another question

Hi again guys
another question about my lawn I don't seem to be very happy with it over the past few years so around September last year I got greenthumb to take care of my lawn and now that they are I am still not all that happy with the condition
I asked them out about June to look at my grass as it seemed to be very yellow/white underneath they came out and said I had red thread a very common problem?
they treated the lawn and fed it at the same time, it did seem to go greener and healthier for a few weeks but now it seems to be back to the way it was before
I have attached a couple of pictures to as if anybody has any ideas of what I can do?

 

What's your lawn mower like?

 

Its a petrol rotary one (mountfeild 470)
I have sharpned the blade over the winter and I try not to cut the grass to low

 

Greenthumb missed a rather large chafer bug infestation when they came to do one of their quarterly weed/feeds. Wasn't impressed

 

I was wondering because in my experience (and I'm not the lawn expert here), the mower can often be to blame, and is often overlooked. People think about nutrients, water, weed infestations, pests and diseases, the condition of the soil underneath and all manner of things that can upset a lawn, but blunt mower blades can smash rather than cut grass or worse, rip it out by its roots.

Like I said, I'm not the lawn expert, but I just wanted to rule out an often overlooked possible culprit.

 

The second picture looks like a classic Red Thread infection.
If they did put down a fungicide then it should have treated it and you should have noticed an improvement, but if you've had it return (and that can happen in particularly wet years) then I would get them to re-apply it, and preferably specify that they use a different one as the fungus can build up a resistance to one chemical used multiple times.
Additionally, Red Thread is aided by over-feeding with high-nitrogen fertilisers all year round (particularly orange ball fertilisers) as this causes soft growth and a very thatchy lawn. Have a look down in the sward of your grass to see if you can find the surface of the soil easily, if not (especially if it has been over-fed for many years) then this will also be aiding the red-thread ingress as the grass will continually be damp and only putting out weak growth in an effort to stay alive under a carpet. If is is very thatchy, you'll need it scarifying and re-seeding in September or October (but no later).

 

You have got this spot on! My next question or questions I should say is what do I do next? I know you said to scarify but do I treat it first? what would I use to treat it with? re-seeding is that spreading grass seed down?(I know this probably seems like the dumbest question ever)do I mix it with soil or anything?. Also as clueless was asking what type of lawnmower I had would it be beneficial to have a better one?

 

I can't really advise specifically without seeing it to be honest. If it is really thatchy then scarifying heavily in autumn would be recommended (nothing to do now) and you can take it back down to soil and just re-seed new grass into that.
If you do it properly it will look terrible for a while, but will come through like new next summer.

 

The problem with Greenthumb is they provide the same treatments to all lawns. Bit of a one size fits all approach. Every lawn is different and needs varying approaches. I got rid of Greenthumb and went for an independent lawnman and am much happier with results.

 

Thanks for the advise guys, I am looking to start my scarifying soon I was wondering would it be best to aerate my lawn before I scarify or after? Also when I reseed do I have to dress with a top soil?

 

That depends on how thatchy it is and how your going to be aerating it.
My usual process is to scarify it to get most of the thatch out, then hollow-tine it, and then one last scarification to prepare the surface for seeding.
You can hollow-tine before hand if it's not too thatchy and then break up the cores with the scarifier.
Just spiking it wouldn't do a lot and I'd leave that until spring.
Again with top dressing, it depends. If you're down to soil with the scarifier with good, deep grooves in the soil then just rake in the seed and you'll be fine and could get away without a top dress, however if you've got any thatch left, or want to level it, then a top-dress would help a lot.

 

Hi Kris
Don't think I would be brave enough to scarify until I have grooves lol although I think the thatch is pretty bad as it feels "spongy" underfoot
Should I buy a hand spreader for the seed as I don't want thick clumps of seeds put down
is there any particular type of soil to cover it with?

 

Be aware though that if you have loads of thatch (and it sounds like you do) then only getting some of it out will mean that any seed spread on top won't germinate (as it won't be touching the soil) and your lawn will look much worse and possibly not recover at all.
If you are going to be over-seeding you cannot scarify enough - even if that means taking out all the existing grass!
My personal record is seven scarification passes on one lawn, and it turned out lovely.

 

so I presume more is better than less on the scarifying front. I do understand that it is difficult for you when you cant actually see the grass in question so I appreciate your help
now after looking at the pictures on your web site
so as long as the seed is touching soil it has got a better chance of growing than against the thatch as this will kill any new seed that I put down, so a good few runs over with the scarifier until I see the soil underneath
thank for your help on this matter