2023 Lawn Thread

[leef44]

RichB said:

That looks good. You may want to get some autumn feed (low N, higher P & K) on it towards the middle of September. And I would give it a winter feed in Late November to see it through the winter. It's a nice open position but you don't want fusarium.

Thank you for this. I hadn't appreciated the difference with autumn feed. I will have to bear this in mind.

[Stedman]

dhutch said:

Just scalped? Or have you also scarified?

Most of the UK is currently damp enough to make it good weather for scarification and or other renovations, but a short cut with the mower alone won't do much to remove thatch or moss.

Not scarified this time.

Planning to kill it off so no issue either way

[phpe]

Stripe Sunday

The mixed weather lately of sun, showers and more showers has really given the front lawn a colour boost

Trying to decide whether to top dress it in late August/early September to help level out some undulations

[AC43]

I just got back from a 16 day break. As it was raining right up to when I left, the lawn hadn't been cut for three weeks.

My electric cylinder mower died a few weeks ago so I set about tackling it with my manual mower and it was a right bd - too long and slightly damp making it really hard word.

Luckily out cleaner was here and pointed out that her husband (who's a gardener) would strim longer grass first before attempting a mow. Bingo. Ten times faster. Wish I'd known earlier.....

[Dr Mike Oxgreen]

RichB said:

You may want to get some autumn feed (low N, higher P & K) on it towards the middle of September. And I would give it a winter feed in Late November to see it through the winter.

For the last couple of years, I haven’t stopped at a November feed to see it through the winter. I have continued with 6-weekly feeds of a 4-12-12 granular product right the way through winter and into early spring. And my lawn has come through the winter and started spring stronger than ever.

Top growth might largely stop during winter, but I’m convinced that root growth continues. So the P & K are still useful to the grass.

[RichB]

Dr Mike Oxgreen said:

RichB said:

You may want to get some autumn feed (low N, higher P & K) on it towards the middle of September. And I would give it a winter feed in Late November to see it through the winter.

For the last couple of years, I haven’t stopped at a November feed to see it through the winter. I have continued with 6-weekly feeds of a 4-12-12 granular product right the way through winter and into early spring. And my lawn has come through the winter and started spring stronger than ever.

Top growth might largely stop during winter, but I’m convinced that root growth continues. So the P & K are still useful to the grass.

I might consider that, so another feed on a bright day just after Christmas, then six weeks later you're almost into March and spring.

[s91]

Lawn update/advice needed - old lawn (mostly moss and weeds) was killed off, scarified, and raked out earlier in the year, followed by top soil and new seed along with some 696 fertiliser.

Most of it has grown very well, but thanks to some very heavy rain immediately after seeding there are some slightly scabby areas and now a few weeds have started to appear and I'd like to get rid of them before they take over, is there a product for this? (Weed and feed?)

As for the scabby areas, now that the lawn is well established is there a preferred time to add some more seed, do it now or wait until next year?

[K87]

I put some iron sulphate in a watering can yesterday, the moss was dead today and raked up. I am new to this product and first year of use. Easy to apply and quick results.

[dhutch]

s91 said:

Lawn update/advice needed - old lawn (mostly moss and weeds) was killed off, scarified, and raked out earlier in the year, followed by top soil and new seed along with some 696 fertiliser.

Most of it has grown very well, but thanks to some very heavy rain immediately after seeding there are some slightly scabby areas and now a few weeds have started to appear and I'd like to get rid of them before they take over, is there a product for this? (Weed and feed?)

As for the scabby areas, now that the lawn is well established is there a preferred time to add some more seed, do it now or wait until next year?

For a young lawn, I would mechanically remove/weed, and or spot treat more serious weeds individually with a selective lawn weed killer if you really want, but mainly just mow regularly and treat next spring.

Broad leaf weeds in a new lawn are to be expected and not and issue.

Weed grasses can only be removed mechanically pulling them out. Or light scarification/verticutting once the lawn is more matured.

[Howard-]

Dr Mike Oxgreen said:

RichB said:

You may want to get some autumn feed (low N, higher P & K) on it towards the middle of September. And I would give it a winter feed in Late November to see it through the winter.

For the last couple of years, I haven’t stopped at a November feed to see it through the winter. I have continued with 6-weekly feeds of a 4-12-12 granular product right the way through winter and into early spring. And my lawn has come through the winter and started spring stronger than ever.

Top growth might largely stop during winter, but I’m convinced that root growth continues. So the P & K are still useful to the grass.

I like the idea of this. I too was just going to do an autumn feed and then hope it pulls through winter. My family will probably think I'm nuts. Oh well. Any easy-to-use products that you recommend?

[chinnyman]

Any tips on where tk get fertiliser from?


Have been using Lawnsmith but my gardens approx 170sqm so it's probably cheaper to buy the big bags.

Must say Lawnsmiths summer fertiliser is really good.

https://www.lawnsmith.co.uk/spring-summer-lawn-fee...

[dhutch]

chinnyman said:

Any tips on where tk get fertiliser from?


Must say Lawnsmiths summer fertiliser is really good.

Also interested.

I have a 500sqm lawn and mainly use the Lawnsmiths products, either the Natur Spring+summer or the 'For sandy soils' as were on sand. Autumn mix in autumn, plus BnQ lawnsand. I also use Lawnsmiths 'Staygreen' seed. As long as you buy the larger bags, and or more than one at a time, which isnt linked to a single product (ie you can buy a s+s and an autumn and get the discount) the price appears ok.

Did order one round from Daniel Hibbert when he was offering 20% off, also works find, but without the discount is more expensive I think.

[Semmelweiss]

I used to get mine from Lawnsmith, but now use Agrigem. They were cheaper, but I haven't done a comparison since the escalation of military activities.

In the Spring (end March) I use Sportsmaster Renovator Pro & 6 weeks later 9-7-7 NUTRIGROW SPRING LAWN FERTILISER, which I then re-apply another 6 weeks later and repeat mid-August if it has been raining!!

Autumn/Winter 3-12-12 Nutrigrow Autumn Fertiliser Blend end September & beginning December.

[dudleybloke]

I bought a large bag of Elixir spring and summer 9-7-7 and its done the job.

[renmure]

Well, 4 months on after doing all this

renmure said:

I managed to get the mower back down over the weekend to the level I'd hoped to be cutting things at. It really is a total transformation. The previous moss issue meant it was like walking on candyfloss rather than earth where as now it's like you'd expect it to feel.

Having got to this stage I'll feed it in the Autumn and take a bit of advice as to how best to thicken and green it up and keep on top of it. Happy days (so far)

[jimmyjimjim]

Colorado lawn.



Looks good. Looks are deceiving. There's huge chunks of crabgrass in there, and several bald spots, mainly in the shaded areas. Also quite lumpy. I'm likely going to give it a good scalping over winter, lay down a lot of soil/sand mix to level it out then rip out as much crabgrass as I can and seed it quite heavily in April/May time.

I also need to redo the sprinklers as I realize the main program is set for the wrong nozzle type.

[Dr Mike Oxgreen]

Howard- said:

I like the idea of this. I too was just going to do an autumn feed and then hope it pulls through winter. My family will probably think I'm nuts. Oh well. Any easy-to-use products that you recommend?

I’ve done it for the last two winters, and both times the lawn seems to have come out of the starting blocks and got going very quickly in the spring. The last two winters have also been disturbingly mild, so the grass didn’t really stop growing completely. I have a feeling this is the “new normal”.

Obviously I wouldn’t feed in the middle of a cold snap. But in the winter just gone my late December feed fell just as we were coming out of the deep cold snap we had earlier in December, so the timing was perfect. If the feed had fallen due during the cold snap, I’d have held off.

Regarding what I recommend… well, any granular feed with nitrogen (N) lower than Phosphorus (P) and Potassium (K). All fertilisers give the percentages of N-P-K in that order. So look for the first number being lower than the other two.

The one I use is ICL Sportsmaster Autumn, which has NPK of 4-12-12. I order it online from PitchCare, but other online suppliers have it as well. That’s a good percentage of Phosphorus for root growth, and also Potassium for general hardiness.

LawnSmith do an autumn feed, which has NPK of 10-5-15. For me, that’s on the high side in Nitrogen for all-winter use. You don’t want to be encouraging too much leafy top growth during mild spells in winter, because that soft growth will get hit hard by the next cold snap, and/or be vulnerable to fusarium. That said, the high percentage of Potassium is good.

[RichB]

Cutting twice a week now but because we were away over the weekend I only round to it this morning and it was a tad on the long side. I set the Hayter one notch higher so as not to take too much off in one go, I can lower it when I cut it again later in the week. I must say I am really pleased with it this year. Obviously the rainfall has helped but I've been using Turfsolv and seaweed as well as the usual iron sulphate, and Lawnsmith feeds. I've got a couple of areas that are difficult because of overhanging trees and, like DHutch, I'm on very sandy soil (the belt of Bagshot sand) so I may try that Lawnsmith Staygreen seed he mentioned.

[Howard-]

Dr Mike Oxgreen said:

Howard- said:

I like the idea of this. I too was just going to do an autumn feed and then hope it pulls through winter. My family will probably think I'm nuts. Oh well. Any easy-to-use products that you recommend?

I’ve done it for the last two winters, and both times the lawn seems to have come out of the starting blocks and got going very quickly in the spring. The last two winters have also been disturbingly mild, so the grass didn’t really stop growing completely. I have a feeling this is the “new normal”.

Obviously I wouldn’t feed in the middle of a cold snap. But in the winter just gone my late December feed fell just as we were coming out of the deep cold snap we had earlier in December, so the timing was perfect. If the feed had fallen due during the cold snap, I’d have held off.

Regarding what I recommend… well, any granular feed with nitrogen (N) lower than Phosphorus (P) and Potassium (K). All fertilisers give the percentages of N-P-K in that order. So look for the first number being lower than the other two.

The one I use is ICL Sportsmaster Autumn, which has NPK of 4-12-12. I order it online from PitchCare, but other online suppliers have it as well. That’s a good percentage of Phosphorus for root growth, and also Potassium for general hardiness.

LawnSmith do an autumn feed, which has NPK of 10-5-15. For me, that’s on the high side in Nitrogen for all-winter use. You don’t want to be encouraging too much leafy top growth during mild spells in winter, because that soft growth will get hit hard by the next cold snap, and/or be vulnerable to fusarium. That said, the high percentage of Potassium is good.

Thank you

[K87]

I have a professional gardener to look after my trees and difficult stuff, just casually I asked him if he was busy, the answer was 'snowed under'

His clarification was that a number of people had gone over to battery mowers which were okay, his opinion, in dry weather and if you cut the grass regularly but he was called in when the grass was too long or too wet for the battery mowers and with the wet July that we have had his diary is full.