Can someone help me with my lawn please :)

Hi all last spring I laid some turf as our back garden was all gravel. It took really well and was lovely all summer but after winter its took a bit of a battering. Its not from the swing either as thats probably only been used about 5 times all year and my son is almost 2 so can't touch the floor yet lol.

Im not sure if its something to do with the trees at the back of our house as in autumn they drop leaves and acorns all over the lawn. At the end of winter I raked it all and put some seed down and also some granular lawn feed (Wilko's finest lol). It has helped a bit and some of the seed is growing but not much. Do you think I need to buy a couple of rolls of turf and relay some parts or is there any magic stuff I can buy?

Many thanks
Paul

 

Hi, I have just joined this forum and noticed your question. My suggestion would be to first check the pH of your soil. You can put as much feed on as you like but if the pH is not right the grass cannot make best use of it. My understanding is that oak leaves would be acidic and grass requires at least a neutral pH. If I'm right then a liming agent will help or a grass variety that is more tolerant of acid conditions. Hope that helps.

 

It looks to me as if it is lacking light. Are the trees shading it and which way does it face? If it's facing north it will suffer. You have also said at the end of winter you fed and re-seeded, how early in the year was it? It's not wise to re-seed before the temperature outside reaches 11C and the rest of the lawn is actively growing as it won't germinate below that. This is also the same for using a weedkiller or feed, the lawn must be actively growing. I don't use any chemicals before the first two mowings, usually from mid April onwards.

 

Hello and welcome.

First of all, I should point out I'm not the expert, but here goes.

When you put the turf down, what was the soil like underneath the soil? It looks to me like for potentially a number of reasons, the turf has failed to establish. Poor drainage could do it, or if the roots can't actually get down into the soil, or if it wasn't watered regularly during summer perhaps?

But, I suspect the biggest issue is the leaves falling on it. If you left them there for any length of time, that would be a likely cause of death of the grass. Grass doesn't last very long at all if its starved of light by being covered in anything. Especially if that grass is already a bit weak having just been put in last year.

I personally wouldn't choose turf. I grew my lawn from seed and to be honest, it established every bit as fast as turf would, but at a fraction of the price and with a wider choice of species, so for example you could easily and cheaply get a seed mix for hard wearing and shade tolerant grass, which is probably essential when there's mature trees robbing the light and kids playing on it.

Personally, if I was dealing with your lawn, I'd buy such a seed mix (cheap enough in Wilkos), and mix it with some sharp sand and scatter it all over your existing lawn. And I think now is about the perfect time.

To satisfy all those that would pounce on my recommendation of sharp sand, I should point out that although it always works for me, and is the recommended approach by Monty Don, some people find it doesn't work. If your soil is already very sandy and very free draining, adding more sand might not be the answer.

Also, while the lawn is establishing, if your mower has adjustable cutting height, don't cut on the lowest setting. I keep my mower set at its 2cm setting, which I find gives me the perfect balance of useable lawn and low maintenance. And make sure the blades are nice and sharp. A blunt mower rips and smashes the grass out, causing untold damage, whereas a nice sharp mower blade makes a nice clean cut. Don't mow in hot dry spells until the grass is well established.

 

You pre-empted me this time Clueless, nice one!

 

Thanks for all your replys and sorry about the delay in replying.

The grass isn't always shaded and does get its fair share of sunlight. I the height of summer it probably is in the shade until about 10-11am but then is in the sun until around 6-7ish so its not like its stuck in the shade alot. My next door neighbours grass is lovely and wish mine was like his lol.

So if I go and grab a bag of sharp sand and mix some dry area seed grass in and scatter it on the areas do I need to keep watering it or do I just leave it to the rain? I always thought the seed had to be buired a bit or will it just take on top of the soil? When I seeded it about a month ago I raked it heavy and then raked the seeds in after scattering. But doing that again will pull up some of the new growth maybe? I will take close up of affected areas.

 

As you can see the new seed is growing but its a bit sparse still.

 

Seed grass needs to be watered every day unless it rains to stop it drying out until it is established. There's no need to completely drench it so the water's running on the surface as that may wash the seed out anyway. When it gets long enough to mow, put your mower on a higher setting for the first two or three cuts so that it doesn't scalp it. Seed needs to be just below the surface so rake it in gently. If raking it pulls on the other grass it would probably be better for you to use a long tined grass rake like the one below:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Draper-8880...5450?s=outdoors&ie=UTF8&qid=1397240972&sr=1-1

You could also go over the lawn with a garden fork digging it into to the ground every foot or so to aerate the soil.

 

I did actually go over the lawn with a garden fork at the end of winter when I raked it. Also brought a rake the same as that which I got all the rubbish off with. I brought a pair of them aerate shoes and first use had the spikes breaking so got a refund lol. I know you get a sore arm from stabbing the fork into the ground 1000 times lol

 

It needs light even in winter. If there were fallen leaves covering it for any length of time, even in winter when it appears to be dormant, it will be dying. You only have to have grass covered a day or two to see it go yellow underneath. About a week and its game over for the covered patch.

Some people mix the seed with the sand, some scatter them seperately. The reason for the former is that people say its easier to see where you've already done. I always put probably twice as much seed in as you are supposed to too, as some will rot, some will get nicked by the birds, and some will simply blow away.

And yes, water them very, very gently. If you have a sprinkler that gives a very light spray, that's good. If not, I found the £2 one in Wilkos actually performs much better than my £20+ Hozelock one.

Not really. But after I've re-seeded I usually put the lightest sprinkling of sand over the top. Not enough to bury the seeds, but just enough to ensure that they are all in contact with something that they can root into.

Once the grass seed is in, leave the rake alone