2021 Lawn thread
Discussion
We seem to have a huge number of crane flies in the garden which I assume means that there are leather jacket larvae in the lawn.. I have ordered some Nemasys leather jacket killer.. will that actually kill them off, or is there anything else I can use to stop them trashing the lawn.?
We've been using the Leather Jacket killer nematodes for a few years now and they do work. Hasn't gotten rid of them completely but definitely reduced the amount significantly and we now have very little visual damage to the lawns.
You do have to keep up the treatment though, spring and autumn treatments every year or they will come back. We decided not to apply them one year and the lawn looked awful again. Think you need double the dose in the spring application and make sure you keep the lawn moist for a couple of weeks after application.
You do have to keep up the treatment though, spring and autumn treatments every year or they will come back. We decided not to apply them one year and the lawn looked awful again. Think you need double the dose in the spring application and make sure you keep the lawn moist for a couple of weeks after application.
Superhoop said:
We seem to have a huge number of crane flies in the garden which I assume means that there are leather jacket larvae in the lawn.. I have ordered some Nemasys leather jacket killer.. will that actually kill them off, or is there anything else I can use to stop them trashing the lawn.?
Should work fine keep following the instructions Humpy D said:
Does anyone use those aerator sandals? Any good?
I've used a fork before but find it hard work and the sandals look a lot easier (apart from looking like Neil Armstrong walking on the moon!).
They're a pain in the behind to use. I've got a Tudor one, which works very well... one not a million miles for you if you can be bothered. I've used a fork before but find it hard work and the sandals look a lot easier (apart from looking like Neil Armstrong walking on the moon!).
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/274954438166
I'm not convinced that the sandles are nearly as effective as properly using a fork.
A fork can not only be driven in much deeper, it can be levered back and fore to gently lift and open the soil structure. I don't bother with my current garden, it's quite rustic and too big to sensibly do by hand, but I had good results before.
A fork can not only be driven in much deeper, it can be levered back and fore to gently lift and open the soil structure. I don't bother with my current garden, it's quite rustic and too big to sensibly do by hand, but I had good results before.
The sandals are much, much less hard work than sticking a fork in and wiggling. In fact I disagree that the sandals are hard work; they’re just slightly slow going (but not as slow as forking).
They are also much less hard work than a roller spiker when the ground is hard. It’s hard to get the roller spiker to penetrate hard ground properly, whereas with the sandals you’ve got your whole weight bearing down. But if the ground is moderately soft then the roller spiker is by far the quickest method.
Sticking a fork in and wiggling gives the best aeration with some decompaction, although it can result in a bumpy surface because you are lifting the soil slightly in little patches. And it’s the slowest and hardest work of all methods. It’s too much work to do it on a medium to large lawn.
So I use sandals to spike whenever I’ve left it too long and the ground has gone hard, but most of the time I spike using a roller.
I bought a spring-loaded hollow tine aerator once. One of the springs broke literally within five minutes. And it was almost impossible to penetrate hard ground.
For hollow tining, the best thing to do is hire a proper petrol-powered machine once a year, although I didn’t bother this year and the lawn’s recovered great from scarifying and overseeding.
They are also much less hard work than a roller spiker when the ground is hard. It’s hard to get the roller spiker to penetrate hard ground properly, whereas with the sandals you’ve got your whole weight bearing down. But if the ground is moderately soft then the roller spiker is by far the quickest method.
Sticking a fork in and wiggling gives the best aeration with some decompaction, although it can result in a bumpy surface because you are lifting the soil slightly in little patches. And it’s the slowest and hardest work of all methods. It’s too much work to do it on a medium to large lawn.
So I use sandals to spike whenever I’ve left it too long and the ground has gone hard, but most of the time I spike using a roller.
I bought a spring-loaded hollow tine aerator once. One of the springs broke literally within five minutes. And it was almost impossible to penetrate hard ground.
For hollow tining, the best thing to do is hire a proper petrol-powered machine once a year, although I didn’t bother this year and the lawn’s recovered great from scarifying and overseeding.
I haven't got round to hiring a hollow tine as yet. But I did get some fertiliser from Lawnsmith, which i've used previously.
The lawn is now nearly 6 months old. It looks far better from a distance as you can't see the clover, docks, thistles, holes that rabbits have been digging up, general undulation of the ground. Hopefully overseeding over the years will help these issues. It was never going to be a pristine lawn, but somewhere for the children to run about.
Long term I think I would like a robot mower, as cutting and strimming at least once a week, combined with the front lawn and hedges, takes a long time with my 16 inch wide Honda push along.
Anyway, the fertiliser seems to have made it look healthier after just one week. For reference is was this fertiliser https://www.lawnsmith.co.uk/autumn-lawn-feed?pv=4
The lawn is now nearly 6 months old. It looks far better from a distance as you can't see the clover, docks, thistles, holes that rabbits have been digging up, general undulation of the ground. Hopefully overseeding over the years will help these issues. It was never going to be a pristine lawn, but somewhere for the children to run about.
Long term I think I would like a robot mower, as cutting and strimming at least once a week, combined with the front lawn and hedges, takes a long time with my 16 inch wide Honda push along.
Anyway, the fertiliser seems to have made it look healthier after just one week. For reference is was this fertiliser https://www.lawnsmith.co.uk/autumn-lawn-feed?pv=4
Over the last few months we seem to have had a massive outbreak of dandelions! I sprayed the whole lawn with weedol early summer but they seem to have come back with a vengeance! I could see them die off before but I never dug them out.
Is it worth spraying again, or digging out, or leave until next year now? Anything else I can do?
Is it worth spraying again, or digging out, or leave until next year now? Anything else I can do?
Mr Roper said:
100 tons of top soil later and we now have our finished base. All seeded ready for a drop of rain later.
It’s starting to green. 
Also some nice new gravel. And a weekend with my daughter putting some white on the house. Still a lot to do but for this year we’re nearly done. Lots more groundwork’s for next year but it’s so good to have our house back and looking good after the all the flood damage.
joestifff said:
The lawn is now nearly 6 months old. It looks far better from a distance....
Long term I think I would like a robot mower, as cutting and strimming at least once a week, combined with the front lawn and hedges, takes a long time with my 16 inch wide Honda push along.
Looks lovely to me! I would keep photographing from a distance if I where you...Long term I think I would like a robot mower, as cutting and strimming at least once a week, combined with the front lawn and hedges, takes a long time with my 16 inch wide Honda push along.
...how large is the lawn. A 16" seems small,. maybe an 18 mower would do better, that's what I use for ours at around 20x20m, else even a 21" and keep the 16 for mowing around obsticals. Or robot it.
Slightly late in the year maybe, but we got some lawn seed down on this area over the weekend. We're semi coastal here in the northwest (Wirral) so hopefully we'll get germination.
Main lawn is slowly greening up after scarification at the beginning of the month, now I have another bag and it's a little damper I might apply a little more overseed but hopefully what went down a fortnight ago will also be picking up soon.
I'm told in spring we no longer need my soil bunker, which is fair enough, as we tidy up the garden and finish the bulk of the main lawn changes .
Main lawn is slowly greening up after scarification at the beginning of the month, now I have another bag and it's a little damper I might apply a little more overseed but hopefully what went down a fortnight ago will also be picking up soon.
I'm told in spring we no longer need my soil bunker, which is fair enough, as we tidy up the garden and finish the bulk of the main lawn changes .
dhutch said:
Looks lovely to me! I would keep photographing from a distance if I where you...
...how large is the lawn. A 16" seems small,. maybe an 18 mower would do better, that's what I use for ours at around 20x20m, else even a 21" and keep the 16 for mowing around obsticals. Or robot it.
Looks perfectly designed for a robotic mower! ...how large is the lawn. A 16" seems small,. maybe an 18 mower would do better, that's what I use for ours at around 20x20m, else even a 21" and keep the 16 for mowing around obsticals. Or robot it.
Or are they banned from the lawn thread: stripes only?
Robomowers give an almost carpet-like feel to lawns. More time to enjoy the space
After over-seeding a week ago, seedlings are now shooting up which is great. However, this are of lawn is right under a stonking great tree which is now dropping leaves all over this lawn.
So quick question:
What the lesser of the two evils? Walking on the grass to blow the leaves off with a leaf blower, or leave the leaves on the grass covering the new seedlings?
I'm aware that walking on them could damage them, but equally the leaves will obstruct sunlight and compact over time, especially after rain.
So quick question:
What the lesser of the two evils? Walking on the grass to blow the leaves off with a leaf blower, or leave the leaves on the grass covering the new seedlings?
I'm aware that walking on them could damage them, but equally the leaves will obstruct sunlight and compact over time, especially after rain.
dhutch said:
joestifff said:
The lawn is now nearly 6 months old. It looks far better from a distance....
Long term I think I would like a robot mower, as cutting and strimming at least once a week, combined with the front lawn and hedges, takes a long time with my 16 inch wide Honda push along.
Looks lovely to me! I would keep photographing from a distance if I where you...Long term I think I would like a robot mower, as cutting and strimming at least once a week, combined with the front lawn and hedges, takes a long time with my 16 inch wide Honda push along.
...how large is the lawn. A 16" seems small,. maybe an 18 mower would do better, that's what I use for ours at around 20x20m, else even a 21" and keep the 16 for mowing around obsticals. Or robot it.
This lawn is much bigger, nearly 18m wide and 30m at its longest.
Long-term I want to go down the robot route. Once I get the shed built and footpath outside of it, I will be looking into prices, should save me an hour a week, and hopefully I'll only need to strim and cut the front lawns.
Dr Murdoch said:
After over-seeding a week ago, seedlings are now shooting up which is great. However, this are of lawn is right under a stonking great tree which is now dropping leaves all over this lawn.
So quick question:
What the lesser of the two evils? Walking on the grass to blow the leaves off with a leaf blower, or leave the leaves on the grass covering the new seedlings?
I'm aware that walking on them could damage them, but equally the leaves will obstruct sunlight and compact over time, especially after rain.
I expect better to remove them if you have a blower. So quick question:
What the lesser of the two evils? Walking on the grass to blow the leaves off with a leaf blower, or leave the leaves on the grass covering the new seedlings?
I'm aware that walking on them could damage them, but equally the leaves will obstruct sunlight and compact over time, especially after rain.
Really pleased with outcome of recent scarification and reseeding - for me, it's hard to believe the change in colour and growth in just a matter of weeks.
Hard work of scarification, reseeding and top-dressing worst affected areas was on the 28th August - one month later, the front lawn is now super green, lush and thick. Too wet at the moment to cut again, but perhaps at the end of the week.
Hard work of scarification, reseeding and top-dressing worst affected areas was on the 28th August - one month later, the front lawn is now super green, lush and thick. Too wet at the moment to cut again, but perhaps at the end of the week.
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