Grass is a mess

Hi all

The lawn did have loads of moss on and looked bad enough before, so I bought some of that moss and weed killer lawn feed and then the moss turned black making it look terrible. I raked all/most of the moss out as your supposed to after using that stuff and gave it a really close mowing.

Now it looks really really bad patches of mud dead grass whats left an everything, I have spead a load of new seed out and now gonna have to wait and see how it goes.

Just wondering if there is anything I should know about how to get the new seeds to grow fast and get the old grass strong again fast. Hate it looking such a mess and want it looking ice and green again ASAP.

Cheers
John

 

Hello John. Don't panic! You've done all the right things. :gnthb: The lawn will look a real mess for a while but will improve, quicker than you think.

It looks like we're in for a dry spell, so keep the newly seeded patches watered and don't be tempted to mow it again for two or three weeks at least, however much you want to!:skp:

Just be patient! Chris

 

Hi John

Just wondered how your grass is going? We had to seed a lot of soil last year to start new lawns, and will be doing more this year. Just a pointer that when we first did it and followed the instructions to the letter, it seemed to take an age for the seed to grow.

We did a second sowing as it had not done as well as we wanted and this time just scattered the seed, and then scattered compost or top soil (from a bag like compast) over the top. Not only did it stop the birds getting it all, but it germinated quickly and really sped up the process.

Just a tip that worked for me!

 

have similar problem with my lawn! lots of moss! have used a certain weedkiller and lawn food and i have patchs of black moss! have raked some of it up but my lawn is big so how i do it quicker? do i need to lay some new grass seed down?
how i stop the moss returning?
heres some pics attached of my front lawn!

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You need to leave the grass for at least two weeks after treating it.
Then cut it before attempting to remove the moss. You need to do it on a dry day otherwise you can oull out more grass than moss. I've an old Black & Decker machine with the rotating wire tines that pull out the moss and thatch. I can fill about three garden refuse sacks with the stuff I pull out of mine. As has been said it will look worse before it gets better.
I've never had success with granular "three in ones" as I always manage to burn the grass. For the last couple of years I've been using a liquid variety from Wilkinsons, with much better results.

If the moss is really bad in places then it might be easier to re-turf it. It's only £2.50 a roll in B&Q.
I replaced a complete run of one turf width by about 40ft at the edge of this border last year. The lawn looked a bit scruffy on Saturday when I took this photo, as I'd just laid the edging pavers and had been walking all over it, but you couldn't tell where the turf had been replaced if you weren't aware of it. I've yet to get the Black & Decker on it this year and I'm a bit reluctant to do so as it doesn't look too bad.

 

whats the black and decker thing you use?

 

It's a lawnraker, similar to this, but mine's twenty years old.

http://direct.tesco.com/q/R.205-0050.aspx

It's like a cylinder mower but has wire tines instead of cutters. It pulls out moss and thatch and throws (some of it) into the grass box. You can set mine at three different heights. At the highest setting, it'll also pick up leaves (and throw them around). I can fill the box with moss and thatch after running it about twenty feet.

 

Hello, I'm new here, first post. So first of all "Hello from Leicester".

Whilst you have that black mess on your lawn where the moss was I think I would do what I call the sink hole drainage method. As far as I am aware the moss really gets a grip on the lawn in wet areas that are not well drained.

If you get an old wood broom handle you can knock it into the ground in the black areas as deep as possible, I generally go about eight inch's. I then fill the hole with washed sand (grit), it's only about £1 for a huge bag. I pop a little seed in the top of the "sink hole".

This worked for me and I hope it may help.

 

i take it u take the broom handle out??:hehe: