Lawn - Advice

Hi All,

This was a new lawn that was sown from scratch last year. Obviously it takes a while to bed in but I am coming to the stage now where I want to improve it.

It's looking fairly dry but that's been down to the weather. I've scarified it once already but not aerated yet. Blades are nice and sharp on my rotary mower.

Its got patches of Annua Poa floating around but I am slowly removing that bit by bit, been told if I water less then it will gradually die out as the roots are shorter?!?. The soil before I levelled it and applied 4 inches of top soil held a lot of clay.

Ideally wanting it to look as green as I can get it.

Need advice on,
1- Best fertiliser and application timings etc.
2- When to scarify.
3- Best tools to aerate (or garden fork it).







Front garden,

 

It looks like you are cutting it to short.
A good granular feed then a good soaking it will be ok.

 

Pro annua/annual meadow grass is a pain to get rid off due to seed levels.
It's not good in temps above 21c and below 10c where it is prone to injury or complete kill.
It's also prone to some common turf related diseases like Anthracnose and Fusarium.
To be honest, it's such a successful plant that you will be always trying to remove this grass.
Just too many variables on how it enters the soil along side it's all year round seeding.
Cut higher, cut often, pick a fertiliser to suit the grass condition, don't fertiliser in hot dry conditions, use of iron will harden turf and give it a greener look.
Scarify early Spring and early Autumn allowing movement on this depending on weather climate.
That's just a very basic reply but it does look like you need to raise your cut a bit and cut more often if you are seeing growth.

 

Thanks both.

Will try a higher cutting height to see if that makes a difference.

With the Annua Poa I will try and keep on top of it. Cutting more regularly may help it stop seeding maybe too...

 

Looking better already.

Today, cut higher, sacrificed, aerated and fertilised! :-)

 

Despite having a baby and cutting a lot less. I've fertilised twice and kept it watered. Looking so much better already. You can see the light patches of Annua Poa still against the dark green grass. Im pulling them up slowly but surely removing the roots as I go along and then re seeding with my normal grass.

Give me 10 years and I may get there.

 

Struggling again big time this year, borders around the garden are great, its the lawn that's letting it down now big time....

Large areas of couch grass? Just do not know what to do.

 

Hi,

If it makes you feel any better I'm in a similar boat. I live in the country and no matter what I do I can't avoid couch or weed grasses. They thrive in our cold wet climate and my water retaining soil. They used to bother me and still do but I've learned to relax a bit and enjoy the garden. My view now is as long as it looks deep green in colour and looks like a healthy lawn then I'm happy. Moss and creeping buttercup are what bothers me so much more as it makes the turf appear uneven after cutting.

I've been told that a knife right through the roots will kill couch grass. I know when I deep scarify, like I did this year, the couch grass is severely weakened. A quick rake over to break up the soil and overseed should improve matters.

I also find that heavy fertilising when the lawn is in good shape maintains the turf and ensures weeds etc can't compete.

Hope this helps.