2023 Lawn Thread
Discussion
After some advice.
The right hand side of our lawn is laid on old veg/fruit plot levelled into the lawn. Freshly seeded 2 years ago with Lawnsmiths Staygreen.
The rest of our our lawn is likely 100yo, and on very thin soil with sandstone bedrock within 6-10inches of the surface. I have scarfied top dressed and reseeded it heavily, and hollow tined it heavily twice, but is still doesn't look as a good.
If feed the lawn it all goes green together, but the old bit never grows as fast or as well, suffers in summer, etc. and as per the photos goes yellow between feeds.
What can I do, given I don't really want to feed it four times a year every year, due to the time, cost, poor green credentials.
A) Top dress more heavily to bulk up the soil. With what?
B) Suck it up and hope with time the new bit becomes less fertile!
C) Rip the whole old section up and relay in the hope that helps?
The right hand side of our lawn is laid on old veg/fruit plot levelled into the lawn. Freshly seeded 2 years ago with Lawnsmiths Staygreen.
The rest of our our lawn is likely 100yo, and on very thin soil with sandstone bedrock within 6-10inches of the surface. I have scarfied top dressed and reseeded it heavily, and hollow tined it heavily twice, but is still doesn't look as a good.
If feed the lawn it all goes green together, but the old bit never grows as fast or as well, suffers in summer, etc. and as per the photos goes yellow between feeds.
What can I do, given I don't really want to feed it four times a year every year, due to the time, cost, poor green credentials.
A) Top dress more heavily to bulk up the soil. With what?
B) Suck it up and hope with time the new bit becomes less fertile!
C) Rip the whole old section up and relay in the hope that helps?
Yeah, soluble iron is reasonably easy to get hold of and I think basically the same anywhere you get it from.
As per the Lawnsmiths guides, mix it up in a bucket and then pour into the sprayer leaving the last dregs behind, to avoid getting a blocked spray nozzle all the time.
Else use lawn sand, which is Iron+Sand and gooes on with a granular spreader.
If you have a petrol scarifier, then most seem to recommend scarification BEFORE applying the iron, get the bulk of it out the way, and treat what is left. Rather than treating what you are about to remove anyway. Moss doesnt have any roots, so you are not trying to get the chemical down into the roots, its literally a case of surface contact, so the more you can get out the way before spraying the better.
Its still a little early for scarifing I would say, certainly too early for overseeding which you will want to do straight after if its as bad as you suggest, so you have a few weeks to get everything together.
As per the Lawnsmiths guides, mix it up in a bucket and then pour into the sprayer leaving the last dregs behind, to avoid getting a blocked spray nozzle all the time.
Else use lawn sand, which is Iron+Sand and gooes on with a granular spreader.
If you have a petrol scarifier, then most seem to recommend scarification BEFORE applying the iron, get the bulk of it out the way, and treat what is left. Rather than treating what you are about to remove anyway. Moss doesnt have any roots, so you are not trying to get the chemical down into the roots, its literally a case of surface contact, so the more you can get out the way before spraying the better.
Its still a little early for scarifing I would say, certainly too early for overseeding which you will want to do straight after if its as bad as you suggest, so you have a few weeks to get everything together.
You have to avoid spraying the iron on fences and patios, but we've not noticed the dogs transfering it in to the house.
We have 500sqm and just hire an aerator when we want one, I prefer the Camon (red) cam type to the Bannerman (green) rotary type.
Got a little Bosch ALR900 lawn rake, which will do odd bits off moss fine and picks up the pine needles in spring, but it's not the same as a petrol scarifier if you want to take out thick thatch and or prepair for a heavy overseeding.
We have 500sqm and just hire an aerator when we want one, I prefer the Camon (red) cam type to the Bannerman (green) rotary type.
Got a little Bosch ALR900 lawn rake, which will do odd bits off moss fine and picks up the pine needles in spring, but it's not the same as a petrol scarifier if you want to take out thick thatch and or prepair for a heavy overseeding.
westberks said:
justin220 said:
I quite enjoyed the challenge of the grass last year and keen to get it looking good again this year. Won't be competing with much on here but it's a good way to spend a few days here and there.
Would anyone mind posting a very high level plan for the next few months.. Scarify, feed, top soil etc? Start late march early April?
Just so I can get off to a good start. Thanks
the Lawnsmith website is pretty helpful and includes a diary; obviously heavily linked to their products but very informative for a novice (like me).Would anyone mind posting a very high level plan for the next few months.. Scarify, feed, top soil etc? Start late march early April?
Just so I can get off to a good start. Thanks
There products are also good quality and priced fairly, imo.
jimmyjimjim said:
Lawn work starts off a little differently here in Colorado.
Here, I've broken down the snow+ice berm in the shaded area of the lawn; it was about a metre onto the grass and 30cm high. Spread it out so that it should melt - it should be gone by next week, then the grass gets hit with Mesotrione to hopefully kill the crabgrass before it emerges. After that, mowing, dethatching, feeding and patching.
It'll still look crap compared to the most neglected lawn in the UK - very little grows here naturally without a lot of help.
I disturbed a hibernating mouse who'd tunneled into the berm; he was very sluggish when he walked off after I'd destroyed his nest.
Very interesting, I don't know much about your weather, cold and dry much of they year? What involved in making it grow, other than removing the snow and early as possible?Here, I've broken down the snow+ice berm in the shaded area of the lawn; it was about a metre onto the grass and 30cm high. Spread it out so that it should melt - it should be gone by next week, then the grass gets hit with Mesotrione to hopefully kill the crabgrass before it emerges. After that, mowing, dethatching, feeding and patching.
It'll still look crap compared to the most neglected lawn in the UK - very little grows here naturally without a lot of help.
I disturbed a hibernating mouse who'd tunneled into the berm; he was very sluggish when he walked off after I'd destroyed his nest.
I've have great success with a cheap second hand Scott's Evergreen rotary spreader, little bit of trial and error for the application rate obviously but it appears to go on fairly evenly even with my slightly mixed ability to push it in a straight line and even distance from the next run.
I measure out the right amount of whatever I'm spreading, plus a bit extra I aim to leave in the machine, the a mid-strength rate so if I get a bit over it doesn't burn. Set the knob at about what is needed for a half application, and find this typically allows me to put to passes on, and have a bit left to to touch up some bits I want a slightly higher dose, and tip back the extra bit that's hard to get out of the machine or just use it up. The pass width is fairly wide, and the distribution is a sort of bell-curve so the overlap is soft edged and isn't so critical.
At which point I don't see why the hand held rotarys shouldn't be ok too. The LawnSmith guy rates then, and sells want I'm sure is a good one. Obviously you get the product on your shoes, so not ideal for lawn sand unless you have wellies!
I got no dice with the Scots drop spreader I inherited from the previous owners, on a large ish (400sqm) family lawn (mixed grasses) it's not possible to see where you have been accurately enough, even with two passes you could clearly see the missed and overlapped sections. Obviously it's very digital, it applies full dose upto the edge of the hopper, then nothing, so the hard edge is very noticeable. The pass width is also much narrower, so it takes ages too. Maybe suitable for a smaller or more perfectly neat lawn, or if you have a lot of narrow paths etc.
I measure out the right amount of whatever I'm spreading, plus a bit extra I aim to leave in the machine, the a mid-strength rate so if I get a bit over it doesn't burn. Set the knob at about what is needed for a half application, and find this typically allows me to put to passes on, and have a bit left to to touch up some bits I want a slightly higher dose, and tip back the extra bit that's hard to get out of the machine or just use it up. The pass width is fairly wide, and the distribution is a sort of bell-curve so the overlap is soft edged and isn't so critical.
At which point I don't see why the hand held rotarys shouldn't be ok too. The LawnSmith guy rates then, and sells want I'm sure is a good one. Obviously you get the product on your shoes, so not ideal for lawn sand unless you have wellies!
I got no dice with the Scots drop spreader I inherited from the previous owners, on a large ish (400sqm) family lawn (mixed grasses) it's not possible to see where you have been accurately enough, even with two passes you could clearly see the missed and overlapped sections. Obviously it's very digital, it applies full dose upto the edge of the hopper, then nothing, so the hard edge is very noticeable. The pass width is also much narrower, so it takes ages too. Maybe suitable for a smaller or more perfectly neat lawn, or if you have a lot of narrow paths etc.
renmure said:
I'm not keen on paying folk to do stuff I should probably be able to do myself but I really expect a mountain of moss and if the man-hours for doing it are right I'm not sure about the time. I think I'll pay to have the front done then get an idea from that about whether I might tackle the back. I believe keeping on top of it all over the years will involve a bit more regular scarifying and feeding so I might treat the front as a learning experience.
Hard to see how big it is, but it's certainly true that driving the machine round it the easy bit. You can hire one easily enough, and it's not too hard to get your head round what depth to do it, but if you have a lot of moss it's a fair game to rake it all up and barrow it to a compost heap. More so if you want to take it off site. A lot of the pros use a leaf blower to take wrecking yourself raking!I've done our 400sqm myself in a day, but it's half as mossy and you describe.
Equally I don't know where in the world you are, but £375 per man day is bloody good going for anyone, especially if one of them is a lad manning a barrow.
BigRickus said:
Missed a crucial step last autumn and didn’t winter fertilise. Lawn a bit mossy, bit ‘limp’ and yellow etc at the moment.
Will be starting to think about spring maintenance in a month or sos time but is there any product I can get on the lawn to do the next 4-6 weeks, toughen it and get it ready for a light scarify and over seed in late April.
Want sure if a garden center combined weed/feed/moss killer type thing would be worth a go.
Based just outside west London.
Many thanks!
Will be interested what others say as I'm in the same boat, but I would favour a spring 'fertiliser only' product at the moment, certainly I think the weed element will do little at this time of year certainly with the cold wave, and it's a bit early to be moss killing. Will be starting to think about spring maintenance in a month or sos time but is there any product I can get on the lawn to do the next 4-6 weeks, toughen it and get it ready for a light scarify and over seed in late April.
Want sure if a garden center combined weed/feed/moss killer type thing would be worth a go.
Based just outside west London.
Many thanks!
That said, if it's the easiest thing to do, and it's a small enough lawn that cost isn't and issue, a half or 30% dose application of an all in one spring+summer will do little harm and likely encourage a a bit more early growth.
RichB said:
dhutch said:
RichB said:
AndyC_123 said:
Iron sulphate before or after scarifying?
If you're using it to help reduce moss then before. Unlike other weeds, moss has no roots, your just killing the foliage which comes in contact with the iron. Mechanical scarifiers will rake the whole whole lawn with enough power to fetch out most moss dead or alive, unlike spot raking by hand. At which point there seems to me to be no advantage to kill the moss you are going to remove anyway. Better to remove the bulk of what you can, get it out of the way, and then treat what is left and and what can't easily be raked out, to stop it spreading back.
We have two dogs, never had any issues with rusty paw prints.
I keep them off while actually applying it, usually applied on a dry day (so I don't get wet mainly) and we have a bit of note very smart paved patio between the grass and the back door.
But yes, i think they are just being extremely cautious.
I keep them off while actually applying it, usually applied on a dry day (so I don't get wet mainly) and we have a bit of note very smart paved patio between the grass and the back door.
But yes, i think they are just being extremely cautious.
So clover can be a good thing for nitrogen, there are small leaf varieties I believe too.
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
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
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