2021 Lawn thread

[deckster]

ScottJB said:

I'm right on the Devon/Cornwall border and seeded the front from scratch 4 days ago with lawnsmith classic. Daytime temps still good so hoping for decent germination, we'll see.

I wish you well and you're in the right place geographically. But daytime temps aren't all that relevant - soil temperature is key for germination and that'll be getting nice and cold every night from now on. You might get lucky but realistically, most of that isn't going to germinate.

[spikeyhead]

deckster said:

ScottJB said:

I'm right on the Devon/Cornwall border and seeded the front from scratch 4 days ago with lawnsmith classic. Daytime temps still good so hoping for decent germination, we'll see.

I wish you well and you're in the right place geographically. But daytime temps aren't all that relevant - soil temperature is key for germination and that'll be getting nice and cold every night from now on. You might get lucky but realistically, most of that isn't going to germinate.

The met office suggests that the minimum temp in Exeter over the next week is 12 centipedes, so you're in with a chance of germination.

[dhutch]

We're on the Wirral (north west but semi coastal) and I have just seed a 6x6ft area last night and covered it with clear polythene, so thats a bit of an experiment as to what happens.

The rest of the area we didnt quite finish seeding a fortnight ago has basically come up lovely, slightly more patchy than I would usually expect but I did also sow it in the dark with a top dressing that was slightly damp and picked up on the rusty roller I have a bit, so it might well not be the temps that causes the patches.

Forecast has a warm few days over the weekend, Watch this space!
https://www.yr.no/en/forecast/daily-table/2-669408...




Daniel

[Semmelweiss]

Is never the air temperature. It's the soil temperature which needs to be above 7°C to germinate. An air frost wil kill the seedlings if they do germinate unless you cover them with see through plastic sheet.

It's too late, wait until end March next year unless you have money to burn.

2 weeks late, sadly...

[Dr Mike Oxgreen]

Dare I say it? I think this year I might be winning the battle against worm casts on the lawn. In previous years I’d noticed that ferrous sulphate reduces the problem, but this autumn I’ve been spraying it more frequently (every fortnight), and so far there’s virtually none at all. I’m pretty sure by now it would normally be covered with little squiggly, muddy piles. Ferrous sulphate doesn’t harm worms; it simply acidifies the top layer of soil and persuades them not to come to the surface.

[ScottJB]

Appears I just about got away with it. Mass germination through days 6/7/8.

[Harry Flashman]

This year, the lawn has performed well with virtually zero care, and a pretty uneven mowing shedule. The biggest change was that we lost the oak tree that shaded so much of it, and I heavily thinned other shade-producing trees last winter. Increased light has had an enormous effect. It will still die back badly this winter as it always does, due to being laid on sand.

However, this sand has provided two benefits. Firstly, drainage is excellent. Secondly, the lawn doesn't really get going/need cutting until May. Both of these make it perfect for naturalising spring bulbs.

So I have been butchering the lawn and putting hundreds of early daffodil and crocus bulbs in in big, monocolour drifts for effect. New bulb planter is amazing. Push into ground, lever hole open, throw in bulb and soil from the top without bending down, remove and tread down. The speed at which I chucked crocus bulbs into the lawn today was awesome. Hopefully my tender, middle-aged back will thank me for this purpose. Some of teh bulbs will land upside down, but that doesn't seem to bother crocuses too much. I took a bit more care with the daffs.

https://www.finnishdesignshop.com/patio-garden-gar...

Slave labour was used for today's task of 200 crocus bulbs.

Edited by Harry Flashman on Thursday 28th October 19:50

[dhutch]

dhutch said:

We're on the Wirral (north west but semi coastal) and I have just seed a 6x6ft area last night and covered it with clear polythene, so thats a bit of an experiment as to what happens.

The rest of the area we didnt quite finish seeding a fortnight ago has basically come up lovely, slightly more patchy than I would usually expect but I did also sow it in the dark with a top dressing that was slightly damp and picked up on the rusty roller I have a bit, so it might well not be the temps that causes the patches.

Forecast has a warm few days over the weekend, Watch this space!l

Well, a fortnight later, its only gone and germinated! Photos taken yesterday when I removed the plastic. Not bad for mid-Oct seeding!




The seed that went down 26th Sept (not quite 5 weeks ago) is also looking really good bar one little patch.
Interestingly I re-seeded the thin patch when I seed the above patches but didnt cover it, and it basically hasn't geminated.

[dhutch]

Last cut of the year?



Basically looking very good considering.


This is what it looked like when we took it on three years ago.

[Gavarnie]

This is the way to do it. Just found this snap of my grandfather and his sister-in-law. Would have put it in the 1964 Lawn thread, except there isn't one.

[Autopilot]

Dr Mike Oxgreen said:

Dare I say it? I think this year I might be winning the battle against worm casts on the lawn. In previous years I’d noticed that ferrous sulphate reduces the problem, but this autumn I’ve been spraying it more frequently (every fortnight), and so far there’s virtually none at all. I’m pretty sure by now it would normally be covered with little squiggly, muddy piles. Ferrous sulphate doesn’t harm worms; it simply acidifies the top layer of soil and persuades them not to come to the surface.

I'd just come in here to ask a question but you've headed that one off, thank you! My garden was wasteland for years but is now a large patch of grass. I've never been that bothered having had artificial grass in a previous house, but having lovingly started this one from scratch, I am trying to take care of it as best I can. There is a shady part near some trees where the grass was ok during the summer but now is a little thread bare as we get in to autumn. Having had a closer look, there are a lot of worm casts which seems to be doing a fair amount of damage but looks like there is a way to help with this.

Baring in mind the lawn is quite new (May this year and overseeded a number of weeks ago and has grown nicely), is there a recommended lawn feed / weed killer to be used this time of year? As the lawn isn't being mowed, the weeds are starting to grow so wondered if there was a regime I could follow to help keep it in tip top condition. Thanks

[dhutch]

Gavarnie said:

This is the way to do it. Just found this snap of my grandfather and his sister-in-law. Would have put it in the 1964 Lawn thread, except there isn't one.

That is nice!

[Dr Mike Oxgreen]

Autopilot said:

Baring in mind the lawn is quite new (May this year and overseeded a number of weeks ago and has grown nicely), is there a recommended lawn feed / weed killer to be used this time of year?

Any fertiliser you put down at this time of year must be low nitrogen.

When you look at the details of a fertiliser product, you should always find three numbers that specify the percentage of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (always quoted in that order, and often referred to as “NPK”).

For an autumn/winter fertiliser you want the first number to be low, and the second two numbers to be higher. Nitrogen would encourage the grass to produce lots of lush leafy growth, which would be vulnerable to frost and fungus (like fusarium) at this time of year. Phosphorus is important because the roots of the grass go on growing after the top growth has stopped, and phosphorus will encourage good root development. Potassium will harden the grass and make it more resistant to the cold.

If I were buying autumn/winter fertiliser right now, I’d probably order something like ICL Sportsmaster Autumn 4-12-12, which is low nitrogen, and high-ish phosphorus and potassium. You could use it once now, then once again in early spring before you switch to a higher nitrogen feed for the rest of spring and summer next year.

I’m not sure I’d bother with weed killer now. Most weed killers need the weeds to be actively growing for it to work. I’d wait until spring.

[dhutch]

Here we are....

https://www.lawnsmith.co.uk/lawn-diary/november-la...

[Johnnytheboy]

I know pride is a sin but I'm very happy with my lawn in that sweet spot between the autumn feed kicking in, and the oak trees covering it in leaves...

Edit, better pic.

Edited by Johnnytheboy on Friday 5th November 09:50

[phope]

Hopefully did the last cut of the year yesterday - compared to earlier this summer (and the yellow/patchy grass next door), it's worked really well

Going to get some winter lawn feed on it and leave till spring



Better news is that the builders have agreed to lay some additional drainage and soakaway in my back garden at the same time they are doing the row of houses behind (now installed and temporarily backfilled), so they'll replace the turf there soon for me to start treating it in the same manner in the spring - that'll be for the thread next year!

[DonkeyApple]

Had the first frost overnight so put in what will hopefully be the last cut until Spring this morning and washed down all the mowers and tipped all the remaining petrol into the car.

[RichB]

Been busy the last two days, leaf clearing and mowing. I had several bits of kit on the go; the leaf blower, the Allett mower with the spring tine rake cartridge and finally the Hayter rotary to top off the grass. I'm really pleased with it for early November, just frustrating to know that for the next month clearing the leaves will be constant job! That'll teach me to buy a house on the edge of woodland!

[ChocolateFrog]

Final cut this evening.

Mostly just to hover up the couple of inches of leaf litter from next doors trees.

[FishAndChips]

Been so busy over the last 4-6 weeks that hadn't got round to putting the autumn lawn feed down. Too late now to put Scott's Autumn lawn builder? OK just reading back a few posts, this is 16-0-16 so high nitrogen and no good for now.