2017 Lawn thread
Discussion
Having laid new turf recently I can understand how this topic is so long now! Hopefully I can get into a routine over the year now that I'm settled in the house, and I've promised myself to read a couple of the books that have been suggested on here too!
Anyway... couple of quick questions from me. Turf has now been down since mid July and on the whole seems to be doing ok.
I've just given it some autumn feed from lawnsmith but have noticed a couple of things:
- There are quite a few worm hills in many areas, which won't breakdown easily due to the damp. Am I best to remove completely and overseed the small patches?
- If walking barefoot, the underlying soil feels very lumpy and in some areas not compacted (ground sinks a bit as you step). I know they had a massive downpour on the day of laying the turf so suspect it wasn't as compact as ideal when laid.
My understanding is that top dressing this may help quite a bit. So.. for such a new lawn.. what top dressing should I use? Or is it more related to the soil type/ph? And also.. how can I best ensure that any dressing will fill out the lumps properly as I'm worried about raking/brushing it in given the lawn is so new?
Thanks all!
Anyway... couple of quick questions from me. Turf has now been down since mid July and on the whole seems to be doing ok.
I've just given it some autumn feed from lawnsmith but have noticed a couple of things:
- There are quite a few worm hills in many areas, which won't breakdown easily due to the damp. Am I best to remove completely and overseed the small patches?
- If walking barefoot, the underlying soil feels very lumpy and in some areas not compacted (ground sinks a bit as you step). I know they had a massive downpour on the day of laying the turf so suspect it wasn't as compact as ideal when laid.
My understanding is that top dressing this may help quite a bit. So.. for such a new lawn.. what top dressing should I use? Or is it more related to the soil type/ph? And also.. how can I best ensure that any dressing will fill out the lumps properly as I'm worried about raking/brushing it in given the lawn is so new?
Thanks all!
I would perhaps allow it to settle and top dress to level things either in the spring or this time next year.My lawn that was sown from seed is settling at different rates, slightly lump under foot in the odd patch and with high and low spots, I think I will resolve that next autumn once it has had more time to settle, no point in doing it now if it is only going to move further.
Muncher said:
I would perhaps allow it to settle and top dress to level things either in the spring or this time next year.My lawn that was sown from seed is settling at different rates, slightly lump under foot in the odd patch and with high and low spots, I think I will resolve that next autumn once it has had more time to settle, no point in doing it now if it is only going to move further.
Out of interest, how do you level it? I've got an established lawn thats not particularly level under foot.As part of our garden renovation I wanted to straighten up the lawn as well as giving the lawn some care after it took a beating from the builders we had round over the summer.
I started off a few weeks back by putting weedkiller on all of the weed grasses, which had been taking over the lawn. I then scarified the lawn, whilst my assistant marked up where she wanted the edge of the new lawn to be.
Lawn before by Lewis Craik, on Flickr
We put some temporary edging down and levelled off the old flower bed with the rest of the lawn. I imagine that I will need to re-level this as it settles over the winter.
I was going to feed the lawn, but realised I was out of lawn feed, so went straight to seeding/overseeding the rest of the lawn, then a light top dresing. At this point it started raining.
Reshaped lawn by Lewis Craik, on Flickr
[/quote]
(The fence is actually straighter than it looks in the photo.)
I started off a few weeks back by putting weedkiller on all of the weed grasses, which had been taking over the lawn. I then scarified the lawn, whilst my assistant marked up where she wanted the edge of the new lawn to be.
Lawn before by Lewis Craik, on Flickr
We put some temporary edging down and levelled off the old flower bed with the rest of the lawn. I imagine that I will need to re-level this as it settles over the winter.
I was going to feed the lawn, but realised I was out of lawn feed, so went straight to seeding/overseeding the rest of the lawn, then a light top dresing. At this point it started raining.
Reshaped lawn by Lewis Craik, on Flickr
[/quote]
(The fence is actually straighter than it looks in the photo.)
That's 4 passes with the scarifier done over last night and tonight. Didn't realise how quickly light is fading now.
Think there's a lot of thatch under sections of the grass, still quite spongey in places.
On that note, does anyway know of a good hollow tine aerator? Anything I've come across online has lukewarm reviews at best.
Think there's a lot of thatch under sections of the grass, still quite spongey in places.
On that note, does anyway know of a good hollow tine aerator? Anything I've come across online has lukewarm reviews at best.
Tbh when it comes to hollow tining I have tried a few machines trying to find an alternative to the Ryan lawnaire we currently use and even the other expensive professional ones are often rubbish! Your best bet imo is trying to find a hire place with one, it's not hard to do or that time Consuming with the right machine like we use but then we pay something silly like 3k for each machine.
The hand ones are just rediculous aswell.
The hand ones are just rediculous aswell.
8-P said:
4 passes! I always plan to do 2 then run out of time/ get fed up and stop. Must try harder in spring
Different direction each time. 2 big bins full of debris and the lawn is about 9m x 5m.The fact the grass was actually quite a bit longer than it appeared, even after cutting quite short, didn't help.
Managed to mow and scarify at the weekend, need to get back early enough one evening to overseed and top dress. Any suggestions fora suitable fertiliser? I've always used lawnsmiths new lawn stuff before, but I don't have any at the moment.
The seed I have is from last year... From memory this should be okay, might just need a little more?
The seed I have is from last year... From memory this should be okay, might just need a little more?
So I used Lawnsmith Extra-Long Fertiliser a couple of weeks ago, I spread it by hand, and where I got it right the grass has gone lovely. Where I missed it looks as crap as expected, and where I dropped a load it burnt it, but now looks OK.
So, I have borrowed off the father a proper spreader, to do the front lawn. But what happens if I do the back lawn again, will I burn it all having done it in a patchy fashion only two weeks ago? I'd like to do it again to fill the patches in.
Thanks
So, I have borrowed off the father a proper spreader, to do the front lawn. But what happens if I do the back lawn again, will I burn it all having done it in a patchy fashion only two weeks ago? I'd like to do it again to fill the patches in.
Thanks
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