2015 Lawn thread

[tim0409]

Hi there

I thought I would start a new thread on lawn care and hopefully get some advice on my own lawn at the same time...

I've just given it it's first cut and it could do with some care and attention - there are some decent areas interspersed with lots of yellow grass. I'm not sure if it needs scarified (was done two years ago) or fed, or both. Any advice would be gratefully received. My neighbours use franchised lawn care companies and TBH their lawns look great - is it worth considering?

[tim0409]

Thanks for the replies - will give it a feed and see how it goes.

[tim0409]

Patch1875 said:

I have a lawn care company (in East Lothian ;-) ) will help with any advice when I can.

Thats handy to know; I'm in Dirleton and a few of my neighbours use a local lawn care company which might be you!

[tim0409]

Since starting the thread I've been regularly cutting and watering my lawn and it is better but today Green Thumb were at my neighbours doing some work so they had a look at my lawn; as I suspected it has a lot of thatch (it feels really spongy) but they said they have stopped scarfing until later in the year. I don't mind my lawn looking a bit rubbish after the process and I can keep it well watered so is there any other reason why I shouldn't scarify at the moment? The lawn is 100m2 and they are quoting £83 - I was going to hire a machine but the cost of hire/collection etc and getting rid of the thatch means that to me their price isn't that bad - thoughts?

Cheers

Tim

[tim0409]

Hi

Following a discussion on here I have decided to scarify my lawn; I know it's late in the season but it badly needs it. One of the franchise lawn companies came out and had a look at it but haven't bothered calling me back (for a second time) so I was planning on hiring a scarifier and then I saw this -

http://www.diy.com/departments/mac-allister-msrp18...

Given it will cost me circa. £30 to hire, can I go to far wrong at £72?

Tim

[tim0409]

Finally decided to hire a scarifier to do the lawn in the coming week (given the weather and the fact my lawn doesn't seem to growing due to the thatch) - the hire company lists two different types; slit tines or flails -

Slit tines - Ideal for use on large lawns. This lawn scarifies and aerates
the ground removing dead grass, weeds and moss.

Flails - Professional petrol scarifier with flail action blades for
harsher conditions to give top performance.

My lawn is circa. 90sqm and has quite a thatch problem - would welcome some advice on which would be the most suitable?

Many thanks

Tim

[tim0409]

tim0409 said:

Finally decided to hire a scarifier to do the lawn in the coming week (given the weather and the fact my lawn doesn't seem to growing due to the thatch) - the hire company lists two different types; slit tines or flails -

Slit tines - Ideal for use on large lawns. This lawn scarifies and aerates
the ground removing dead grass, weeds and moss.

Flails - Professional petrol scarifier with flail action blades for
harsher conditions to give top performance.

My lawn is circa. 90sqm and has quite a thatch problem - would welcome some advice on which would be the most suitable?

Many thanks

Tim

I hired a slit tine scarifier (which is also meant to aerate) this afternoon and set to work on the lawn; I can't believe how much thatch came out! I did one pass then a lower one across the lawn - still not sure if I need to do another, lower pass so would welcome opinions. Do I need to feed/water it, or should I wait?

Photos to follow - for some reason I can't upload them at the moment.

Many thanks

Tim

Edited by tim0409 on Wednesday 16th September 20:37

[tim0409]

jagnet said:

It looks as though you're still pulling up a lot of thatch on the second pass, so I'd do another one. Avoid crossing the previous pass at 90 degrees, it's best to angle each pass at about 30 degrees to the previous one to avoid tearing out the grass plants.

Are you planning on overseeding?

I would definitely give the lawn a feed unless it's recently had one, and a good deep watering will help the grass recover.

I'd also give the grass a really short cut once done.

Many thanks for the advice - I was just working out what to do in the morning (scarifier has to go back by 2pm)...

1) One more 45 degree pass with the blades a bit lower
2) I cut the grass to 45mm before I started - perhaps it should have been shorter as you say - is it worth cutting it again before my final pass?
3) Will overseed, water and feed - can I delay the overseeding by a few days as I will need to purchase the seed?

I have to say that I've found the whole thing immensely therapeutic - since starting the thread I've been putting this off till Autumn; the grass has barely grown this year because the thatch was so bad - really looking forward to Spring...!

[tim0409]

This morning I cut the grass down to 30mm (any shorter and I was scalping the soil), then did a further three passes with the scarifier with a progressively lower blade; it is unbelievable the amount of thatch that what still coming up! I need to take the scarifier back, then on to stage two - overseeding then feeding!

[tim0409]

jagnet said:

Well no one can claim that wasn't worth doing That's going to make the world of difference to your lawn, and with fresh seed it'll be transformed come the spring.

I set off this afternoon to pick up some seed but the local garden centre and B@Q just had a general own-brand seed in stock; the difficulty is that I would like to do it sooner rather than later so online ordering is probably not an option. Does it really matter that much given I'm overseeing? How best should I distribute it evenly, as using my hands doesn't seem that scientific/accurate....? I though about using a feed spreader?

Thanks!

[tim0409]

jagnet said:

Personally I'd rather wait a few days and get some decent seed than potentially waste money on some of the off the shelf products.

I followed your advice and ordered some seed from Lawnsmith - they were really helpful and hopefully it will arrive on Tuesday as I'm really keen to get going....

[tim0409]

I've just picked up a spreader from my friend's hardware shop (£13 with discount) - I've never had much luck with spreading feed evenly so hope this will help - will experiment with flow rate when my seed arrives on Tuesday,

[tim0409]

I've run into some difficulties with my lawn and would welcome some advice...

Quick recap - I recently scarified (huge amount of thatch removed) and re-seeded last week; the seed doesn't look like it's going to take and on closer inspection there is still a layer of muddy thatch which is really matted (see pic). When I was scarifing I used a very low setting so I'm not quite sure what has happened.