Operation 'Lawn' is in full swing!

You're more than welcome Charlie - I will take a second batch when I do the aerating with the blades, as I reckon that will knock the stuffing out of it even more.

I am wondering now if I need to get a fast germinating grass seed (if there is such a thing) as none of the seed I sowed came to anything. I bought the seed last year, so could it be cream-crackered?

 

Ah, that would explain it then @Sheal - a year old, and a winter in a cold shed has probably saw it off.

I will scatter the other two boxes I have over the lawns tomorrow, and if it comes it comes, if not I will look to getting some new seed. Is there any seed that germinates really quickly?

 

Well, the watering regime seems to be working - the ground feels a bit softer now (I can get the sprinkler spike in without a fight), and barring a couple of bare patches there is signs of the grass greening up a bit today

As we had two more boxes of seed from last year, we scattered them liberally across the scarified areas today, and the sprinkler has been on all afternoon; the birds may get plenty as they are not covered, but to be honest any that germinate area a bonus (in fact, as I type I can see a wee blackie pecking away, so no doubt he will tell his mates )

 

@Sheal and other experts - I need your advice please.

Here are photos of my lawn taken this afternoon



Is the new turf obvious?


This is a close up of the worst patch on the left hand side of the first picture.


I am of the mind that the main problem I have is that the ground is compacted, and therefore it is not really holding any water and there is no way that the roots of the grass can find their way through?

So, this is where I need a sanity check.

There is clearly still some thatch to come out, and there is also a need for aeration - so, I am thinking of giving the grass a trim on Sunday, and then getting the scarifier back out and loading up the blade cartridge as opposed to the tines, and then give it a good going over to try and get some more thatch up and get some air into the soil and relieve the compaction?

I bought a couple of boxes of this Westland Smart Grass Seed tonight, purely because Westland stuff has generally been good when I have used it in the past, not one single seed of the Sainsbury's own brand grass germinated (although in fairness, I bought it last year), and it was on sale at £7.50 a box.

So, questions:

- Should I scarify with the tines (probably on their lowest setting) first, or should I go straight to blades this time?

- The plan is to follow the blade work up with reseeding of the patchy areas (gently walking the seed in after sowing) with the new seed, then put up canes around the perimeter of the lawn and weave string between them zig-zagging across the lawn with string, and attaching pieces of foil to the string to deter our feathered friends

- Continue with the current watering regime which consists of a fan spray from the sled sprinkler that is showing in the first picture, which is slowly drawn from the back of the lawn to the front over a period of a few hours each evening (my thinking being that this mimics natural rainfall rather than the deluge that you get from some other sprinkler settings)

And hopefully, in 10-14 days I should have something that looks a bit better?


-

 

The ground on the bare patches is literally like stone @Sheal; I am adding organic material as I go (which is helping in some places) but the water seems to be currently running off - - would using the scarifier in aerating 'mode' do harm then?

I think part of the problem is that it doesn't get a lot of peace between our dog and the local fox population.

 

Neither turf nor starting over is an option at the moment due to financial constraints - however, the fork and the sharp sand are possibilities - I am now wondering about doing a combination of the blades (for speed) a fork, sharp sand, reseeding and cover with MPC.

I am not looking for a bowling green - as long as it is all green and looks like a lawn(ish) then I will be happy.

 

Thanks @Sheal

I must admit that I felt a bit dejected today, but then I got a dose of the 'sturdies' as we call them in Scotland - - basically, my stubborn streak came out and I refused to be defeated..

Here's hoping I can make something of it....

 

OK - a wee bit of digging this morning regarding the new scarifier shows that I haven't scarified my grass at all, but merely given it a damn good raking, simply because I had the wrong drum in.

Apparently, the drum with the tines is to aerate the lawn, not scarify it - presumably the raking allows air to the bottom of the plants?

It appears that the blades work by going a wee bit deeper and hoiking out anything that hasn't got a decent grip, I suspect because it is dead?