Patchy/ bumpy/ miscoloured Lawn

Hiya Folks,

I'm very new to gardening as ive just brought my own house. The first thing I noticed was my lawn is very very bumpy, can anyone tell me the best way to go about flattening it out?

As well as this, there seems to be different types of grass in my lawn, a fine, yellow looking type and a thicker wasteland type of grass, it makes my lawn look very odd!

To top it off I've got loads of dandy lions and bare patches, its just a bit of a mess in general really.

I've used lawn feed and weed but it didnt make to much of a difference.

I will try and upload a photo when I get chance.

Can anyone help?

Thankyou

 

Bumps and Hollows:

Make cuts in the shape of an X in the middle of the bump (or hollow). Peel back the turf (use the spade blade flat and work it under the turf so that the turf you peel back is about 1.5" - 2" thick.

Remove (or add in) some soil.

Roll back the turf, stamp down well, water copiously (so the ground gets wet, not just the surface). Water some more if it gets dry, but don't keep on watering if its not dry (you want the roots to grow down and find their own water!)

To get nice fine grass you would be better mowing with a cylinder, rather than a rotary, and it will need to have a roller. I always "drive" down the light coloured stripes, and that keeps them looking smart. You should mow cross-ways too (ideally alternate direction at each cut). Should then look just like Wimbledon!

Cut the grass fairly short (I forget what that is in inches). Cut often enough that you never remove more than 1/3rd of the height of the grass - that's probably twice a week in Spring, once a week in Summer, less in droughts

Make sure the blades are sharp - for a cylinder check that it will cut a single sheet of newspaper (rather than bend it over!) along the entire blade length. (You don't actually sharpen cylinder mowers, you just adjust the cylinder blade so it is closer to the bottom blade, which in effect sharpens it as it turns).

(I sharpen the blade on my rotary mower twice a season, with a file, but I don't use that on my "good" lawns)

Whilst your lawn is still "bumpy" you won't be able to get it looking nice - the mower will miss cutting the grass in the hollows, and is likely to scalp the bumps.

I have had dreadful results with Weed-and-Feed this year - too wet I think, so from now on I'm going to do them separately. Feed, then use a weedkiller (spray or watering can) a couple of weeks later. (e.g. Verdone)

I'm also planning to use liquid feed, rather than granules.

 

Thanks very much! Just what I was after.

I'll let youknow how i get on.

Thanks again

 

Levelling out my lawn is proving a bit tricky, the bumps are rolling, and arent very noticeable from just walking up and down.

Is there a gadget or method that could help me?

Thanks again

 

just your eyes Matthisco if the "bumps" arent too big, just try wacking them with the back of your spade,To flatten them, the hollows should be felt when you walk on it, then do as Kristen said...Dee..

 

A lawn that starts off flat doesn't normally develop lots of bumps and hollows of the kind you describe, so I wonder whether it has ever been a proper lawn. My biggest concern would be that the bumps are caused by bricks or lumps of concreter under the turf. This is a known cause of humps in lawns. Plunge a garden fork in to the humps, and see if it hits anything hard. If there are bricks, or whatever, you'll need to get them out. If it's just soil then life is easier, and the humps can be levelled by taking some soil out, as described by Kristen. Put a bit of the spare soil in the hollows - not enough to bury the grass - to raise the level of the hollows. It can be tricky in practice to get things level and it might take more than a season.

 

The lumps and bumps in my lawn are probably bricks and builders rubble, so far I've dug out over 6 bricks at less than a spade deep in my back garden in a space 6' x 8' I'm not even going to find out whats under the lawn, I'll never manage to get the rest of my garden done. I have a really wet patch in my front garden where the grass never seems to 'dry' out from the wet. It's not muddy but the grass is always wet no matter how many dry days we've had in a row (if I get 2 weeks of dry I can mow it properly in the summer) any tips or tricks to dry this patch up? Apart from digging it out and putting a plant in there, lol.

 

My back garden is the same - full of rubble. My best find so far is a rock about 12"x12"x8" about 1/4" below the surface. You can get a fork in to a depth of 3" only in about 25% of the lawn. My plan is to dig the whole lot over and start again (as soon as I can convince the other half to let me!)