2016 Lawn thread

Author
Discussion

tim0409

Original Poster:

4,355 posts

158 months

Thursday 31st December 2015
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Having started the 2015 Lawn thread I thought I would get in early (and thank those knowledgable PH's who gave great advice); my lawn is still recovering from a deep scarification so will update accordingly as the growing season starts.

Tim

8-P

2,756 posts

259 months

Thursday 31st December 2015
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I have a feeling Ill be mowing mine in the next week or so, cant believe it!

Edited after a good typo :-)

Edited by 8-P on Friday 1st January 15:02

Dr Mike Oxgreen

4,101 posts

164 months

Friday 1st January 2016
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8-P said:
I have a feeling Ill be moving mine in the next week or so, cant believe it!
That's a bit extreme, isn't it? I mowed mine yesterday, but I've got no plans to move it.

Robertj21a

16,475 posts

104 months

Friday 1st January 2016
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Yes, duly mowed here yesterday. Significant growth in past month.

Dr Mike Oxgreen

4,101 posts

164 months

Friday 1st January 2016
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I'm going to put a sprinkling of ferrous sulphate on mine in the next few days, and perhaps a light treatment of Autumn lawn feed as well.

So does anyone have any major plans for their lawn in 2016? Or any lawn-based resolutions?

Myself, 2016 will be a year of encouraging the lawn to thicken (I destroyed it and reseeded from scratch in September 2015). There are still some very thin patches that need further seeding. I also have lots of weeds because I haven't dared apply weedkiller on the new grass, so those need dealing with.

And I'm planning to use the pre-emergent weedkiller I bought from the US to try and stop coarse annual weed grasses from taking over the lawn. My original plan was to apply it when the soil temperature rises towards 10 degrees, but I seriously doubt it's even gone below 10 degrees this winter. So I might just apply it in mid January if the mild weather continues. Or use the oft-repeated rule of thumb to apply it when the forsythia begins to flower.

8-P

2,756 posts

259 months

Friday 1st January 2016
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Dr Mike Oxgreen said:
That's a bit extreme, isn't it? I mowed mine yesterday, but I've got no plans to move it.
laughlaughlaugh

8-P

2,756 posts

259 months

Friday 1st January 2016
quotequote all
Dr Mike Oxgreen said:
I'm going to put a sprinkling of ferrous sulphate on mine in the next few days, and perhaps a light treatment of Autumn lawn feed as well.

So does anyone have any major plans for their lawn in 2016? Or any lawn-based resolutions?

Myself, 2016 will be a year of encouraging the lawn to thicken (I destroyed it and reseeded from scratch in September 2015). There are still some very thin patches that need further seeding. I also have lots of weeds because I haven't dared apply weedkiller on the new grass, so those need dealing with.

And I'm planning to use the pre-emergent weedkiller I bought from the US to try and stop coarse annual weed grasses from taking over the lawn. My original plan was to apply it when the soil temperature rises towards 10 degrees, but I seriously doubt it's even gone below 10 degrees this winter. So I might just apply it in mid January if the mild weather continues. Or use the oft-repeated rule of thumb to apply it when the forsythia begins to flower.
We've just moved and like everything at our new address the lawn needs serious work. Its moss and weed tastic.

TR4man

5,207 posts

173 months

Friday 1st January 2016
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Dr Mike Oxgreen said:
That's a bit extreme, isn't it? I mowed mine yesterday, but I've got no plans to move it.
clap Brilliant

bazza white

3,551 posts

127 months

Friday 1st January 2016
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Working on pulling out old fence posts ,tree stumpsand then leveling it as it looks like flowerbeds around the outside side years ago and now grass has grown over. We have a scarifier on standby but it may end up starting from scratch.

Renovation

1,763 posts

120 months

Friday 1st January 2016
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Mow it ???

I could go boating on it !


MrBig

2,638 posts

128 months

Friday 1st January 2016
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I will be following and hopefully, contributing to this thread. We moved last year and I didn't really get time to do anything with it last year. Having read last years thread I'm planning on aerating it in the next few weeks, then scarifying and a bit of a trim. Think I mowed it too short last year and it never recovered.

8-P

2,756 posts

259 months

Friday 1st January 2016
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Im tempted to employ Green thumb just for a year and then take over thereafter but it slightly goes against my can do spirit

Dr Mike Oxgreen

4,101 posts

164 months

Saturday 2nd January 2016
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MrBig said:
I will be following and hopefully, contributing to this thread. We moved last year and I didn't really get time to do anything with it last year. Having read last years thread I'm planning on aerating it in the next few weeks, then scarifying and a bit of a trim. Think I mowed it too short last year and it never recovered.
Leave the scarifying until later in the spring - you need decent strong growth for the grass to recover. Unless you mean a modest raking rather than a full-on scarification, in which case that'll be fine!

spaceship

867 posts

174 months

Saturday 2nd January 2016
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I don't even have a lawn in my back garden at present. But want to get rid of my decking and create a nice lawn for 2016. So I will be looking for some ideas on what to do ( will start a separate thread ) as I think it's gonna be a lot of work.

steveo3002

10,493 posts

173 months

Saturday 2nd January 2016
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ive been thinking about re seeding my lawn , when would best to start this

will i have to rent a scarifier ? ive got an elec lawn raker , i was hoping a good roar with that then a low cut and throw some seed on?

R8VXF

6,788 posts

114 months

Saturday 2nd January 2016
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My lawn really needs a mow, but it is never dry enough. I also need to finish off what I started last year with remodelling the garden.

jagnet

4,095 posts

201 months

Saturday 2nd January 2016
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steveo3002 said:
ive been thinking about re seeding my lawn , when would best to start this

will i have to rent a scarifier ? ive got an elec lawn raker , i was hoping a good roar with that then a low cut and throw some seed on?
I really would go with a proper hired scarifier to get rid of any thatch etc lurking under the surface. Whilst they're fine for getting rid of moss, electric lawn rakers just don't have the oomph to cut into the soil.

I would aim to reseed once ground temperatures rise after winter, around April/May usually although March sowing can be done in warmer parts of the country. Anything over 8 degrees should be fine although some species need temps in the teens before they'll germinate but they're unlikely to be in normal lawn seed mixes.

If you want to get the new seed down asap, putting half the seed down a touch early in Spring and the other half a month later can work well.


===



Tim, just a thought, is it worth putting a link back to the 2015 thread in your opening post?


Edited by jagnet on Saturday 2nd January 12:25

beko1987

1,636 posts

133 months

Saturday 2nd January 2016
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Our lawn is fked.

Our garden doesn't drain very well, so it's just been constantly wet and boggy for the past 2 months. So all the grass is going yellow and patchy, very patchy. Where it went really long but then too wet to mow it's all fallen over and blown horizontal.

Will be posting up in the next month or so asking how to fix it! CBA for now, it's too wet to do anything now!

Cheib

23,112 posts

174 months

Sunday 3rd January 2016
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Moved house six months ago...we have a decent amount of grass some of which I have notice over winter has got a huge amount of moss in it.

Dare I ask ?

Need a fairly industrial solution as we're talking an area the size of a couple of tennis courts. This being pistonheads a solution which requires an internal combustion engine is always good!

rog007

5,748 posts

223 months

Sunday 3rd January 2016
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beko1987 said:
Our lawn is fked.

Our garden doesn't drain very well, so it's just been constantly wet and boggy for the past 2 months. So all the grass is going yellow and patchy, very patchy. Where it went really long but then too wet to mow it's all fallen over and blown horizontal.

Will be posting up in the next month or so asking how to fix it! CBA for now, it's too wet to do anything now!
Without knowing the full picture of where you are and what the lay of the land is; getting a drainage system installed isn't too difficult. Can be as simple as digging a small pit and some run off routes then filling them with gravel before top soiling and returfing the affected area. Choice of grass type will be important too so select carefully based upon your conditions.