Lawn help
 

No I don't want plastic but my lawn is ugly as hell. :lol1:

I cut it first time today, looked like it hadn't been cut since last summer. In some places it has loads of moss, so I raked the hell out of it but still lots of moss left, and in some places the lawn is dominated by thick almost yellowish grass (rye grass??) in contrast to the rest of the laws which is 'normal' lawn grass or whatever it's called. Then in some places it's patchy and almost bare, and it isn't even even all over, the ground level dips towards the concrete 'patio' and at the other end. There there was a ton of weeds like dandelions.

My provisional plan is borrow a scarifier of my Dad to tear it up a bit, then I'm not sure. I probably need some seed and weed killer, but my mate used some weed killer on his lawn and now it looks like a 1970's municipal football pitch.:lol1:

Is it easier to dig up the turf and just plant a new lawn.

FYI the raking is exhausting and now I have blisters on both hands.

The lawn needs the edges cutting and the borders on either side are full of weeds. So I'll have to dig them up and hoe or whatever it is you do?? Later plant some flowers and stuff.

Sorry can't help, but LOL on the bolded bit. :lol1:

Paint it green......... dl

Hi,
A few years back we had a similar problem with our lawn at the beginning of the season.
We bought a "weed and feed" product - that killed the moss and weeds then promoted the grass growth.
It looked a bit scary after the first week - once the weeds and moss died but it soon picked up and probably looked the best that year than it had for ages.
Something like this:-
http://www.diy.com/departments/everg.../330313_BQ.prd
Cheers
Steve

Pull the curtains.
Problem solved....

So you've finally jumped on the property ladder then......right at the top of the market;)

You should ask your landlord to sort it out.

Give it a good rake with your Dad's scarifyer (it will only remove moss and the dead grass). Then cut it again as the scarifyer will make the flat grass stand up. Weed & feed it and leave for a weak or so to work its magic and cut it again. Then re-seed it all over.

Nip to B&Q, they have a miracle product, just spread it on the lawn and add water ...

Will solve all your lawn problems ..

The name escapes me at the moment ....... No wait just remembered...


Blue Circle :D



Mart

Get a company called Green thumb. I believe they are franchised around the country. get a quote to improve your lawn for a year. I had it done at a house I rent, cost very little, lawn is gorgeous now. My sister in-law had it done because of huge amounts of moss, they have a beautiful lawn now too.

https://www.greenthumb.co.uk/?gclid=...QgSxoC4lXw_wcB

Buy some iron sulphate heptahydrate, mix and apply this at around 500g in 8-10 litres of warm water per 100m2. Cut the grass on a low setting and a few days later spray this onto your lawn, or apply with a watering can - do this when the ground is already damp not duing a dry spell. At this concentration almost instantly you will see the moss darken. Over a few days moss will turn black as it dies. Wait until the ground is well dried out, and then break out the scarifier.

Dont get this stuff on paving or other solid surfaces, it leave orange / brown staining which is unsightly, but does go with time.

Depending on what the ground looks like after scarifying, you may need to top dress and overseed, or rework some of the bald patches.

Small terrace, expensive area (relative to outside London anyway). House is fine just the last owners who had it for three years or so didn't lift a finger, so garden needs some elbow grease, minor maintenance issues in house and the render cracks of course.

This will acidify the soil though. I think I'd rather use the minimum of chemicals and stuff.

I second that. Really excellent company and certainly got my previous lawn up to scratch. Virtually weed and moss free with healthy grass after a few visits.

dl

Iron (ferrous) sulphate is fine, it's as natural as you can get; consider its used to treat iron deficiency in humans and animals. In diluted liquid form it works very fast on moss (1 to 2 days) and greens up the grass to boot.

The yellow grass is probably thatch build up and the crown of the grass stems which is the base of the grass (think of it as the trunk of a tree), excessive thatch and long crown stems is caused by infrequent mowing and allowing it to get too long; cutting shorter and scarifying should bring the thatch lawyer down, but it will thin out the lawn, so overseeding maybe required. Always apply feed after scarifying or cutting the grass excessively as it will help the grass recover quicker from shock of it being hacked.

You will probably have to overseed the bare patches and apply some top dressing(soil) and apply some more feed throughout the summer; It depends on the soil condition, if the soil is no good the grass will alway be anaemic and require constant feed (current problem with my lawn, along with excessive drainage and nearby conifers - I plan on borrowing a mini digger and replace the top soil and re-turf).

Obviously be warned lawn feeds contain nitrogen which can burn/irritate the feet of pets until watered in, so if you have pets use liquid feed over granular as generally they are ok once it's dried, although their effects are quicker acting they don't last and will require more frequent application.

Get on I player and check out Friday's episode of gardeners world, did a feature on improving lawns.

Waste of time scarifying this time of year you will do more damage than good best time to scarify is at the back end of the year.Do a high cut with your mower one week then a week later lower your cut then use lawn sand over the lawn, lawn edges you can recut and just hoe/weed the borders it will take a few weeks but with a bit of patience the lawn will come good