a good seed? any other recommendations?

I am also looking at a spreader
Am i best with a handheld spreader or a push along?

Should i include feed as well after i seed?

Thanks everyone for the help!

[jagnet]

It's a good seed mix and has been used to great affect by some in previous Lawn Threads on here. It prefers a damp shade and doesn't do so well in droughty conditions underneath trees for example.

Depending on how much shade you have, I'd be inclined to sow their Classic seed mix for the bulk of the lawn and use the Shadygreen just in those troublesome areas as they do mix well. Blend the two types together in transition zones and the wide variety of grass types will naturally settle down to those that do best in any given spot.

Use their 6-9-6 starter fertiliser when you sow to give the new seedlings a source of nutrients as they run out of their own store.

[Johnnytheboy]

I'm quite surprised how much mine has dried out in the last few days, having been rendered swampy by all that rain.

Managed to get about half of it cut last night, with minimum carnage.

[Too Late]

jagnet said:

It's a good seed mix and has been used to great affect by some in previous Lawn Threads on here. It prefers a damp shade and doesn't do so well in droughty conditions underneath trees for example.

Depending on how much shade you have, I'd be inclined to sow their Classic seed mix for the bulk of the lawn and use the Shadygreen just in those troublesome areas as they do mix well. Blend the two types together in transition zones and the wide variety of grass types will naturally settle down to those that do best in any given spot.

Use their 6-9-6 starter fertiliser when you sow to give the new seedlings a source of nutrients as they run out of their own store.

Thanks for the reply. Great suggestion on mixing the seeds together!
I have also included in my order the 6-9-6 fertiliser.

Is there a good method for sewing your seed (snigger), Should i be looking at seed spreaders at all? or should i just get a hand held spreader?

Thanks
Nick

[jagnet]

Too Late said:

Thanks for the reply. Great suggestion on mixing the seeds together!
I have also included in my order the 6-9-6 fertiliser.

Is there a good method for sewing your seed (snigger), Should i be looking at seed spreaders at all? or should i just get a hand held spreader?

Thanks
Nick

where's the Beavis and Butthead gif when you need it.

Tbh I just sow by hand most of the time (double snigger). There's a knack to it, but it's not hard by any means. Split your required amount of seed mix into two (or four if you're not confident) and sow in alternating directions. Any missed patches on the first run should be covered on the second. The same method applies to using a spreader as well, so it's not really costing you much in the way of time until you start getting to large pro spreaders and big lawns.

By all means use a spreader, but if it's not going to get much use subsequently it's a bit of a waste, and a bad spreader is far worse than a bad hand job (ok ok, enough with the double entendres).

The same method applies to spreading fertiliser etc. Multiple light passes in alternating directions.

[Hard-Drive]

Hard-Drive said:

Guys...with regards to mowing, my understanding is for this new grass I should mow it a lot (but not too short) to start with to encourage growth and keep the weeds under control. So do I start mowing the long stuff now or leave it until I have a more uniform length everywhere?

[Craikeybaby]

I don't think mowing on a high cut will be a problem, the shorter areas simply won't get cut. Better that than leaving the longer areas to grow too much.

[MG-FIDO]

jagnet said:

Sometimes this can happen and imho is to do with the way Potassium can be quickly "locked away" in the soil and become unavailable to the plant. In all soil types only a small proportion of the Potassium is available, there's a large number of factors that reduce this further, eg soil type, moisture levels, temperature, CEC, tilth, etc.

Good analysis Jagnet. The reports I've heard have generally been very favourable with those who've struggled often applying it a bit too soon as it seems to work better once the ground has warmed up a bit.

[dickymint]

Started our lawn a couple years ago......



In came the digger.....





More to follow due to max file size issues

[Accelebrate]

Hurray for cheap Chinese lawn mower parts!

I got my Grandfather's old Suffolk Punch mower up and running last year, but it never quite ran right. I'd stripped the original Dellorto carb down, cleaned it and adjusted it as best as I could, it just about ran, but not very well.

I found a cheap (£10 delivered) Chinese carb on eBay that looked like it would fit. Apart from enlarging the hole that takes the throttle wire slightly it bolted straight on. The mower fired up on the second pull, even using fuel that had sat in the greenhouse since last year, and runs and idles perfectly now





I treated my lawn with iron sulphate at the start of the week. I used 100g per 7l watering can dispensed through a sprinkler bar. The moss is about half dead. Should I apply a second treatment, or just be patient and wait?

[jagnet]

Accelebrate said:

I treated my lawn with iron sulphate at the start of the week. I used 100g per 7l watering can dispensed through a sprinkler bar. The moss is about half dead. Should I apply a second treatment, or just be patient and wait?

I'd wait a couple of weeks between applications unless it was quite a light dose. How big is the lawn?

Application rates go something like this:

• Green-up Rate: Year round; 0.5 - 1 gram m2 for a green-up anytime ground moisture is available
• Hardening Rate: September to December; 1.5 - 2 grams m2 for cool weather disease resistance
• Acidifying Rate: Spring & Autumn; 2+ grams m2 will temporarily lower pH/increase acidity
• Worm Cast Reduction: Spring & Autumn; 2 grams m2 will temporarily reduce surface casting
• Moss Rate: September to May; 4-5 grams m2 in cool wet conditions
• Maximum rate: 5g m2 in cool wet conditions normally from September to May

courtesy of The Lawnsmith

The great thing about using soluble iron and a sprayer is that it makes it very easy to adjust application rate between areas with and without moss, giving the moss a double or triple pass and leaving the unaffected areas at lower rates.

[8-P]

Accelebrate said:

Hurray for cheap Chinese lawn mower parts!

I got my Grandfather's old Suffolk Punch mower up and running last year, but it never quite ran right. I'd stripped the original Dellorto carb down, cleaned it and adjusted it as best as I could, it just about ran, but not very well.

I found a cheap (£10 delivered) Chinese carb on eBay that looked like it would fit. Apart from enlarging the hole that takes the throttle wire slightly it bolted straight on. The mower fired up on the second pull, even using fuel that had sat in the greenhouse since last year, and runs and idles perfectly now





I treated my lawn with iron sulphate at the start of the week. I used 100g per 7l watering can dispensed through a sprinkler bar. The moss is about half dead. Should I apply a second treatment, or just be patient and wait?

Sometimes a new carb is the only way. I had mine in bits and it seemed about as clean as such a thing could be, but like your just not quite right. I have a new one to fit this weekend.

[richatnort]

Damn rain has ruined my plan of scarifing the lawn today. Going to have to make a nice edge instead.