2018 Lawn thread

[Chicken Chaser]

Lawnmowers......

I have a Bosch Rotak 370er which as far as electric mowers go, does a decent job. Rear roller albeit lightweight. I sharpen the blade once or twice a year to keep it in good condition.

Got the chance of a Honda 426 petrol (push) with roller. It's a significant upgrade in weight but wondered if there would be any difference in the quality of cut and overall appearance of the lawn? I've got a fairly small offering But I'll be looking to add another lawn to the front once it's landscaped so probably doubling the amount of grass to cut.

[jagnet]

MrChips said:

Some areas of the lawn get mostly shade due to a neighbours large oak tree so should I mix a bit of the shady green seed in? Or will the LM1 work ok?

LM1 should be fine with a bit of shade as it's a fescue mix and fescues are a shade tolerant species (most mixes sold as shady seed are predominantly fescue). Fescue does prefer a free draining soil so constantly damp shade isn't ideal for them, which is where Lawnsmith's Shady Green mix excels.

Fescues require less fertiliser input than many other species once established, so keeping the lawn on a bit of nutrient diet from next year will help sway conditions in their favour and help them become the dominant species in the lawn.

If you've used ryegrass in the past then you may find when switching to a greater proportion of fescue that over time where the ryegrass is more dense than in other areas its deeper green colour creates darker patches in the lawn versus the fescues.

[jagnet]

BRISTOL86 said:

Thanks mate. Have treated both lawns today.

Once I’ve removed the moss is that the best time to overseed? Should this be done at the same time as using the lawn builder or before/after?

Also will I need to put anything down before seeing like a top dressing? We have quite heavy clay soil and here’s how the lawns look as of right now:

Also with large weeds is it best to dig them out now rather than use a spot treatment?

Thanks for your help

Yep, overseed after raking out the moss. It means that the moss won't hold the seed off the ground, and a good thorough raking breaks the soil surface and provides a nice opportunity for the seed to get good soil contact. Spring sown seeds are more susceptible to summer drought in their first year than ones sown in the autumn, so you may need to water more this summer to keep them from drying out too much, but don't overdo it.

If you're feeling particularly energetic then a spot of aeration with the garden fork will help, especially if followed by topdressing after sowing the seed. For a clay soil I'd mix compost with topsoil - 1 to 2 parts compost to 1 part topsoil will be fine. It'll eventually work its way into some of the fork holes and helps to protect the seed from birds and from drying out. Even if you don't fork, the top dressing will be beneficial. Sieving the topdressing with a riddle helps to take out larger lumps and makes it easier to work into the existing sward.

You can fertilise at the same time as sowing - by the time the seed germinates any risk of burning the seedlings has passed.

You can either dig them out now or use a spot treatment. With a couple of weeks before raking the moss and another week or two before the seedlings germinate there'll be no risk to the seedlings from any overspray if administered now. That said, finding a day without rain at the moment may be tricky!

[jagnet]

robertredford said:

I got ours professionally sharpened last year by guys who look after mainly commercial stuff. They were well impressed when I brought it in and found an original Ransomes catalogue with it in!

Superb cutter!

Thanks!

one of my favourite of the old school manual mowers. It's so well designed that it's not surprising that it sold so well for decades with little change to its design.

That the last ones produced are now nearly 50 years old yet are still proving popular for smaller gardens really is testament to their build quality and ability to give a really nice cut. Just a shame that so many are left without maintenance, never sharpened or adjusted.

I spotted one in need of some tlc at an antiques place the other day and casually enquired how much it'd be; £90 they were asking. I politely declined, yet it'd sold within a week.

Opening one up that still has its original grease inside, it's a bit like that moment when you open a fresh bag of coffee Even Mrs Jagnet commented positively on the old grease smell the other day - she's a keeper!

[fastbikes76]

Well I’m making progress.... done nothing more than cut regularly and water during warm spells. House is a 6 year old new build with nothing but rubble and clay under the grass

This was when we bought in July last year


And today after a fresh cut. It’s still patchy and bare nearest the front of the decking, but hope to seed when I can stop the whippet pup doing 100 mile and hour laps

[LeadFarmer]

fastbikes76 said:

Im liking your covered seating area, do you have any more photos of it please?

[fastbikes76]

LeadFarmer said:

Im liking your covered seating area, do you have any more photos of it please?

Thanks , I did try doing a thread but laptop had a spaz and then photos were to big to do from phone .

Basically it was the standard pergola which I added sides using feather edge boards, OSB sheets for roof and then felt on top.

I ran power down to it and then fitted some lights, remote control IR heater, beer fridge and sound system. It’s stays 100% water proof and even when absolutely lashing it down you can still sit under then with a nice cold gin

















Total cost was £700 including all timber and felt, beer fridge, electrics, heater, lights, decking solar lights , lighting and rattan furniture. Under the cover is another table and 4 seater rattan set too which I already had. It Made a useless dead space a very nice place to chill in the summer evenings as it gets the sun till around 8pm. I am no DIY guy by any means somwas over the moon with the outcome !

[Nickbrapp]

Trying to find something to do with the lawn I’ve been given when moving into this house.


It’s north facing so very shady in the afternoon/ evening the right hand corner has no grass at all, just moss which I have removed, loads of weeds, lots of which I have removed, and very poor drainage in the same rear corner.

The grass is made up of some actual grass and the rest is just weeds and moss, I don’t really know where to start! This is a rental property while I wait for my new house to be built, at least another 18 months, so I want to do something about it without spending too much cash.

The patches are where I have filled holes with top soil and did use some patch magic which hasn’t really worked,

What do you reckon?

[jagnet]

Nickbrapp said:

What do you reckon?

An awful little spot for most grasses. Shade, damp, little air movement. Forget patch repair kits and standard off the shelf grass seed - never going to do anything in those conditions.

As per an earlier post, try Poa supina for damp and deep shade. If that won't grow there, no other grass will:

jagnet said:

For wear tolerant grass in the shade, look to Poa supina. This is a grass that can be found naturally in high-traffic areas (particularly cattle paths) in moist, shaded woodland areas in the Alps. Very wear tolerant and exceptionally shade tolerant, with its strong stoloniferous growth it recovers quickly from damage. At 5-10% of a seed mix, in high traffic areas in the shade it'll become the dominant species within a year or two.

Germinal do a shady seed mix with Poa supina: A6 Supreme Shade, or if just overseeding a large area then their 85% SS Meadow Grass / 15% Poa supina A31 Supreme Tees can work out quite economically.

Alternatively, if you don't need the wear tolerance quite so much, Lawnsmith's ShadyGreen with it's wide mix of grasses ensures that at least some will find conditions tolerable at least provided that you never cut shorter than 2".

If it were mine, given its size and aspect I'd actually be very tempted to forget grass and create a lovely lush shady garden with ferns, hostas, hellebores, fritillaries, etc but I get that it's a rental, so as above try a Poa supina mix or ShadyGreen.

[BRISTOL86]

jagnet said:

Yep, overseed after raking out the moss. It means that the moss won't hold the seed off the ground, and a good thorough raking breaks the soil surface and provides a nice opportunity for the seed to get good soil contact. Spring sown seeds are more susceptible to summer drought in their first year than ones sown in the autumn, so you may need to water more this summer to keep them from drying out too much, but don't overdo it.

If you're feeling particularly energetic then a spot of aeration with the garden fork will help, especially if followed by topdressing after sowing the seed. For a clay soil I'd mix compost with topsoil - 1 to 2 parts compost to 1 part topsoil will be fine. It'll eventually work its way into some of the fork holes and helps to protect the seed from birds and from drying out. Even if you don't fork, the top dressing will be beneficial. Sieving the topdressing with a riddle helps to take out larger lumps and makes it easier to work into the existing sward.

You can fertilise at the same time as sowing - by the time the seed germinates any risk of burning the seedlings has passed.

You can either dig them out now or use a spot treatment. With a couple of weeks before raking the moss and another week or two before the seedlings germinate there'll be no risk to the seedlings from any overspray if administered now. That said, finding a day without rain at the moment may be tricky!

Thanks mate that’s really helpful!

[nadger]

I’m very excited. I got this delivered yesterday!

It’s frigging awesome!!

[g3org3y]

MrChips said:

Firstly I want to thank Jagnet and a few others who consistently take time to give really good explanations to those of us not quite as knowledgeable!

+1

[wjwren]

Mrchips where did you get your rear fencing from?

[MrChips]

wjwren said:

Mrchips where did you get your rear fencing from?

It's cedar tongue and groove, I bought from Silvatimber.co.uk. Bit of the pricey side especially now having to oil it every year to hopefully keep the colour!

[wjwren]

^ I looked at that website a while ago when I did my fence, yes it is pricey but does look very good. I ended up buying normal tanalised timber, planing it and then putting sikkens on. It looks good but not as good as yours. Hats off.

[westtra]

Second cut today and then a rake. A lot more taken out than I expected and I didn’t get it all.

Aerated as well and after looking at tonights forecast going to wait till tomorrow to over seed and feed as frost forecast tonight.

How long after overseeding should it be left till the next cut and how long till I rake again?

[Harry Flashman]

I'll echo the others in saying thank you very much for all the advice on here.

After recent rains, our garden is pretty waterlogged (it is not normally, but we have had heavy rain). The turf people are laying a sand layer as they lay turf in this area a lot, and reckon that is good enough. Should I believe them, or do we need to dig drainage too? Thiswould be the time to do it, before laying the turf down.

[richatnort]

Harry Flashman said:

I'll echo the others in saying thank you very much for all the advice on here.

After recent rains, our garden is pretty waterlogged (it is not normally, but we have had heavy rain). The turf people are laying a sand layer as they lay turf in this area a lot, and reckon that is good enough. Should I believe them, or do we need to dig drainage too? Thiswould be the time to do it, before laying the turf down.

Personally Harry I would always dig for drainage even if the soil if good enough because you can't have enough drainage on a lawn and like you say if it's raining heavily then it could get waterlogged.

[jagnet]

westtra said:

Second cut today and then a rake. A lot more taken out than I expected and I didn’t get it all.

Aerated as well and after looking at tonights forecast going to wait till tomorrow to over seed and feed as frost forecast tonight.

How long after overseeding should it be left till the next cut and how long till I rake again?

You really want to get all your raking done before seeding as you'll not be able to do it again until the new grass has become reasonably well rooted or it'll just pull the seedlings out.

The existing grasses will act as protection for the new seedlings so continue to cut as normal after overseeding, but any areas that are quite sparse with existing grass should be treated more like a new lawn and avoided for a while.

[westtra]

jagnet said:

You really want to get all your raking done before seeding as you'll not be able to do it again until the new grass has become reasonably well rooted or it'll just pull the seedlings out.

The existing grasses will act as protection for the new seedlings so continue to cut as normal after overseeding, but any areas that are quite sparse with existing grass should be treated more like a new lawn and avoided for a while.

Thanks. Will maby go over it again today. Will need to try borrow a neighbours brown bin as filled both of ours yesterday.