Thatch Crassed Area

I am a level below novice if there was some when it comes to gardening. We have a sloped area in our garden that I have let grow for most of the year then cut it back in mid to late summer. Every time I do I am left with a huge amount of what I suspect is thatch. The picture shows what I have cut it back to.

What do you suggest I do to stop this each year. More regular cutting or dig it up and completely reseed?

 

Do you definitely want to keep it as a grassed area ? It looks tricky to mow and possibly very shady (that's the impression I get from the photos).

 

Yeah that’s what is left after I cut the grass and took all the dead organic matter sitting on the surface.

Tricky with the lawnmower but I would strim it on a regular basis if it kept it in better condition.

 

Grassed slopes aren't difficult to mow if you do it by traversing the slope- not up and down it.

The problem is that you aren't doing it regularly enough, as already said, and it may help to have a seed that suits the shady site you have.
However, if you don't use it in a conventional way as @JWK says, you could put in some simple terraces and plant them up, or just plant it up as described. Many houses round here are on a slope, and some are pretty big, and they vary in design between formal terraced areas, and ones with a couple of terraced sections and a more casual mix of grass and plants.
The terraces can be built using sleepers or heavy fencing timber, or with block/brick walls, depending on your budget and whether you can do the work yourself, or would need 'a man in'.

Any planting would then be done according to your likes and dislikes, and how much time you wanted to spend on it. What you see from the house is also a factor, especially through winter if you have windows that you view it from regularly, so the area nearest the house is the one to concentrate on most if you go down that route.
There are plenty of low maintenace shrubs and perennials that will work, but good prep is vital to ensure they thrive, and you'll get help with that too

 

Yes, maybe the terrace approach is the way to go. We built a patio area into the bottom of the hill to try and get some of the wasted land on the slope back into use.

Building a terraced garden is out of my scope of expertise but I’ll get a quote and potentially head down that route.

We look directly out at it from our kitchen and is the area most of our attention is focused on so it would be nice to have it looking well.

I had always liked the idea of grass on the slope and letting it grow out but if I’m not maintaining it I’m left with the problem I currently have.

 

There's a sloping bank in my garden which had sandstone blocks added by the original owner to create informal borders and paths. They are just laid into the bank without any building work, apart from the retaining wall at the bottom which I replaced about 10 years ago. You could then plant anything that suits your soil, aspect and preferences.

In 2021:



Now:

 

I think grass or wildflower meadow will look like that, initially, when first cut as your exposing the lower stems which have been shaded from any light?

More regular mowing would give you a more conventional lawn, though as said not easy to do on a slope. Even doing once every 6 weeks would probably help with appearance but it’s probably worth taking time to decide what you want from the space (visually and maintenance wise)

 

With the wildflower meadow would that require digging it all up and reseeding?

 

That’s impressive. That would be such a nice view out from our back. The more I look at the responses the more I realise the ‘conventional’ lawn isn’t what makes best use of that space.

 

Welcome to the forum, @GavinW999 !

Indeed you have a nice piece of land there and plain lawn could be a tad boring when you can have something nice to look at all year round.

If you feel very unexperienced, some super easy perennials and shrubs might be a good idea. Depending on how much light the plot gets, you have a multitude of inspiring choices, just ask away here and the friendly folks will help.

Hardy Geraniums and evergreen Ferns thrive anywhere. Soon it's spring bulb time, dig in a bagful of your favourites and you will have a cheerful display in spring. Morrisons usually sell big bags of Daffodils cheaply around October.

I'm also facing clearing and replanting a new garden and find the thought of clearing everything at once too much. My plan is to go bit by bit, removing the existing top layer from where I want to plant and then moving on to the next area. Weeds will love the cleared patches but hey ho.

 

If you let grass grow long and then cut it down, you cut off all the green blades and leave the yellow/brown stem bases, which is what I think you mostly have there. Like a hay meadow or wheat field that's just been cut, you're left with stubble.
If you don't collect or rake off the clippings they will form a thick dead layer which would become thatch if/when new grass blades push up through it, so there might be some thatch too from previous cuts.
As others have said, it would look nicer with something other than grass there, and would be easier to manage (and probably nicer to look at) if it was terraced into a series of flatter areas with retaining walls or blocks of some sort.