2015 Lawn thread
Discussion
Dr Mike Oxgreen said:
At long last, I think I've finished. Mrs Oxgreen and I have been sprinkling a top-dressing of compost over the seed, so now it's a waiting game...
Looking very good! I must say I'm impressed with your rate of progress, you seem to have turned the whole project round very promptly! Well done, that man, I'm looking forward to seeing your results now which will help build my desire for talking the Garden in our new place 
Should be completing on it 7th September so will more than likely be next year before the lawn see's anything drastic happening to it though...
moles said:
Update from me, ended july with the lawn looking like this
Glyphosated the lot and left for 3 weeks
Bought a new mower locally 14" Atco balmoral with scarifier attachment 3 years old £300.
Hired a rotivator but made the mistake of not removing the dead grass first which meant that the chunks of dead grass ended up 200mm under the soil which was fun to dig out!
Have spent the last 2 weeks levelling out nearly there now roughly 2 days worth of work left I reckon. Have just ordered 6 pop up ralnbird sprinklers and manifold/fittings so have to dig the trenches for that down the middle when I got the final level worked out. Hopefully start seeding next week have ordered lawn smith ornamental seed and starter fertiliser so will throw the fertiliser down this week when it arrives (can it be left on the top or is it dug into soil?). And got horticultural fleece to put down over the seed as we get loads of birds in the garden.
Also very impressive progress! Will also look forward to seeing some photo's showing the fruits of your labour too...Glyphosated the lot and left for 3 weeks
Bought a new mower locally 14" Atco balmoral with scarifier attachment 3 years old £300.
Hired a rotivator but made the mistake of not removing the dead grass first which meant that the chunks of dead grass ended up 200mm under the soil which was fun to dig out!
Have spent the last 2 weeks levelling out nearly there now roughly 2 days worth of work left I reckon. Have just ordered 6 pop up ralnbird sprinklers and manifold/fittings so have to dig the trenches for that down the middle when I got the final level worked out. Hopefully start seeding next week have ordered lawn smith ornamental seed and starter fertiliser so will throw the fertiliser down this week when it arrives (can it be left on the top or is it dug into soil?). And got horticultural fleece to put down over the seed as we get loads of birds in the garden.
On a slightly different not, I also bought a second hand ATCO mower this year. Very similar to yours just the 17" version by the looks of it. How did you find the scarifier attachment for it? I'm some way off being able to try ours but have often wondered how good/bad/indifferent it will be??
Tried the scarifier only as I had no grass to cut at the time. In 20 mins it pulled out about 10 box's full of stuff so it deffo works but I have never used one before so have nothing to compare it to. MGJohn no moles but we do have a fox that occasionally digs small holes and a squirrel that does the same every now and again. Cheers Jagnet will throw the fertiliser down on top I can't face much more digging 
jagnet said:
hacksaw said:
Scarifying the lawn, seems like a good idea, something I've only previously done by hand, so this time I bought a machine to make life easier / do a better job. Holy s
t, it looks like the battle of the Somme now! Re seeded and praying.
It's amazing how much comes up with a proper scarifier, even on a lawn that's done regularly. On one that's not had it done in a long time, or ever, you do wonder if it'll ever recover from it t, it looks like the battle of the Somme now! Re seeded and praying. Quick question, should I use a new lawn fertiliser or start with the autumn fertiliser? Normally, this time of year I would be looking at switching from summer fertiliser to autumn.
hacksaw said:
Quick question, should I use a new lawn fertiliser or start with the autumn fertiliser? Normally, this time of year I would be looking at switching from summer fertiliser to autumn.
You could go either way given the time of year and that you're over seeding rather than starting a new lawn. Lawnsmith's 6-9-6 starter fertiliser lasts about 8 weeks, so you could apply that now and then an autumn feed from mid October at a push. Alternatively an autumn feed with reasonable Phosphate levels now would be fine. Another option could be a starter fertiliser such as Agrosil LR 0-20-0 now, and a slow release autumn feed can then be applied any time afterwards without risking excessive top growth from too much nitrogen by overlapping feeds too soon.
Tbh whichever option you choose will work well. The main thing is that the seedlings get some nutrients, and that you avoid anything with too much nitrogen.
illmonkey said:
Tried to patch my grass the other week, lovingly sprinkled the patches and watered it when it wasn't raining, nothing for a week. Send to get the box again and found out it was grass feed not seed.
At least the new seed I've now laid has some healthy mud to get into! Idiot.
Sorry, really shouldn't laugh, but...At least the new seed I've now laid has some healthy mud to get into! Idiot.
hacksaw said:
I was hoping to see some shoots of recovery from where I reseeded my lawn on Saturday after a vigorous scarifying, however, its been very wet and pretty cool the last few days so have a feeling it will be a few more days yet before I see the new shoots 
At this stage I'm only seeing the occasional, widely-spaced seedling, and only in the sunniest parts of the 'lawn'. I've had to reduce the amount of sprinkling so as to avoid over-watering because it's been so cool and relatively wind-free.I wouldn't worry about the lack of action: being in Yorkshire, you're bound to be a couple of degrees cooler still and therefore a bit slower with germination. Down here in Surrey, we're getting up to about 16-17C in the daytime, which is actually only slightly below average for September.
Edited by Dr Mike Oxgreen on Thursday 3rd September 13:36
It's been fairly good conditions for germination this week in Surrey. Thanks in part to chitting my seeds the first shoots were showing in under a week, which for bent grasses is very good going. Normally you'd be looking at a minimum 7 to 14 days.I did hedge my bets a little and sowed some straight out of the bag, just in case chitting them didn't work.
Chaps, some basic advice if you please...
It appears to be that time of year to roll out the scrifier (seems such a shame after 3 months of love and caressing to then turn it into a battle field..) Anyway, I digress
In two weeks time I shall get scarifying, but what is the recommend grass seed and fertizer of choice? Something mid range, I haven't got cash to through at the lawns (doing my folks as well), but as I am making an effort I would like decent results.
Cheers
It appears to be that time of year to roll out the scrifier (seems such a shame after 3 months of love and caressing to then turn it into a battle field..) Anyway, I digress
In two weeks time I shall get scarifying, but what is the recommend grass seed and fertizer of choice? Something mid range, I haven't got cash to through at the lawns (doing my folks as well), but as I am making an effort I would like decent results.
Cheers
I'll jump in first and say lawnsmith.co.uk
Seed type will depend on what you want to use the lawn for, pick a blend that suits your need, there is very little difference on costs between types.
I asked a similar question on the fertilizer earlier, I've just scarified and reseeded and I was told either a new lawn fertilizer or autumn fertilizer will be fine.
Seed type will depend on what you want to use the lawn for, pick a blend that suits your need, there is very little difference on costs between types.
I asked a similar question on the fertilizer earlier, I've just scarified and reseeded and I was told either a new lawn fertilizer or autumn fertilizer will be fine.
Whichever fertiliser supplier you choose, at this time of year select their Autumn version which will contain less nitrogen and more phosphate - resulting in strengthening of root systems rather than growing lots of lush leafy growth (which would be vulnerable to the approaching winter).
I've never used the Lawnsmith fertilisers myself, but have no reason to doubt their quality. Myself I use the Scotts 'Lawnbuilder' fertiliser, which is also good.
Unless you actually have weeds and moss that need tackling then I wouldn't bother using a multi-purpose "weed and feed" product. Those carry a much greater risk of scorching if you overdose, and they're often unsuitable for use on newly germinated grass.
On the subject of newly germinated grass, will you be overseeding once you've scarified? It really is worthwhile if you can afford it. Don't buy seed from a garden centre because it's very expensive that way - buy it online either from Lawnsmith or from The Grass Seed Store. The latter offers every conceivable grass mix imaginable - from several lawn mixes to horse grazing mixes (with or without herbs!), poultry grazing mixes, special mixes for silage, different mixes for football, rugby, golf, etc etc. Other online suppliers are probably available but these are the ones I've had dealings with.
I've never used the Lawnsmith fertilisers myself, but have no reason to doubt their quality. Myself I use the Scotts 'Lawnbuilder' fertiliser, which is also good.
Unless you actually have weeds and moss that need tackling then I wouldn't bother using a multi-purpose "weed and feed" product. Those carry a much greater risk of scorching if you overdose, and they're often unsuitable for use on newly germinated grass.
On the subject of newly germinated grass, will you be overseeding once you've scarified? It really is worthwhile if you can afford it. Don't buy seed from a garden centre because it's very expensive that way - buy it online either from Lawnsmith or from The Grass Seed Store. The latter offers every conceivable grass mix imaginable - from several lawn mixes to horse grazing mixes (with or without herbs!), poultry grazing mixes, special mixes for silage, different mixes for football, rugby, golf, etc etc. Other online suppliers are probably available but these are the ones I've had dealings with.
Edited by Dr Mike Oxgreen on Thursday 3rd September 16:20
Day 7. (Why do I always have a thick Geordie accent in my head when I type that?)
The sunnier parts of the lawn are showing good, thick germination now, and even Mrs Oxgreen has acknowledged that you can see green even from a distance now. The shady parts are a few days behind, as is to be expected, but there is the occasional green spike even in these areas.
A sunny spot:
The sunnier parts of the lawn are showing good, thick germination now, and even Mrs Oxgreen has acknowledged that you can see green even from a distance now. The shady parts are a few days behind, as is to be expected, but there is the occasional green spike even in these areas.
A sunny spot:
Looking good, Dr Mike 
Anybody who says that watching grass grow is dull has clearly never sowed a lawn from seed. Each morning I'm out there with a cup of coffee comparing progress with the day before. Today it looked lovely with a fine dew on the seedlings, sparkling in the morning sunshine.
I had to give the lawn a pass with the roller this afternoon (through gritted teeth) as all the surface feeding earthworm activity (of which there's been a lot) had lifted the ground height over large areas of the lawn. Too early to be brushing the casts without risking uprooting the seedlings. Hopefully it was the right decision. The established grasses also needed their second cut since renovating, which is still something of a delicate operation to avoid trampling the new grass in exposed areas.
Anybody who says that watching grass grow is dull has clearly never sowed a lawn from seed. Each morning I'm out there with a cup of coffee comparing progress with the day before. Today it looked lovely with a fine dew on the seedlings, sparkling in the morning sunshine.I had to give the lawn a pass with the roller this afternoon (through gritted teeth) as all the surface feeding earthworm activity (of which there's been a lot) had lifted the ground height over large areas of the lawn. Too early to be brushing the casts without risking uprooting the seedlings. Hopefully it was the right decision. The established grasses also needed their second cut since renovating, which is still something of a delicate operation to avoid trampling the new grass in exposed areas.
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