2020 Lawn thread

[bungle]

dr_gn said:

I've been through the lawn patching thing a few times over the years. Bought all the feeds etc, and the 'shady area' seeds and all the rest of it. I came to the conclusion that if you've got no direct sunlight, you're stuffed no matter what seed you use..

Yep, been there, done that, last 2 years.

Same area is now completely bare, now I've removed the moss that completely took it over. (as I did last year, before reseeding etc).

Reckon I will just give up on that area (it's shaded, down one side of the garden, but the tall trees/ bushes are useful for screening to next door), and have it as (say) a garden path instead, as I'm bored of re-doing it every year.

[dr_gn]

bungle said:

dr_gn said:

I've been through the lawn patching thing a few times over the years. Bought all the feeds etc, and the 'shady area' seeds and all the rest of it. I came to the conclusion that if you've got no direct sunlight, you're stuffed no matter what seed you use..

Yep, been there, done that, last 2 years.

Same area is now completely bare, now I've removed the moss that completely took it over. (as I did last year, before reseeding etc).

Reckon I will just give up on that area (it's shaded, down one side of the garden, but the tall trees/ bushes are useful for screening to next door), and have it as (say) a garden path instead, as I'm bored of re-doing it every year.

Here’s mine -

Lawn edge (adjacent shrubs lowered):



Under massive holly tree (now drastically pruned):



And of course a trampoline patch:



Process was: scarified & raked. Mixed every type of grass seed I had in the shed along with some weed&feed and compost. Spread it over the areas and covered in netting (ran out before the trampoline patch). That was about a week ago. Watered every day. We will see what happens.

TBH I’d be happy with weeds there, in fact anything that’s green. My expert advice on the matter is don’t use a grass box on the mower, and everything looks great for a while because it’s covered in cuttings

[Dr Mike Oxgreen]

the cueball said:

Cheers, I had another few passes, lowering the machine each time, but as this is all new to me I didn’t want to go too far.

Now looks like this:

I’d say you’ve judged that about right. You’ve got a decent amount of thatch out of it, but you haven’t gone too mental. In Autumn you can push it a bit further, but in Spring you’re right to stop about there. Good work!

And you’ve presumably discovered that the actual scarifying is the easy bit - it’s collecting up and disposing of the spoil that’s the real hard work! Especially if your local refuse sight is currently closed.

[wjwren]

Any ideas on modern stepping stones for a lawn? Ive got an outdoor bar and find the grass gets compacted especially if its damp or wet. I dug the lot up last year and its already having problems growing as its so compacted.

[the cueball]

Dr Mike Oxgreen said:

I’d say you’ve judged that about right. You’ve got a decent amount of thatch out of it, but you haven’t gone too mental. In Autumn you can push it a bit further, but in Spring you’re right to stop about there. Good work!

And you’ve presumably discovered that the actual scarifying is the easy bit - it’s collecting up and disposing of the spoil that’s the real hard work! Especially if your local refuse sight is currently closed.

Cheers... I’ve got some seeds from the Lawnsmith coming today to get on with the next bit.

I left the collecting of the spoil to the Billy Goat... made it a lot easier, think I would still be there doing it manually!

All dumped in the corner of the garden for now, our local dump has been closed.

[dr_gn]

wjwren said:

Any ideas on modern stepping stones for a lawn? Ive got an outdoor bar and find the grass gets compacted especially if its damp or wet. I dug the lot up last year and its already having problems growing as its so compacted.

I got some plastic grass-grid type stuff that you set into the lawn, and the grass grows through and around it. I put it adjacent to my drive so I can park a car on the lawn if necessary. It's pretty much invisible, and works very well.

[christianyoung]

What’s the general consensus on scarifying the lawn? I’m guessing we’re about a week off being able to? Or am I wrong and I can get onto it today?

[Chucklehead]

I have a new build house (3 years old). When the patio went down a year ago it was evident that we had a good 12-18" of topsoil under the grass, but I've always suffered from a waterlogged lawn. No puddles really, but very very boggy. I expect there's clay and/or something else pretty solid under my topsoil. I've never been able to walk on the grass apart from that very hot Summer we had two years back. If there has been any rain in the last 2 weeks, i can't cut it as the lawnmower sinks and scalps. I use a petrol mountfield which is way too heavy and bigger than i need for the area, so i was going to go to the other extreme and get something like a manual reel mower. Hopefully it's small and light enough that only my feet will cause any damage, though it's not very level due to all the damage from the mower - you could plant potatoes in the furrows left by the wheels.

I am hoping that digging it up and putting in a soakaway at some point will improve it, but until then i want to be able to live with it. It's small (~12m x 4m), but any machinery that needs to come in would go over my very nice porcelain patio, so i'm putting off drainage in my mind in case it causes damage. I'm also concerned they hit bedrock after 2 feet and can't reasonably install it - or worse, it doesn't fix it. Given it's a small area, artificial grass is an option, but i hate it. I've yet to start planting around the border, so that may also help.

Any thoughts on changing the mower, installing a soakaway, planting, or any other options that may help improve it over a longer period? I'm thinking years not months?

Edit: now with freshly cut pic to show the worst of it. Mainly along the fence.

Edited by Chucklehead on Wednesday 1st April 13:28

[WinstonWolf]

I'll be putting my seed down next week, any thoughts on covering it in clear polythene? My thinking is it'll act as a mini greenhouse and sweat the moisture back in. I'll lift it whenever it's going to rain...

Actually it's probably a bad idea but I'll ask anyway.

[dhutch]

Chucklehead said:

I have a new build house (3 years old). When the patio went down a year ago it was evident that we had a good 12-18" of topsoil under the grass, but I've always suffered from a waterlogged lawn. No puddles really, but very very boggy. I expect there's clay and/or something else pretty solid under my topsoil. I've never been able to walk on the grass apart from that very hot Summer we had two years back. If there has been any rain in the last 2 weeks, i can't cut it as the lawnmower sinks and scalps. I use a petrol mountfield which is way too heavy and bigger than i need for the area, so i was going to go to the other extreme and get something like a manual reel mower. Hopefully it's small and light enough that only my feet will cause any damage, though it's not very level due to all the damage from the mower - you could plant potatoes in the furrows left by the wheels.

I am hoping that digging it up and putting in a soakaway at some point will improve it, but until then i want to be able to live with it. It's small (~12m x 4m), but any machinery that needs to come in would go over my very nice porcelain patio, so i'm putting off drainage in my mind in case it causes damage. I'm also concerned they hit bedrock after 2 feet and can't reasonably install it - or worse, it doesn't fix it. Given it's a small area, artificial grass is an option, but i hate it. I've yet to start planting around the border, so that may also help.

Any thoughts on changing the mower, installing a soakaway, planting, or any other options that may help improve it over a longer period? I'm thinking years not months?

Edit: now with freshly cut pic to show the worst of it. Mainly along the fence.

Edited by Chucklehead on Wednesday 1st April 13:28

What's the ground level like around you, are you in a low spot or high spot? How deep did you dig for the patio?

Maybe get the spade out and dig a test hole, see what goes on through the first 4ft for or so? Wouldn't be beyond your average man to dig a soak away without a a digger.

Daniel

[dhutch]

christianyoung said:

What’s the general consensus on scarifying the lawn? I’m guessing we’re about a week off being able to? Or am I wrong and I can get onto it today?

I think we're getting there. Depends slightly on local conditions. We have a cooler wetter few days due, but lovely last week, and next week looks well so I'm going to get the ferrous sulphate on tonight I think. Its a little late in the year but I have not done it yet.

Suggestions are you should give it a 3-6weeks before overseeding, I am not sure if I can shorten that down a bit to avoid overseeding in May when it might get a bit dry?

Edited by dhutch on Thursday 2nd April 15:22

[dhutch]

WinstonWolf said:

I'll be putting my seed down next week, any thoughts on covering it in clear polythene? My thinking is it'll act as a mini greenhouse and sweat the moisture back in. I'll lift it whenever it's going to rain...

Actually it's probably a bad idea but I'll ask anyway.

Can't see any harm in that, horticultural fleese is good for it, but you're basically talking about a mini poly tunnel, just the faff of removing to let rain in?

[Chucklehead]

dhutch said:

What's the ground level like around you, are you in a low spot or high spot? How deep did you dig for the patio?

Maybe get the spade out and dig a test hole, see what goes on through the first 4ft for or so? Wouldn't be beyond your average man to dig a soak away without a a digger.

Daniel

The patio went down roughly a foot, more further out. There's a very slight incline walking away from the house towards the back fence pictured - and along that fence is the worst of it. It's all pretty level round here though.Nearest the patio tends to dry out fastest.

[WinstonWolf]

dhutch said:

WinstonWolf said:

I'll be putting my seed down next week, any thoughts on covering it in clear polythene? My thinking is it'll act as a mini greenhouse and sweat the moisture back in. I'll lift it whenever it's going to rain...

Actually it's probably a bad idea but I'll ask anyway.

Can't see any harm in that, horticultural fleese is good for it, but you're basically talking about a mini poly tunnel, just the faff of removing to let rain in?

Pretty much, it'll keep the birds off as well. I put leaf mulch in the soil when I turned it over so it's bird central here now as it's full of worms

[bobski1]

I read some of the 2019 thread but wasn't in much of a position to do anything to the garden but this hoping to make a bit of a start. I don't expect it to be perfect but I plan each year to do a big chunk of the work to get it to where I want. At the moment the trees are maintained but these are the ones leftover from the previous owner.

I've given the grass it's first cut of the year an it seems okay, few areas of yellow and a little bit lumpy in places but overall it seems to be good. Down the bottom of the garden it is a lot worse with ivy in places and more weeds than grass, i have cut it all down with the lawnmower so it at least looks okay.

I planned on putting down some grass feed this weekend as it is due to rain on Monday, is it too early to do this or is it a good time?

Also I have read in a lot of threads about mulch & I'm not sure if it's needed of what it really is?

[gmaz]

No_Idea said:

Used this screwfix scarifier/raker today and I must say it works brilliantly and at a great price too.

https://www.screwfix.com/p/wr6002-1500-32cm-raker-...

Yes I have the same and it filled a wheelie bin with moss and thatch from a 20sqm lawn.

[8-P]

Getting out the scarrifier at the weekend. Temps look set to pick up, should be ideal.

[morfmedia]

I put some 4 in 1 down just before we had rain a couple of days ago. Seems like I was a bit keen with the application as there are plenty of blackened areas. Tried to water them in as much as possible but think some of the areas will need a bit of extra reseeding!

As above thinking its time to give the lawn rake / scarifier a gentle workout. Also got 4 tonnes of sand coming to level out the divots and craters in the lawn.

[dhutch]

morfmedia said:

I put some 4 in 1 down just before we had rain a couple of days ago. Seems like I was a bit keen with the application as there are plenty of blackened areas. Tried to water them in as much as possible but think some of the areas will need a bit of extra reseeding!

I don't think there is a lot you can do, but sit it out and reseed, ive done the same and it does recover, but I think you have to wait a month or to to reseed after 1in4 anyway?

I cocked up my maths on application of the ferrous sulphate and managed to apply it at twice the dose I was aiming for. Fortunately I wasn't aiming for max-dose so have only dosed it at about 1.6x max, the internet if vauge but appears to suggest Iron sulfate alone wont be half as bad as 4 in 1 overdose.

Also dont thing with Iron Sulphate that I need to wait as long to re-seed which is nice.


Daniel

[Piersman2]

I've given up on trying to kill off the moss with ferrous sulphate. I've tried several times over the last 6 years to treat, scarify, treat, massively overseed, repeat, etc...

Come winter the grass always seems to die off to be replaced with rampant moss, seems to get worse every time.

This year I've ordered up Mo Bacter and will see if that does anything. Just waiting for delivery and graound temp to get up to about 12c and will go for it.

Otherwise I give up. Not wasting more time and energy and money on gettign rid of moss anymore.