2023 Lawn Thread

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McGee_22 said:

I do understand that but unchecked in a few years you will have almost bare soil and only dandelions. For that reason I have the main central part of the lawn weedkilled and mosskilled and certain other areas only mosskilled and not weedkilled - wild flowers, weeds and longer grass make it visually more interesting as well as a haven for more insects.

I am far from an expert, but I believe there is a school of though that over compaction a contributory cause of dandelions.

But yes, they are also very effective at spreading I am sure!

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RichB said:

When I look at my garden there are always numerous plants flowering at the same time and earlier than dandylions. I am sure this nonsense about them being the first flower for bees is just part of this rewilding thing that some people are on at the moment. The bees do just fine in our garden without dandylions.

Strokes for folks.

I certainly wouldn't condone spraying verges, or a playing field etc with chemicals to reduce them.

Or routinely spraying or applying whole-lawn weed control for domestic lawns.

Not just because the world is better with dandelions, clover and daisies, but also because the world is better without the chemicals.

However I think if a small number of people what to keep their lawn without dandelions, that's ok too. Even if it includes a very small amount of specific plant by plant broadleaf weed killer application.

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I believe it's suggested they can aid decompaction of soil. But not sure what the original poster is referring to.

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Anyone ever used iron on a roof!?

(Yes I know the staining would be awful, but it's tempting none the less!)

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Yeah I usually just careful scrape off with the back of a ground rake.

Might try a dose of Patio Magic on the worst offending side this spring maybe.

I actually don't mind some moss, softens the look and fits with the environment, but you can have two much of a good thing too!

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Dr Mike Oxgreen said:

I use the “quality hard-wearing” seed from The Grass Seed Store. They do several lawn mixes, including a finer one if you want.

I've been on Lawnsmiths 'Staygreen' drought tolerant mix as we're on sandstone bedrock and surrounded by mature pines.
The grass stores drought mix contains 50% Kentucky Bluegrass. I don't know it that's a good thing or not!

I also noticed they do a cottage mix with small leaf clover. But presumably you can get small leaf clover and apply that without grass seed.

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[quote=dhutch
But any broadleaf 'Lawn' weedkiller should remove it.

There are basically two brands, you can alternate and either apply to the whole lawn, or spray selectively.

https://www.lawnsmith.co.uk/lawn-weed-killer
[/quote] Yes.

That one of the two available brands.

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Failed to get the lawn sand on over the weekend, so applied Monday night.

To day it rained.

Hard to know if it will have done anything for the moss, if I should reapply. I guess leave it a wee and see?

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AyBee said:

I use the MiracleGro/Scots one, but only really because I've seen a few pros on Youtube using them. Worth a look on ebay/Facebook - picked mine up for £15 and it looked virtually new.

I've got the same one, little green hopper rotary thing, which I also got for about a £10 second hand almost unused.

However I absolutely wouldn't buy one new for £55 because I think that's well over priced. It's ok, works ok with seed or granules, but the hopper is flat bottomed so it's awful at using the last 30%, flimsy and unstable if putting on denser fertiliser, and the sliding trap door didn't work well with the lawn sand earlier this week.

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M1AGM said:

If you did roll it you compact the soil which makes the grass struggle, and could cause drainage problems and encourage moss. When I’ve had the situation you are in I scalped the lawn with a mower then used a grit sand and topsoil mix to level everything out with a landscaping rake, then overseeded.

Yeah, you don't roll it to get it level. You add top dressing (soil) to the low points to bring it level. Having lowered any high spots the week before.

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Brush might be easier.

Certainly if rolling it, don't use anything heavier than a mower would be imo.

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Yeah, I've fitted the second mulch blade to our Honda HRX roller mower. Chops the grass twice with each pass. I don't have the mulch deflector but just stick something in the chute.

As said, if I'm taking too much off (sorry) I'll collect, also believe certainly times of year better than others, but I do often mulch. We're on sand so the lawn is very hungry.

Most of what goes on the compost heap will also likely return as top dressing, but I've not got that far yet!

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snotrag said:

McGee_22 said:

Anyone changed the direction of their mowing recently? I have just done my first mow of the year and decided to change the angle of the stripes through the central area of the lawn but still have stripes parallel to the edge of the property. I will try and post up a pic.

I alternate each time, once a week in Summer - up/down, left/right, and then 45 degrees, on the understanding that doing this stops you getting ruts/grooves developing over time.

I always find the 45 degree stripes much more aesthetically pleasing!

Yeah, I change it up through out the year.

One way is easier, up and down the long side, so I do this is in a rush, but a shallow 25-35deg diagonal is very manageable, and then I a pass at 90 from time to time.

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Very nice!

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Did a bit myself.

Lawn sand on a week ago, don't have access to a backpack sprayer currently.

Cut a notch lower today, still one higher than I often go.

Light pass over with the scarifier. Then overseed the thin area that's only 18month old and under trees and a hedge.

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RichB said:

cnprior said:

Any recommendations on scarifier machines?
Budget 1-200£
No brand affiliation, seen a £69 at screfix or bluemars on amazon.......interested in what others are using.....

How big is your lawn?

Also, scarifier or electric lawn rake.

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RichB said:

I wonder if a cordless, battery powered scarifier/lawn rake would be available within budget?

Why bother? It will get used once, maybe twice a year. Unless it takes batteries you already have as part of a significant system, the convenience of no cord is surely not worth the cost of battery outlay and degradation.

I've the used it, but for £69 the one linked might well be ideal. 1400w should be a enough grunt to do a reasonable rake with the fixed blades, worse case, stick the spring tines in and do a very heavy lawn rake.

You might have to cut the grass shorter than you might to do a really hard pass, to reduce the drag etc, but again for a intermittent or one off thing, go for it.

Our lawn is much better than it was, no significant thatch, and it doesn't need a mega hard scarify.

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Finished raking up after the light scarification and re-mowed to tidy up and add some strips for me to look at this week.

Must make a collection box for the thing, I hate raking!

Added a soil-seed mix to the various dog wee patches and other rougher area but no whole lawn overseed for me this spring.

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granville997 said:

My efforts

Cut

Scalp

Scarify

Overseed and top dress

Looks good, plenty of work done there.
What do you do for top dressing?

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granville997 said:

Top dressing
Field compost number 4 1300lt over 160sm
Use code DHLE

Thanks.

Always interesting to know what, and how thick people are putting it on.