2017 Lawn thread
Discussion
I've lost a bit of lawn to make way for a patio, fortunately it was mostly a large patch of thick grasses.
Is there anything I can do to make the grass more resilient, as it is having a lot of extra traffic with all the work. I have done the last few cuts longer than usual.
Garden progress by Lewis Craik, on Flickr
Is there anything I can do to make the grass more resilient, as it is having a lot of extra traffic with all the work. I have done the last few cuts longer than usual.
Garden progress by Lewis Craik, on Flickr
Following on from the micro clover discussion, I finally got around to digging out the camera today for some photos.
This is our bunnies' dining patch complete with clover (and bunny):
With a shorter cutting height the clover would be quite a bit smaller still. It does give an idea just how green the grass is there thanks to the nitrogen input from the clover. It hasn't received any additional fertiliser or irrigation this year.
Meanwhile the P. annua patch is coming on slowly:
This patch of lawn was nothing but weed grasses last year (pretty much the full range of them too); not really surprising after 60+ years with minimal maintenance for at least the last 20. It's also really really poor soil. When dry it's like a powder - I was able to draw out a complete 9" brick from 3 inches under the turf through just a slit in the grass, no digging required. Never seen soil like it before.
Ideally I'd have killed off the existing, rotovated in a load of compost and started from scratch. Unfortunately that wasn't an option, so I had to scalp, scarify the hell out of it and top dress, then overseed with Germinal's A11S fescue/velvet bent mix.
Given the poor soil, late sowing in the autumn and a nasty case of fusarium patch over winter I'm impressed any of the new grasses survived. A second relatively light overseeding was carried out at the beginning of April and again this month.
This spring has mostly been about making life as difficult as possible for the weed grasses with minimal fertiliser input (not really ideal for still establishing desirables either) and minimal irrigation. Fertiliser has been Maxwell's Myco 1 organic granules. Clippings have been left in situ for the most part to try to encourage more microbial and fungal activity and to slowly add some more organic matter into the soil. Every couple of weeks it has been "back combed" with a spring tine rake to stand up any lateral growth from the weed grasses then topped with the rotary mower.
Leaving the clippings in place has meant hand picking P. annua seed heads prior to cutting to avoid spreading the stuff. That's not an entertaining task.
The cutting height is now finally approaching something sensible for the grass mix, with the height of cut currently set at 10,5mm on the mower (actual h.o.c is naturally higher than that). Mower choice has gone from the Ransomes Ajax at the start, via the Webb Witch as an intermediate, until at last a couple of weeks ago I could finally break out the Greens Zephyr from hibernation (I've been missing it
)
Gratuitous machinery shot:
Please excuse the traces of dying weed grasses in the sward, it's just had another back combing today.
As for the front lawn, that's a whole other topic for another time.
This is our bunnies' dining patch complete with clover (and bunny):
With a shorter cutting height the clover would be quite a bit smaller still. It does give an idea just how green the grass is there thanks to the nitrogen input from the clover. It hasn't received any additional fertiliser or irrigation this year.
Meanwhile the P. annua patch is coming on slowly:
This patch of lawn was nothing but weed grasses last year (pretty much the full range of them too); not really surprising after 60+ years with minimal maintenance for at least the last 20. It's also really really poor soil. When dry it's like a powder - I was able to draw out a complete 9" brick from 3 inches under the turf through just a slit in the grass, no digging required. Never seen soil like it before.
Ideally I'd have killed off the existing, rotovated in a load of compost and started from scratch. Unfortunately that wasn't an option, so I had to scalp, scarify the hell out of it and top dress, then overseed with Germinal's A11S fescue/velvet bent mix.
Given the poor soil, late sowing in the autumn and a nasty case of fusarium patch over winter I'm impressed any of the new grasses survived. A second relatively light overseeding was carried out at the beginning of April and again this month.
This spring has mostly been about making life as difficult as possible for the weed grasses with minimal fertiliser input (not really ideal for still establishing desirables either) and minimal irrigation. Fertiliser has been Maxwell's Myco 1 organic granules. Clippings have been left in situ for the most part to try to encourage more microbial and fungal activity and to slowly add some more organic matter into the soil. Every couple of weeks it has been "back combed" with a spring tine rake to stand up any lateral growth from the weed grasses then topped with the rotary mower.
Leaving the clippings in place has meant hand picking P. annua seed heads prior to cutting to avoid spreading the stuff. That's not an entertaining task.
The cutting height is now finally approaching something sensible for the grass mix, with the height of cut currently set at 10,5mm on the mower (actual h.o.c is naturally higher than that). Mower choice has gone from the Ransomes Ajax at the start, via the Webb Witch as an intermediate, until at last a couple of weeks ago I could finally break out the Greens Zephyr from hibernation (I've been missing it
)Gratuitous machinery shot:
Please excuse the traces of dying weed grasses in the sward, it's just had another back combing today.
As for the front lawn, that's a whole other topic for another time.
Craikeybaby said:
Is there anything I can do to make the grass more resilient, as it is having a lot of extra traffic with all the work. I have done the last few cuts longer than usual.
A longer height of cut does help a great deal. Avoid traffic on it whilst the ground is wet if possible. Some boards down whilst work is happening will help to spread the load, but make sure that they're lifted whenever possible.Finally finished scarifying my lawn today (what's left of it)....gave it another spraying with moss killer this evening which is what I've read is recommended and will seed on Monday I think. Bit late to have done all this but didn't have the time and I can't believe how long it's taken...solid two weeks. I have a friggin massive pile of dead moss now!
g3org3y said:
^Looks really good. Seems that the Toro striping system works. Would you recommend it?
The jury is out at the moment. Obviously it works but value for money? With hindsight although I love my Torro Stowaway maybe for stripes a cylinder mower would be a better all in one solution? I'm hoping that once the lawn is more established and denser there will be more definition in the stripes.
dickymint said:
Ok so my lawn is looking good in a photo and has stripes. But here's the reality up close.....
What's the best approach in the short term?
Kill the weeds? Is it too early for harsh treatment?
Overseed now or wait till Autumn?
Feed it now?
None of the above?
I'd argue it's a tad late for weedkiller, but not massively. What's the best approach in the short term?
Kill the weeds? Is it too early for harsh treatment?
Overseed now or wait till Autumn?
Feed it now?
None of the above?
Kill the weeds, wait a few weeks and then overseed.
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