Lawns

I would go for a good quality, fine, soil-based compost, such as a John Innes No. 3 would do the trick.

Hi Stuart, Grass won't grow in full shade, so I suspect this is the majority of the problem. You can also see a pattern where the summer perennials have overlapped onto the lawn shading out the grass further. Even "shade tolerant" grass needs a couple of hours of sunshine a day. If it's not...

If you nail the pallets together at the corners it wouldn't take long to destroy them! Places like Homebase will deliver for you, costs between £5 and £10 I think and you could order online. Now you're thinking this woman's got an answer for everything!

A keen eye and practice. Or if you want to be scientific, little pots!

Kris is correct Your lawn looks as though it has been scalped and that will only encourage the moss. After you used the moss treatment last year, did you scarify it (raked the dead stuff out)? If not, then the grass won't grow back through it. If it's a new build and has a load of...

In case helpful to others I looked up the Spec for Rolawn's Medallion Turf: Typical sown seed mixture:Dwarf Perennial Ryegrass 40% Chewings Fescue 20% Slender Creeping Red Fescue 10% Strong Creeping Red Fescue 30%So that's in the "Hard Wearing" bracket then 5. Immediately after laying...

Yep... No easy or quick solution to this. You could use a selective weedkiller over the lot but you will definitely already have seeds in situ from previous years so it will need repeating. It would be good to section it off and use livestock to eat it all but as you say its a play field. If...

Its a lovely hose and I did manage to spot it - An Armature is the central winding of an electric motor , thought it was a play on words .

Whilst no need a fertiliser higher in Phosphate will help to establish root growth which will help if there is dry weather later, and will create and establish a stronger / healthier lawn which will be better able to fend of disease etc. Personally I wouldn't leave it until year 2 before...

Rather than putting soil on top (which will require seeding and/or the grass growing through) you could cut H-shaped slits in the lawn, where the dip is (or a hump for that matter), peel back the turf on either side of the cross-slit, put some soil underneath, then roll the turf back and press...

Thanks for your replies. Well i've given it a good soaking and a rake, so i'll see how it is tomorrow and try out kristens idea to see if I can break down the lumps some more once its dried a bit.

I think I must be rakifying it then Kris, haha!

Small amounts, go to Wilkos. They have sacks of it and a set of scales for you to weigh it out

Do they have a shade variety? My local sheds just have a pallet of one-size-fits-all (which will, no doubt!, be the full-sun hard-wearing variety) outside them ... I bought mine on eBay and drove to the Fens to collect it. Very depressing, 20 acres of dead flat, weed free, beautifully mown...

That's the sort of thing my other half would say Al n and mean it!

Too much fencing required, honeybunny

What sort of meter are you using and how are you taking the soil sample? I wonder if it would be worth using one of the cheap test-tube tests just to double check it. It may be that alkaline, but I think its very high, and unless you know that the area where you are is indeed that alkaline I...

Dont' worry about the birds Lantana, they'll fly off the extra weight. Perhaps now that the ants are reeling around with huge stomachs you can re-sow more grass seed and hope it will sprout before they are hungry again.

Hi Eric. Not to worry. I wouldn't be concerned at all. Your new grass will only have started to get going before the winter cold temperatures slowed down the its growth. It will now have been putting down lots of healthy roots over the winter and is ready to spring into life any day now. In a...