Lawn Care Thread

[Dr Mike Oxgreen]

Yes, I think I agree. My wife was indeed doing some of it with a plastic rake, and she seemed to be making as much progress as me, if not more - and the rake was more thorough at picking up the thatch.

[WinstonWolf]

Any tips for laying a new lawn? There was a patch of clay which I've mostly removed, I've broken the rest up and spread it about in the sunniest area interspersed with good quality topsoil.

I'm turning the soil over to the depth of a fork and raking it to get it level and aerated then I'll get my heavy old roller on it to get it all nice and flat before sowing seed.

I want something that won't need a lot of mowing as it's at the OH's house and she's not big on mowing Any recommendations?

[Bonefish Blues]

Use your heels to firm the ground (think little shuffling crab steps across the seed bed) before raking the top surface rather than a roller - it'll do a better job.

[WinstonWolf]

I don't think you appreciate quite how heavy my roller is. It's a 10" gas pipe filled with concrete. Takes two or three men to lift it!

[Granville]

we scarified in July, amazing how much comes out (after a good weed and feed).

did a general rake over a few weeks later to get any remaining moss out (mainly in areas the scarify machine couldn't get to), then gave it a good feed again.

Lawn looks fantastic now, really lush deep green. Worth the effort of doing it and don't be disheartened from the state of it after scaring it. Soon bounces back if you look after it

[Kapenta]

WinstonWolf said:

I don't think you appreciate quite how heavy my roller is. It's a 10" gas pipe filled with concrete. Takes two or three men to lift it!

If that is the case, then you don't want to use it, since compacting the soil will prevent sufficient oxygen and water (and therefore healthy microbes) penetrating it.

Ideally, light rolling to lightly compress - the post referring to the weight of your heels is the type of weight, since you only want to compress the first few inches of soil.

[WinstonWolf]

I'll post a pic of it, I need to do something as it's effectively been completely rotovated.

[Bonefish Blues]

You'll need to be breaking the clods down then, even before you can heel/rake/sow/lay turf.

...could leave it over Winter and let nature do that for you, of course, and then crack on in March/April

[Pheo]

I'vegot a patch of lawn which was damaged by having hippo bags over the top. I've tried raking it, and then adding grass seed and some feed, but this just seems to have encouraged weeds to grow

Whats the best way of killing off the weeds and getting the grass to grow back?

[WinstonWolf]

Oh they're all exceptionally broken down. It used to be covered in large gravel and it had sunk into the soil to a depth of about 3". I dug the sodding lot out and riddled it by hand to reclaim the top soil.

I'm ruined I tell ya

[Wing Commander]

Well I thought I would ask about our lawn too, seeing as I know nothing and want to get a cheap easy improvement if at all possible.

We live in a very clay-ey area so drainage is always a bit of an issue but it helps keep the garden quite moist even when it hasn't rained for a while. Some tree coverage. We have been inundated with weeds this year. We ocassionally scatter grass seed on its own. I scarified the lawn at the beginning of the summer and it got rid of a load of crud.

So, any advice? We definitely have a scarifier, but not too sure if I have an airator thing - will check the shed!

So, as it stands at the moment:

[Patch1875]

Wing Commander I would get a decent feed to give the grass a boost for the rest if summer, a selective weed killer to kill the weeds off( I'm not clued up on over the counter stuff probably best combined with the feed) do a moss kill in the autumn followed by a light scarifying.

Scarify again in the spring, try to get your hands on an aerator followed by a another feed.

[RichB]

Patch1875 said:

Wing Commander I would get a decent feed to give the grass a boost for the rest if summer, a selective weed killer to kill the weeds off( I'm not clued up on over the counter stuff probably best combined with the feed) do a moss kill in the autumn followed by a light scarifying.

Scarify again in the spring, try to get your hands on an aerator followed by a another feed.

Sounds like a plan, it will take 2 years. Use Verdone weed and feed now while we're still in August then scarify, aerate and top dress in late Sept. and get some autumn top lawn on for root growth. I swear by Miraclegrow Lawn Tonic and MOsskiller for spring and summer use. Then in 2015 repeat

[Bonefish Blues]

Patch1875 said:

Scarify again in the spring, try to get your hands on an aerator followed by a another feed.

Or if not fork it as deeply as you can, ideally at least 6 inches and waggle to open up the soil. Coarse sand brushed into the resulting holes also helps keep the structure open.

[Wing Commander]

RichB said:

Patch1875 said:

Wing Commander I would get a decent feed to give the grass a boost for the rest if summer, a selective weed killer to kill the weeds off( I'm not clued up on over the counter stuff probably best combined with the feed) do a moss kill in the autumn followed by a light scarifying.

Scarify again in the spring, try to get your hands on an aerator followed by a another feed.

Sounds like a plan, it will take 2 years. Use Verdone weed and feed now while we're still in August then scarify, aerate and top dress in late Sept. and get some autumn top lawn on for root growth. I swear by Miraclegrow Lawn Tonic and MOsskiller for spring and summer use. Then in 2015 repeat

Thanks to all of you for your suggestions. It has opened up a few further questions though!

Verdone Weed and Feed - cannot seem to find this. I can only find the Verdone Weed Killer. Can anyone point me in the right direction? Ideally from Amazon so I can bang in one order for everything If I need a separate feed, that is fine.

What is the best material to top dress with? Just a regular compost, or a mix with sharp sand? Or something completely different?

Again, looking for "Autumn Top Lawn" and cannot find a specific match, although I guess that isn't the actual name of the product? Would Evergreen Autumn 360 sq m Lawn Food Bag from Amazon be the right sort of thing?


I gave the lawn a mow this weekend, but with the mower ride height increased. It looks better for it already but I want to bring more uniformity to the lawn. I have found we do have a manual aerator, but it looks to be cumbersome (requires a breeze block on it) so might just opt for the fork option.

Thanks for all the information so far.

[Craikeybaby]

I use the Verdone weed killer, with a separate feed (Scott's), both should be available from Amazon.

[RichB]

Wing Commander said:

... It has opened up a few further questions though!

Yes sorry, having been using stuff for 35 years I just remembered the general names of products I've found successful, Verodone, Maxicrop, I think autumn Top Lawn may be a generic term but basically any autumn feel is a different mix to summer feed, promoting root growth for winter.

[yellowbentines]

This year my lawn (new build estate, turf thrown on top of rubble and clay soil) looks the best it ever has - all with frequent cutting once weekly with a decent petrol rotary with a sharp blade.

In contrast my neighbour pays for treatments by greenthumb and mows every 2-3 weeks if lucky with a rotten old electric mower, his lawn looks awful!

[paulrockliffe]

Quick question on lawn feeds; the difference in colour between areas treated with feed and those not is absolutely night and day (lesson learned!!) It's almost unnatural the green is so dark, so I was wondering whether the feeds contain some sort of dye that causes the grass to go green, or whether it's all just a result of the extra nutrients?

After seeding a couple of months ago, mine's looking pretty good, though I'm in constant battle with buttercups! Was intended as a quick tidy-up while we sort the rest of the house, but it's come out really rather nice.

[Bonefish Blues]

paulrockliffe said:

Quick question on lawn feeds; the difference in colour between areas treated with feed and those not is absolutely night and day (lesson learned!!) It's almost unnatural the green is so dark, so I was wondering whether the feeds contain some sort of dye that causes the grass to go green, or whether it's all just a result of the extra nutrients?

After seeding a couple of months ago, mine's looking pretty good, though I'm in constant battle with buttercups! Was intended as a quick tidy-up while we sort the rest of the house, but it's come out really rather nice.

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