Overseeding disaster that needs fixing fast

Hi.

I wanted to extend my front border to be straight and level with the nighbours and also to introduce a new rye in the lawn. I have cut it twice since leaving it for 16 days. I now see the extended part has grass that is way too thick but the existing grass that was ok has become a frail mess with patches. Possibly due to misting it twice a day when the humidity here would have probably have been enough. The patches were created after the first mow that flattened the long grass into the soil.

Here is a video of the worse parts. How can I fix this now? I have had seeds in the patches for over a week and nothing is happening. The flattened grass remain damp and looks like it is dying. Should I just scrape then with a fork, add light compost and seeds? Also, what can I do with the thick grass? It's a disaster and it didn't have any patches before trying to improve it.

Thanks for any help.

 

I would say...

Scalp it. Mow it really, really short. The lowest setting on your mower.

Scarify it. You can hire a scarifier from many places, or if you're strong, you can just give it a really brutal combing with a strong rake.

Aerate it. Again you can use a proper tool or you can just stick the fork in at 8 inch intervals and wiggle to loosen it.

Top dress with sharp sand. This helps prevent compaction and regulates moisture around the roots.

Over seed it.

Warning though, if you do it my way it will look awful before the new grass seed germinates, so it will look horrendous for a few weeks.

 

Thanks for the reply.

I did that and this is the result. the current grass dies from the top dressing, maybe it held water and rotted the current grass.

I didnt scarify as there is no thatch as the lawn was only laid 8 months ago. I was trying to add new grass types and improve the soil. I just killed off the grass i had. It has become really fine and easy to tear out from being wet for two weeks. I can't rake any of it. It would just teat out ever bit it touches. Its all become weak and floppy.

I was going to try to just remove the new grass that was pressed in the wet soil and also the wet rotten grass from watering twice a day. Add a thin layer of sandy loam top soil over the patches which would be brushed in as much as possible with the ok grass and just reseed it again. I can't cut it any lower than it is apart from the small area as any lower scalps parts off due to undulations.

Also, the new grass that did grow and the top soil I added seems to be too thick due to foxes digging it up. I have to redo it again but the seeds were mixed in the soil already and they seemed to grow too. Not sure if that will correct itself on its own or creates issues where it ends up all dying off.

 

If you were wetting the turf twice a day in high humidity you may have caused dollar spot disease, or a case of damping off disease. ( google will show you some images)

Take a look very early morning and see if you can see any white mycelium on the leafs of infected turf, ( Mycelium looks a bit like cotton wool )

 

I had lots of mushroom. Not really any white cotten like stuff. I have mowed it twice now and it is damp cuttings no matted what. I wait until about 3-4 to cut as before there is dew from the night and at around 5-6 the grass starts to get wet again. I dont think watering it was good apart from maybe the bare patches.

 

The Mycelium check needs to be done early morning, as it soon disappears. no point looking later in the day as you won't see it.

 

I have the grass cut shorter now and can see all the soil i used to top dress on the existing grass blade. is top dressing bad? I only did it because the internet said i helped the seeds germinate. It seems to have not helped that and killed off my existing grass all over. I tried compost in parts and all the existing grass dies and not grew.
.

 

@Steven Belcher
Not being a lawn person a couple of thoughts; firstly where abouts in the country are you?
Secondly does it need to be done now or can you leave it until spring?
Currently it's getting cooler which will delay germination of newly sown seed. Grass growth will be slowing down with shorter days and lower temperatures. Also it's getting damper so conditions are less favourable for mowing or even tramping back and forth.
I'd leave it overwinter and start in spring when the conditions are in the grasses favour.

 

I'm in Surrey. It needs it to be done now. At least make it look how it did before I destroyed it. If I make things worse myself I feel sick and cannot eat or sleep. I tried adding seeds on the patches and nothing happened. it only grows when I add new top soil.

 

I wouldn't call it a disaster.
I find grass is seasonal and never looks very good this time of year.

I'd stop messing with it, let it overwinter and give it a good scarifying early spring and a feed.

 

If your extended part of the lawn is way to thick, it would suggest you have over done the seeding. If you have adopted the same method while introducing a new rye into the rest of the lawn, this can result in overcrowding, where there is not enough space and nutrients for root germination.

Has the lawn had a feed since it was laid? I would be looking at giving the lawn a feed with, autumn & winter lawn food and then leave it to spring.

 

Steve you seem to have now cut the grass short, why did you not wait until the morning to check for mycelium and see what had caused your problem in the first place.

So as the weather is cooling down fast and its mid October you need a good plan, but if it was a turf disease problem you could have pre treated but not to worry.

You can pre germinate some rye seed and then spread and dress you problem areas, so don't panic rye grass will grow at much colder temps than most other grasses . if you require help on how to pre chit seed just ask.

Have you applied any type of feed & weed and mosskiller recently or any other product.

 

I was going to feed it this this. I wanted to today but then it started to rain. I'll have to wait until i cut it next so it can fall to the the surface.

 

I cut it shorter as it was flopping over a lot. Maybe the issue is the grass is wetter at the front as there is less sun. my mower tear at the grass more. i get a clean cut in the back. Also i watered the the same. the back looks better than it did before, apart from the hundreds of worm casts and a few patches as a result. Top dressing wasn't needed. I through adding a layer of soil would feed the current grass and allow new seeds to grown.

I contacted a local gardener to have a look. I'm running out of time and need a plan that will be garanteed to work.

How would I pre germinate the rye? I mixed some witth top soil before as I put too much soil and then bagged it. I noticed it started to grow on its own.