2020 Lawn thread

[dhutch]

RichB said:

dhutch said:

We're 18 months into turning around a neglected lawn, hoping to overseed in the spring, having missed doing anything this autumn <clip> Cheers
Daniel.

When you say sandstone, do you mean sandy soil? Is soil generally acidic, where so you live?
The electric rake will get up thatch, the machine with knives is more for aeration - confusingly the hire places call them scarifyers!
If you're on sandy soil you will need to feed more frequently because the nutrients will leach away more than on clay or loam.
If you last fed in summer '19 then I would suggest you could use ferrous sulphate now to toughen the grass then think about feeding in early March.
Sign up to get the newsletter from Lawnsmith even if you don't buy their products, although there's no reason not to, you will get good monthly advice on lawn care e.g. there's loads on scarifying and aeration.

Tub of Ferrous Sulphate and a bar-sprinkler ordered from the Lawnsmith, used them before and he seems a great bloke.

The sandstone bedrock is only a foot or two below the surface from what I have seen, and the soil appears correspondingly sandly is also reasonable loam, which fits with the ukso map of soil types for our area of the Wirral (CH43). I don't know the PH of the area and haven't tested for it.

I noticed at the weekend its the ligher duty Bosch AVR 900 with have rather than the AVR 1100. And the spiked push roller from Lawnsmiths.

Is mid-late April is about right for all this, air temp above 13deg?

Thanks

[WinstonWolf]

dhutch said:

RichB said:

dhutch said:

We're 18 months into turning around a neglected lawn, hoping to overseed in the spring, having missed doing anything this autumn <clip> Cheers
Daniel.

When you say sandstone, do you mean sandy soil? Is soil generally acidic, where so you live?
The electric rake will get up thatch, the machine with knives is more for aeration - confusingly the hire places call them scarifyers!
If you're on sandy soil you will need to feed more frequently because the nutrients will leach away more than on clay or loam.
If you last fed in summer '19 then I would suggest you could use ferrous sulphate now to toughen the grass then think about feeding in early March.
Sign up to get the newsletter from Lawnsmith even if you don't buy their products, although there's no reason not to, you will get good monthly advice on lawn care e.g. there's loads on scarifying and aeration.

Tub of Ferrous Sulphate and a bar-sprinkler ordered from the Lawnsmith, used them before and he seems a great bloke.

The sandstone bedrock is only a foot or two below the surface from what I have seen, and the soil appears correspondingly sandly is also reasonable loam, which fits with the ukso map of soil types for our area of the Wirral (CH43). I don't know the PH of the area and haven't tested for it.

I noticed at the weekend its the ligher duty Bosch AVR 900 with have rather than the AVR 1100. And the spiked push roller from Lawnsmiths.

Is mid-late April is about right for all this, air temp above 13deg?

Thanks

Chatting to a farmer at the weekend, April 12th is sewing day apparently

[renmure]

Abbott said:

How many ground staff do you have?

Haha. I wish!! Just me, 2 German Shepherds who help a little and a wife who doesn't.

It only takes about 90 mins to do it all. It also sort of divides into 3 bits so I cut the stuff at the front a bit more regularly than the stuff at the back and sides. It's semi therapeutic with some music on the headphones and gives the dogs a walk and keeps them amused. Mowers have coffee cup holders as well these days.

My only point in posting in relation to mulching leaves, dedicated mulching mowers and thatch in general is that if you're cutting 5 acres of garden a couple of times / week for coming up for 20 years you get a bit of experience about whether it causes problems or not and whether doing it is better than not doing it. Other views are available.

[ACRP]

MrOrange said:

I see mention of worms/worm casts above. I’ve been working on my lawn for a couple of seasons (spiking, treatment etc, nothing too serious) and this is the first winter where there is no moss. But, the lawn is covered in worm casts - I assume this is a good thing?

Yes, worms help If you want to reduce the casts then something like Purity soil conditioner will reduce the worm population. Or if you don't want to kill them then apparently applying iron drives the worms deeper but I've yet to see this work.

[RichB]

What's the advice regarding moles? I've got one or two moles making mole hills. I've just removed the mound with a shovel and brushed the grass back to level it off. Is this something I should just put up with or do the lawn experts drive them away somehow?

[Rtype]

RichB said:

What's the advice regarding moles? I've got one or two moles making mole hills. I've just removed the mound with a shovel and brushed the grass back to level it off. Is this something I should just put up with or do the lawn experts drive them away somehow?

I've been trying to kill my moles for 6m with no success. Sometimes they even dig around my trap. Luckily due to how wet it was this year they have left the soaking ground and come up nearer the house which I plan to turn into a patio this year anyway so will be giving the tunnels a good fight.

[kriggi]

Not sure what's wrong with our lawn but think it might be leatherjackets as we had quite a few daddy longlegs last summer. Its become quite patchy and thin in places, lots of worm casts which I guess is a good thing.

Any ideas on what it might be and how to treat it. We're thinking nematodes but think we've missed the treatment period!

[Mark975]

My lawn, last year at the end of August beginning of September scarified and overseeded. Used a screwfix scarifier which still pulled a huge amount out.

Lawn before
After second scarifier pass (forgot to capture the 1st pass)
Overseeded, fertilised and slight top soil topdress
After, waiting for seed to take[url]
|https://thumbsnap.com/b2SJ10vM[/url]
Around 3 weeks after, a couple of patches to seed agin but looking better
Today after an incredibly wet winter, unfortunately we are in very heavy clay and the amount of rain has made things pretty bad. Hoping for the grass to recover in the spring

[Mark975]

Spring application for leather jackets https://www.marshalls-seeds.co.uk/mobile/nemasys-l...

kriggi said:

Not sure what's wrong with our lawn but think it might be leatherjackets as we had quite a few daddy longlegs last summer. Its become quite patchy and thin in places, lots of worm casts which I guess is a good thing.

Any ideas on what it might be and how to treat it. We're thinking nematodes but think we've missed the treatment period!

[-dadam02-]

For anyone mowing at this time of the year, is it better to leave the clipping on the lawn (mulched) or to bag them up and remove or does it not matter?

Also I noticed a fair few weeds appearing, I guess this wet and mild weather is contributing.

[hotchy]

I got my new house last year and I sunk 7 foot into the moss that was disguised as grass. I then scarafied it, so now it feels like a normal lawn. Well it's as thin as my bald head. Will I just leave it juust now and hope spring pops along and nice new grass will fill its place? Or should I throw some sead all over it to give it a we help?

I do expect the moss to be an ongoing thing as its north facing, towards the woods but I do get to watch the wild deer in the morning out the window. Sun does get over half of it most of the day though.

[kriggi]

Mark975, many thanks for the heads up. I didn't realise there was a spring nematode treatment for daddy long legs. Will get some when the wether warms up a little.

Thanks.

[mikeiow]

RichB said:

What's the advice regarding moles? I've got one or two moles making mole hills. I've just removed the mound with a shovel and brushed the grass back to level it off. Is this something I should just put up with or do the lawn experts drive them away somehow?

Get a robotic mower!
We had moles for many years.....Rob O’Mow deployed: Mole-B-Gone!
I suspect the pulse sent round the perimeter wire is a turn-off for ‘em......

[RichB]

wouldn't work for me, I've got 4 or 5 lawns and the Rob'o would get lost on the paths between them all...

[combat echo]

I'm totally fed up with the drainage in my boggy silt/clay lawn but I have no option of installing french drains etc. On my research for options, I came across blog that they used a post hole auger to improve drainage and filling the holes with compost with good results.

Before I start digging 100+ 15cm x 1m deep holes in my small lawn is this a good idea? Would a well rotted manure/ sharp sand/pea shingle mix be better than using 100% manure?

[Mark975]

Has anyone used a growth regulator like Primo Maxx before or have knowledge of them? The Primo Maxx seems to be specifically for turf but this also has the same active ingredient in so was wondering if it would do the same?
https://www.agrigem.co.uk/moddus-1l?gclid=CjwKCAiA...

[dhutch]

hotchy said:

I got my new house last year and I sunk 7 foot into the moss that was disguised as grass. I then scarafied it, so now it feels like a normal lawn. Well it's as thin as my bald head. Will I just leave it juust now and hope spring pops along and nice new grass will fill its place? Or should I throw some sead all over it to give it a we help?

I do expect the moss to be an ongoing thing as its north facing, towards the woods but I do get to watch the wild deer in the morning out the window. Sun does get over half of it most of the day though.

Over seed in spring, depending on exact area/temps mid April seems the right time. You then also get to encourage the type of grasses you want, even if that's a fairly mid-range 'family lawn' seed from BnQ else see Lawnsmith website for other options. Maybe sprinkle with a top dressing, sand or compost etc depending on soil type.

Daniel

[bungle]

Hate looking out the back windows now, moss everywhere!

Feels like I spent ages on the lawn last year, it looked great for a while, and now looks awful

[No_Idea]

Mine's gone from a lush green to well...utter ste!

I think I over did the "lawn greener" in the Autumn!

[EarlofDrift]

Is there any moss killer you can apply in Jan/Feb, mine has a bit of moss and I'd rather try and get rid now before Spring.