Lawn advice

Hi,
I've had really helpful and good quality advice on here previously so wondered if anyone could advise on the following:
1. Colour of the lawn (photo below). I have been watering and cutting it (weekly) and it's quite drained of colour. I used fertiliser a month ago and watered it in.
2. The cutting height my mountfield mower offers is between 25 – 80mm. Do you think I can use the lowest setting or would you stick to something higher?
3. Mulching - My mower has this capability. What is your advice on this?
4. How would you advise stopping grass cutting falling into the boarders/clearing them out? (see photo below)
5. After streaming how would you cut the edges so they are defined as the strimmer isn't creating this clean line.



Thanks for your help and advice.

 

Hi Chris, could I have a closer shot of a lighter area of your lawn please?

 

I'll take one in the morning and send it on. Thanks for your help.

 

This is the front lawn:

 

It's drained of colour because of its production of carbohydrates. Chlorophyll gives the grass it's green colour and it's this that allows green plants to undergo photosynthesis which produce carbohydrates.
As we have had a warm period this increases the plants use of carbohydrates. If you fed the lawn before the warm weather came along and used a high N this in turn means the grass plant can't store enough carbohydrates and it uses too much which in turn produces a weak and stressed plant.
The more leaf the more carbohydrates can be produced so by leaving the grass longer you can keep its appearance and create less stress.
The above process is called Respiration and the individual type of plant varies from this effect.

You need to cut on its high setting which allows more leaf production.
Mulching works well but very few mowers mulch well enough as the grass needs to be cut often and the cuttings need to be very fine to enable a quick break down. Generally most mower decks are designed for collection and give a rather poor mulch where the better decks are shaped differently and will have the ability to move the grass around the deck to allow fine clips to be produced.
It's a good way of adding a small amount of nutrients back into the soil but it also can lead to problems if for example you have plants that are not desired within the turf or a lawn disease like Red Thread which can be transferred to a greater area.

If you had odd patches it's a case of lifting turf, checking colour and formation of the plant but your first photo shows the whole area is stressed and you can see this as you follow the cut from your mower.

 

Thanks for your help. So would you cut it on the 2nd/3rd setting rather than the 1st (lowest one)? Would you also feed it again or just wait for it to come back on it's own now?

Regarding the other questions what would you advise?

2. The cutting height my mountfield mower offers is between 25 – 80mm. Do you think I can use the lowest setting or would you stick to something higher?
4. How would you advise stopping grass cutting falling into the boarders/clearing them out? (see photo below)
5. After streaming how would you cut the edges so they are defined as the strimmer isn't creating this clean line.

Thanks for your help and advice.

 

You can feed it again once it's come back to a green state but you want a low N Feed or lawn conditioner that's available from trade suppliers, so not to force growth. At the moment though you want to cut high if you do cut that is. Remember more leaf more carbos produced and every time you cut you stop root growth for a short period.
Me, I would not be cutting it yet, wait till it recovers then apply a nice low N feed with iron in it to harden the turf to make it resilient against drought and stress conditions. A N rating of 3 is fine not the high N found in many products.
3 is a nice magic number for straight fertilisers and matches growth well with most types of grass. It's enough to add growth and you can find feeds classed as Autumn/spring that contain this as well as iron.

Edging, half moon to create an edge, edging shear to cut the grass. To keep the edge you can get various products depending on budget that you stake, push or form round the edge of your lawn.

 

Chris if you've used the lowest setting to cut your lawn then that is the problem in your first picture. I never use the lowest setting at any time of year as it tends to scalp. I suggest higher cuts for the first three mowings in spring and again during mid summer when lawns are a lot dryer. Probably best on your third height setting and at other times the second height setting.

 

Thanks a lot for the advice guys. As you've all said, I'll leave it a bit longer and then cut.

The was the mention earlier of this:
"To keep the edge you can get various products depending on budget that you stake, push or form round the edge of your lawn"

What are you referring to and would it work well for me?

I like neat, minimal looking gardens so am trying to keep things looking nice and doing a pretty good job but as you know/can tell... I'm new to it all so am on a learning curve at the moment.

I'm going to post in other areas about pot plans etc to see if there are any good tips/suggestions I can take on. I love this forum and the friendliness and advice I have received. Much appreciated guys.

 

Take a look at the link below Chris. This will give you some ideas as to how to keep the edges looking tidy. If you use something that is level with the ground then there will be no need for strimming or edging tools as the mower will pass over the edging to cut the lawn.

https://www.google.com/search?q=law...wQsARqFQoTCMD_7L2u4MYCFQa7FAodr18CAA&dpr=0.95

 

Brilliant, thanks for that. When you say no need for strimming or edging is the edge is level... do you mean using a mower with a roller or will my Mountfield S461PD be suitable? It has wheels and not a roller?

Thanks.

 

In the picture below the blocks are at the same level as the lawn which means when mowing it doesn't matter if the lawn mower rolls over them. It also cuts out the need for a strimmer on the edges. Any mower is suitable because the blade doesn't sit at ground level and won't catch the blocks.