Should I totaly reseend / Perlite

Hi, as you can see my lawn is a real mess. Am wondering it may be good idea to dig up reseed. As the soil is compacted I was wondering if dinging up would work better as its over 40% that needs doing. I Was thinking of digging over garden and then raking. Doing resurrect on the net people are talking about simply raking over and seeding on top of existing grass for the type of coverage I have. I was thinking of maybe dinging up the really bald bit (the 1/5th at the bottom of the photo) and reseeding the rest.

What to people think?

Was also wondering if dinging in Perlite was a good idea and how much should I use. The garden is roughly 2.5 by 9 meters. I have a bag and it says '10L when filled', not sure what this means. Am I correct in thinking I need to dig about 6" deep?

Lastly was wondering if it was better to mix the seed with peat or simply lay the seed and put peat on top?



Regards,
Ben

 

Hi Ben


Now a good time to get cracking on the new lawn .

A spade depth and use a garden fork would be ideal and at the same time remove any weeds roots etc and big stones , you will be wasting your ££ on using perlite to lighten the soil , digging is the best and cheap option if you want a good lawn put the work in and it will pay off.

Y ou will need to feed the soil, just before you sow the seed, growmore is ideal so spend your ££ on that instead .

Once you have dug it all over and removed big stones and weeds , then leave for a week to settle then you need to rake it all over then shuffle over it all with your shoes to firm the soil down ( it sort of looks like baby steps but with feet together ) , once that all done you can sprinkle the grow more on then a good raking to level it all out , and its ready to sow the seeds , so much cheaper than turf .

Hope that helps a little , I am no expert with lawn care.

Is your lawn shaded or full sun as this will help you choose the correct seed ?

Spruce

 

So you think it is much better to start again than reseed?

 

It might be easier to hire a rotavator and use that. Then rake over and get the weeds and roots out. If you are worried about the soil chuck a load of sand in and then rotavate that in. This is how I did mine. Saves the back breaking work of digging it over. I then seeded mine, and reseeded over huge top about three times and mine has been fine.

Rusty

 

Its a fairly small garden and I could do with the exercise. Also its nice and sunny.. .

 

Sorry, another question. Should I water regularly for the week before I sow to build up moisture?

 

I would give a good water two days before to sow if DRY , you will need to water if we dont have rain for a week after sowing but be careful not to wash the seed off the surface you will need a fine rose on the hose.

And yes, if me I would start again you will reap the rewards if you do and considering it totally looks bare already so at least you dont have to remove that much

 

Thanks, after digging over/raking/walking on to compact do I have to leave it to settle. I have read up to a week?

 

Once you have done all the above leave for two weeks.
Any weed seed already in the soil will start to grow and you can just rake off on a sunny day , this will help when you are ready to sow the grass seed and will cut down any weeds seeds that may compete with the grass , good luck

Spruce