Lawn Problem - Brown Patchy

Hello all,

My first post on this forum! My front garden is causing me a headache at the moment. It looked great last summer (except that my mower started ripping at the grass at the end of summer).

When I took the mower out for the first cut, it had died, but I was given a flymo as a replacement. It's an old one, very large, with a metal blade and no adjustable cuting height.

I tried if first in my back garden (where my grass is very thick) & it did a great job so I kept it.

The front lawn is flatter and the grass if more delicate & fine. I noticed immediately that the mower didn't leave such a great finish on it, cutting it too short. Over a few weeks, the grass wasn't as green as last year.

I tried a feed (but got one from poundland so I'm not sure on the quality or whether the instructions were correct) and decided not to cut it for a few weeks until I replace the mower.

About a week ago, a huge brown patch appeared!

Any ideas?

 

Thought a few photos might help!

 

The problem is scortch due to either over aplication of the feed or not watering in or both.

Rake the surface upon the bare areas and overseed with grass seed mixed with a few handfulls of potting compost.

 

thanks for your reply, i do have some grass seed and compost so I'll give it a go.

I thought I'd followed the feed instructions. But I'm not impressed with it as there was a mistake on the packaging as it stated it would cover 250m/2 but if you read the instructions & worked out how much ml would be needed for 250m/2 there was no where near enough.

I assumed it was the 250m/2 that was wrong, but it could be that it was the quantity of feed which might explain the scorching.

Would you think that the cutting the grass too short also did not help? I am looking to get a better mower now and am rather torn over which one I should get. Very limited budget & needs to be fairly compact.

Thanks

 

The low cut wont have helped.

As for mowers, id get something second hand on ebay, but look for a local sale so you can check it out first.

 

If you have a small area, what about a push cylinder mower, like this one at B&Q.http://www.diy.com/diy/jsp/bq/nav.jsp?action=detail&fh_secondid=10278513&fh_reftheme=promo_159030003%2cseeall%2c%2f%2fcatalog01%2fen_GB%2fcategories%3C{9372012}%2fcategories%3C{9372021}%2fcategories%3C{9372064}%2fspecificationsProductType%3dlawnmowers&fh_view_size=10&fh_location=%2f%2fcatalog01%2fen_GB%2fcategories%3C{9372012}%2fcategories%3C{9372021}%2fcategories%3C{9372064}%2fspecificationsProductType%3dlawnmowers%2fspecificationsSpecificProductType%3dcylinder_mowers&fh_eds=%C3%9F&fh_refview=lister&ts=1245056506421&isSearch=false
We have one, and it is great! It also keeps you fit!

Hope this Helps!

 

Height of cut for the big flymos is adjustable - you change the number of spacers on the shaft (the fewer spacers the higher the cut) but it involves taking the blade off!

 

thanks for your replies... been away a few days. since my last post, the front has greened up a little, and I will shortly be overseeding it too. hopefully it'll come back to life completely!

i managed to take the blade off and found the spacers. Took a couple of, but the bolt got stuck when doing it back up and is now stuck (guess thread has worn, rust etc as it's an old mower). Thought I'd try it anyway which wasnt a good idea as grass got in the gap and blade doesnt spin now! Still can't get the bolt off, so I guess I will be soon taking possesion of a new mower!

Any recommendations for what to go for? Rotary, Cylinder or Hover? Fairly small garden, and small shed. Would like it to be fairly easy to use / light but still do a good job.

Thanks

 

Cylinder, with rear roller, for a smart lawn. Not as manoeuvrable as a Rotary and Flymo.

Rotary for a less smart lawn, and if you also have taller, rough grass areas.

Flymo if you have a steep bank to mow :thumb:

 

Have another go at the bolt. Take it out and give it a good clean, wire brush and grease. Then try again.

If a new mower then you need to consider both the front and back lawns. Mowers with rear rollers are more expensive but give a nice stripe and make doing the edges easier.

he choice is endless. You need to provide more details about your lawn and how much time you can give it. Having a good looking lawn requires cutting at least one a week in the summer

 

I wouldn't recommend reseeding in the summer as the weather is too dry and hot

 

thanks for all your help!

success! got the bolt off and have now mowed both lawns. Hopefully that'll stimulate some growth in the front.

Am still considering replacing the mower as the flymo is not ideal, espicially due to its size and tendancy to blow stuff everywhere (have bark under some bushes in front garden).

What kind of info would you like on lawn. I intend mowing once a week, so thats not a problem. The grass out front is fairly fine, looked great last year. The grass out the back is not as great, a bit tougher. Would a few more pics be helpful?

Was just about to give it a reseed, but I guess I will wait now. A little annoying as it may not look too great for the rest of the year. Having said that, I think there is some improvemt.

 

some improvement in the lawn now though some new smaller brown patches... will have to add a new pic

I have a raised border where my petunias are spilling out & covering the grass. Have already lost some of the grass, so is there any way to prevent this apart from cutting the Petunias back? The area in question doesnt look too bad as the petunias hide it, but when these die back i'll have a large patch of almost all dead grass. Do you think this will improve with regular mowing, or will it need re-seeding?

Also, any advice in scarifying / aerating would be much appreciated.