5 week old turf - could be looking better....

Hi,
5 weeks ago i laid my new turf. I grew pretty long so i cut it with my grandma's non-height adjustable mower which nearly ruined it (i actually nearly cried, sad i know), however, it has recovered well. My neighbour laid her turf (the exact same turf as me) at the same time and hers looks miles better than mine. We've done everything the same except she didnt cut hers when i did. She only cut her this weekend just gone and used a height adjustable mower - the results are great.
The prob with mine is that in some places the grass tips are going a little yellow, in some places there are little bare patches (these are where we've been walking on it and as of recently i have no choice but to walk on it) and in some places it looks great! What do i do?
It could prob do with its second cut and im gonna use neighbour's mower! It will prob get cut this weekend but i was wondering on what the opinion is on how i can improve my lawn? I water it regularly and have the sprinkler on when its been hot. I did put miracle-grow lawn feed down the other evening but 20 mins later we had torrential rain so i guess it was washed away?
Do i re-apply the feed? Before or after cutting? Do i apply some seed to the lawn to help thicken it up? What else can i do?

All help much appreciated!

 

It's a bit like a cut on your arm, keep picking at the plaster and it'll never get better.
The first cut was probably too short. The yellow tips were probably below the level of the nice green ones you cut off. But it's not a problem.

Turf when you buy it has only recently been cut, so it looks at it's best. So it may "look worse before it gets better." I've mentioned this on another thread. I always check when it's being delivered to the store and try to buy it that day, otherwise sometimes it can be stuck on a pallet for a few days, not good. I get mine from B&Q only £2.50 a roll, (I ain't posh).

You've got to give the roots time to knit so the less you walk on it the better. "Forget it" for a couple of weeks. I wouldn't put any more feed on it. Too much is far worse than too little. As long as you tamped it down well when you laid it, it should be OK. It's only grass and that'll grow anywhere, but usually where you don't want it to.

I laid some turf about six weeks ago, it still hasn't completely recovered, but it's getting there.

 

Turf is pre treated to make it look nice when it's laid so I wouldn't advise feeding again. Water, water and water.