Help or advice please

My question is regarding lawns and how easily they can recover. My lawn does get walked on a lot and is a hard wearing lawn however over the winter a lot of the lawn has really become mud and there is no grass to see what so ever. Come the spring will new grass begin to grow or not. Is there anything i can do to help the lawn. We have a dog so its hard to keep the lawn a walk free zone even though we are trying our best.
Thanks in advance

 

Hi Kev

All lawns look tatty at this time of the year so yours may not be as bad as you think it is.

If patches are truly bare at the moment, they will probably start to regrow grass as soon as the weather allows. I find, for example, that grass starts growing in my borders as soon as the Spring takes off, having spread from my lawn!

However, the bare patches may not regrow fast enough and weeds may take over. Your dog may also rough up the surface and prevent the regrowth. For these reasons, you may want to reseed the worst areas in the Spring but you will need to net them off to give the new grass a chance. Alternatively, if the bare patches are not too big, you can lay turfs and they will take hold, with a bit of protection, much quicker than seed. Rolls of turf are sold at garden centres quite cheaply and it's my preferred way of repairing badly worn patches.

A good dose of a weed and feed liquid or pellets will also make a big difference to the whole lawn.

 

I agree with you Flinty, up to a point, but I would wait until the ground has dried up a bit - if it ever does! - and do a bit of maintenance.

As the soil is probably compacted I would go over it with a fork, digging it in a few inches and working it back and forth. Repeat this every foot or so, then you can brush some sand into the holes, which will open the texture. Next give it a good spring feed and with patience - it will look tatty for a while - it will be restored to its former glory.

Chris

 

If there is a particular pattern and reason why it is walked on a lot (eg short cut to shed) then consider a path or stepping stones

 

Firstly thanks for the quick replies. It gets walked on a lot due to living back to back with parents and share the same garden and we have done what you suggested and we now have stepping stones. As for the for the soil should i do this now or wait till spring and what type of sand should i use. Also you say use a dose of a weed and feed liquid or pellets which ones would you suggest and should i use them now or again wait till spring.

Thanks all of you

 

Hi Kev

I won't be doing any remedial works on my lawn until the end of March at the earliest, and I live in southern Hampshire. Since you live in the north west, you might want to leave it even later. Mind you, I've got relatives in Lancaster and it always surprises me how soft their climate can be sometimes when it's cold down south!

As for weed and feed, I use Evergreen Complete in April or May (depending on rainfall) because the granules are very quick to apply. It's also possible, if you sprinkle too many in one spot, to brush them out quickly to avoid scorching your grass. Also, you don't have to wash out your watering can or keep a special watering can just for chemicals.

However, many folk on this forum prefer liquids and they're probably better in some ways. But I just hate this job and using granules get it's over and done with quicker!

 

just want to say thank you to everyone's advice. Been told to do the follwoing

1) Using a leaf/lawn rake rake over the lawn.
2) Then using a garden folk or something similar folk the lawn to decompact soil
3) My some chiken pellets (maure) to add organice matter in to the soil and feed the grass to not sure if this is the case.
4) Then maybe late march use Canada Green Velocity has anyone had any experiance of using this and is it good, if i do use it i will use it over the entire lawn so then it does not look patchy
Thanks

 

Hi Kev,

Have you considered not flogging a dead horse. What I mean is, give up on the lawn and pave it with slabs in keeping with the garden style. If you leave an inch between the slabs then you can sweep into the space between them some alpine mixed seeds and have a beautiful dog friendly space by the end of the year.

I know I pap on about Geoff Hamilton an awful lot but he did something similar in his cheap paradise garden ( I think it was that one). It was stunning.

Honest Guv, I don't hate lawns:D I just don't feel any desire for them. Mind you I do have one myself so maybe I should just button it lol.

 

I have now bought 3 bags of the canada green lawn seed. This is my plan of action now please tell me if it sounds right.

1) Scarify the current lawn area
2) Aeriate the current lawn area
3) Using a spreader then spread the canada lawn seed)
4) Now using 6 part sharp sand, 3 part top soil, 1 part manure or chiken pellets
5) Then brush this in to the lawn does this sound right
or
do i put the sharp sand, top soil and manure down first then the seed which way round should it go. Also should i use the chicken pellets or farm manure thanks in advance

 

Can anybody confirm whether the above is a good plan of action or not
Thanks

 

Can I just bump this thread!
I'm interested in any replies, 'cos my lawn sounds in a similar state.....2 dogs!
Thanks everyone.