Dead grass
Anyone have some suggestions on how to bring it back to life?
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From: God's promised land
Depends what you mean by "dead". If it's brown from the recent weather, then dousing it with water each day for a week or so should do the trick.
If it's got to the point of the ground going bare, then there are only really two options - buying turf, or one of the "lawn repair" kits from a garden centre/diy shop.
At the end of the day though, if you don't have enough water and/or light to support grass growth, you'll be flogging a dead horse trying to make it grow. A top condition lawn needs watering on a regular basis, as well as occasional summer feeding, as well as an autumn low-nitrogen feed, as well as treating with lawn sand, as well as brushing etc etc. There's more to it than meets the eye!
If it's got to the point of the ground going bare, then there are only really two options - buying turf, or one of the "lawn repair" kits from a garden centre/diy shop.
At the end of the day though, if you don't have enough water and/or light to support grass growth, you'll be flogging a dead horse trying to make it grow. A top condition lawn needs watering on a regular basis, as well as occasional summer feeding, as well as an autumn low-nitrogen feed, as well as treating with lawn sand, as well as brushing etc etc. There's more to it than meets the eye!
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From: Essexville
'ere.....
http://www.acsedu.co.uk/gardnews/article2.asp
BB
ps: got to do the same myself, kids paddling pool and slide has fooked it up big-style!!!
http://www.acsedu.co.uk/gardnews/article2.asp
BB
ps: got to do the same myself, kids paddling pool and slide has fooked it up big-style!!!
My lawn has patches of "dead grass" too, but it turns out it`s nothing to do with the weather. It`s all down to Ants nests under the lawn. On looking closly at the patches I noticed thousands of the bloody things emerging from the grass where the patches are.
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Thanks for the replies.
Nope i dont have a dog so it cant be that which is causing it.
The grass is just brown, well sort of straw colour. I'll water it for the next few weeks and hopefully get it green again
Nope i dont have a dog so it cant be that which is causing it.
The grass is just brown, well sort of straw colour. I'll water it for the next few weeks and hopefully get it green again
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From: Between the Fens and the Wolds.
You don't live next door to another Scooby netter on here do you ??? Hmmmmm think there was a thread not so long ago titled, "how can I kill my neighbour's grass " .....Mentioning no names, looking in no particular direction.
On the dog theme, mine is male and we have had to fence off the lawn he was killing in stages.
Is it a lawn reachable by passing daogs ?
On the dog theme, mine is male and we have had to fence off the lawn he was killing in stages.
Is it a lawn reachable by passing daogs ?
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i've dug the whole lot thro twice, raked it level (ish, still more like Flanders than Wimbledon), packed it down by stamping along a plank laid on it (v.boring). I know i need to fertilise - immediately beforehand I presume - and then I've been told either to lay the turf overlapping and cut it to fit, or to overlap it slightly and force the edges down with a board, or to just lay them like carpet and seed in between.Then water it a lot every day and don't walk on it for 2 weeks. any thoughts very much appreciated.
Actually - how much stone can there be in the earth. The whole garden is full of small stones and bits of pot and best of all endless bone fragments. I've tried to rake a lot out and bury it but there's still a fair bit on the surface and i don't know if it'll stop the turf from taking?
Actually - how much stone can there be in the earth. The whole garden is full of small stones and bits of pot and best of all endless bone fragments. I've tried to rake a lot out and bury it but there's still a fair bit on the surface and i don't know if it'll stop the turf from taking?
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had the same problem with my front lawn - sorted out by a chap from the local branch of "green thumbs" (see my post last month).
Has totally transformed it from a ropey lawn full of weeds and dead patches to a lush green lawn.
Give them a call (I'm sure they must have a website somewhere)
Obviously nothing to do with this company, just v.impressed with their chemicals!
Neil
Has totally transformed it from a ropey lawn full of weeds and dead patches to a lush green lawn.
Give them a call (I'm sure they must have a website somewhere)
Obviously nothing to do with this company, just v.impressed with their chemicals!
Neil
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From: God's promised land
Right, here goes!
Preparation is the key. You'll get dry patches in your grass from large blocks of rubble, bricks and so on which are less than 18 inches from the surface. Small stones are ok, they aid draining, but if you're laying on top of a builder's rubbish site, it will be worth taking even more time to get rid of all the bits greater than 1/4 of a brick size, preferably smaller still.
Getting the surface flat is also worth the effort. It's 100 times easier to do when you've got a patch of topsoil than a laid lawn. If you're able to leave it for a week or two (not a bad idea in this weather if you haven't got the turfs ordered) and allow it to settle, then have another go. When i did mine, i used a combination of topsoil, grit and mushroom compost. It's an excellent combination, but there is a small chance you'll get one or two mushrooms coming through if the lawn hasn't been cut for a while.
Buying the best turf you can afford is also key. Hard wearing turf will include rye grass, which you either like or you don't. Personally i think it looks untidy too quickly, but it can be run ragged without much ill-effect by children if that's a factor. Quality turf will also be pre-fertilised, have nylon mesh embedded to keep it from falling apart, and will have been grown and cut under good growing conditions. Like all things, you get what you pay for.
Laying the turf - i've only ever used the slightly overlapping and treading down hard method. Turf will shrink slightly after it's laid, so cutting to size will just result in a patchwork effect if you're not careful, and seeding the gaps will almost certainly result in different grass than the turfs. If you're fussy like me, i would alsways notice that! Use a board to stand on while laying - you don't want to tread on it at all for as long as possible, minimum two weeks.
Once laid, the key is watering. Don't be shy. The better the root growth at this stage is, the better your lawn will be. Insufficient water will result in shallow roots, and the grass will be susceptible to drought, so make sure you soak it right through. Having said that, don't wait till you have puddles forming - as if you have fertiliser in the turf, it will be washed out before it can have any benefit.
Lawn care. If your turf hasn't got fertiliser, you can treat it with a weak solution after a couple of weeks, but be careful, as you can over-feed new grass quite easily and stunt its growth, or even kill it. Don't cut the grass for at least two weeks, and then use a high length on the mower, to allow a mice mulch level to form at the soil surface. Always collect the cuttings. Don't cut it when it's wet, and don't cut it in midday heat. After about six months, or preferably the following spring, you can treat it as an established lawn, and feed it monthly with Top Lawn or similar, and with Lawn Sand in the spring. Weeds are best dealt with by pulling them up by hand i'm afraid, no weedkiller for lawns i've ever used has ever done anything other than an adequate temporary job. But if you don't have the time or inclination to get down and root the weeds out, weedkiller is a decent alternative to doing nothing at all.
Can't think of anything else at the moment, but that should get you started. What you need to realise is that a quality lawn needs maintenance, meaning regular cutting and watering above all else. Let me know if there's anything further i can help with.
Preparation is the key. You'll get dry patches in your grass from large blocks of rubble, bricks and so on which are less than 18 inches from the surface. Small stones are ok, they aid draining, but if you're laying on top of a builder's rubbish site, it will be worth taking even more time to get rid of all the bits greater than 1/4 of a brick size, preferably smaller still.
Getting the surface flat is also worth the effort. It's 100 times easier to do when you've got a patch of topsoil than a laid lawn. If you're able to leave it for a week or two (not a bad idea in this weather if you haven't got the turfs ordered) and allow it to settle, then have another go. When i did mine, i used a combination of topsoil, grit and mushroom compost. It's an excellent combination, but there is a small chance you'll get one or two mushrooms coming through if the lawn hasn't been cut for a while.
Buying the best turf you can afford is also key. Hard wearing turf will include rye grass, which you either like or you don't. Personally i think it looks untidy too quickly, but it can be run ragged without much ill-effect by children if that's a factor. Quality turf will also be pre-fertilised, have nylon mesh embedded to keep it from falling apart, and will have been grown and cut under good growing conditions. Like all things, you get what you pay for.
Laying the turf - i've only ever used the slightly overlapping and treading down hard method. Turf will shrink slightly after it's laid, so cutting to size will just result in a patchwork effect if you're not careful, and seeding the gaps will almost certainly result in different grass than the turfs. If you're fussy like me, i would alsways notice that! Use a board to stand on while laying - you don't want to tread on it at all for as long as possible, minimum two weeks.
Once laid, the key is watering. Don't be shy. The better the root growth at this stage is, the better your lawn will be. Insufficient water will result in shallow roots, and the grass will be susceptible to drought, so make sure you soak it right through. Having said that, don't wait till you have puddles forming - as if you have fertiliser in the turf, it will be washed out before it can have any benefit.
Lawn care. If your turf hasn't got fertiliser, you can treat it with a weak solution after a couple of weeks, but be careful, as you can over-feed new grass quite easily and stunt its growth, or even kill it. Don't cut the grass for at least two weeks, and then use a high length on the mower, to allow a mice mulch level to form at the soil surface. Always collect the cuttings. Don't cut it when it's wet, and don't cut it in midday heat. After about six months, or preferably the following spring, you can treat it as an established lawn, and feed it monthly with Top Lawn or similar, and with Lawn Sand in the spring. Weeds are best dealt with by pulling them up by hand i'm afraid, no weedkiller for lawns i've ever used has ever done anything other than an adequate temporary job. But if you don't have the time or inclination to get down and root the weeds out, weedkiller is a decent alternative to doing nothing at all.
Can't think of anything else at the moment, but that should get you started. What you need to realise is that a quality lawn needs maintenance, meaning regular cutting and watering above all else. Let me know if there's anything further i can help with.
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From: God's promised land
Nasty one, clover, as it spreads a long way and the stems are very thin, therefore easy to break before you've got the root out, if you're trying to yank them out by hand.
I'm not aware of any lawn weedkiller which specifically targets clover, but any of them will still stop it, at least temporarily. The trick with weedkillers is to remember to follow up with a second treatment, even if all the weeds appear to be dead/dying. It makes a difference.
Of course, the best remedy is to coax them out as and when they appear. I use a teaspoon from the kitchen to break the root, then pull the weed out. Time consuming, but the only really effective long term solution.
I'm not aware of any lawn weedkiller which specifically targets clover, but any of them will still stop it, at least temporarily. The trick with weedkillers is to remember to follow up with a second treatment, even if all the weeds appear to be dead/dying. It makes a difference.
Of course, the best remedy is to coax them out as and when they appear. I use a teaspoon from the kitchen to break the root, then pull the weed out. Time consuming, but the only really effective long term solution.
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