Moss, dandelions ... and a little grass.

That about describes my mum's back lawn. In fact there are some areas where it's as much as 80% moss, 10% dandelions and daisies and 10% grass.

Is there any way of turning the tide so that the grass starts to take over again? The garden is big (50 feet wide by about 100 feet long) and although there are several flowerbeds, I would say that about 3/4 of it is lawn. Some is in shade most of the day, but a lot of it is in full sun.

Any advice appreciated.

 

That's quite a big lawn. All you can do is start a programme of improvement but it'll take several seasons (at least) and a lot of work. Use a selective weedkiller and a feed or a weed-and-feed product. On a lawn that size, you'll probably find granules quicker to apply. Rake it and spike it in the spring and cut it regularly. You may need to overseed some areas. If there are any really bad patches that don't respond to treatment, don't waste time on them - make them into beds or hard surface them.

 

Thanks Flinty. Hmmm.

It may be worth doing once I get everything else knocked into shape, but I think I'll give it a low priority.

So you can get weedkillers that don't upset the grass then? The moss is just an un-broken carpet in some places, but the dandelions I may be able to kill or just dig up a bit at a time.

Can I get grass seed and plant it in the gaps left by the uprooted dandelions?

 

I personally wouldnt treat the whole lawn in one go if its that bad or you will end up with next to nothing left !

 

There is usually a reson for moss, often over shading or bad drainage and these may need adressing.

Treat the moss first with ferrouse sulphate or lawn sand, when its black, scarify then overseed mixing a few handfulls of bagged topsoil or compost into the seed so as to 'stick' it. Water the lawn with a sprinkler to get the new seed started.

Once the seed has taken then spray the weeds with verdone.

 

Ouch, that lawn sounds baaaaad. Like Pro Gard says, there's usually a reason for so much moss. Possibly it was just an area of very poor soil that got incorporated into the lawn and over the years, compaction and lack of nutrients have meant that only moss will grow on it. Or there's horribleness below the surface as I found with a bad patch in my own lawn http://www.gardenerscorner.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=14321

There are indeed selective weedkillers and we all rely on them but I also find digging the bigger weeds out by hand to be addictive fun.

All you can do is start the process of rehabilitation and keep telling yourself that a journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step...

 

The topsoil here is light and deep (it's unlikely we've got what you had just under the surface Flinty). There's no clay, and somewhere down below is the chalk of the last of the South Downs. We're up on the top of a hill, so it's not like we're near the water table. But the lawn has been just lawn for at least 45 years. If it's just been continually mown and never fed, would it just be lacking in nutrients? Perhaps that's why the grass is having a struggle?

 

The lawn is pretty wide and not overshadowed except at the edges, but the moss seems pretty much everywhere. Here's a sort of overview photograph:

http://www.gardenerscorner.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=14632

Can you have bad drainage, even if your at the top of a hill?

 

Holy rotovators, that's 'you're' :o:o

 

Louis

That's a really nice looking, mature garden.

Yes, you can have drainage problems on the top of a hill if the subsoil is slow draining. Near me, a pond forms in a dip on the top of a small hill in rainy weather - after yesterday, it's like a small lake! But I don't think that's your problem, particularly if you're on top of chalk.

You could well be right about lack of nutrients. My parents never fed their lawn and the sort of pimping and preening we give our lawns today would have seemed very fussy to them. Grass was just something that had to feed itself!

Why not try some remedial work in a test area that's not so bad? It always worth experimenting. It's not too late to spike it and brush some old compost and sharp sand into the holes. You really need to wiggle that fork in deep. though. To do a whole lawn that size would be a real sweat.

If there really is no grass at all in some areas, just moss, you'll probably need to returf once you've established there's no fundamental problem with the area. A modern regime of lawn care will then probably keep it looking good.

 

If the lawn has never been fed, and has been continally mown the grass will be starving, and won't be able to compete with the moss, and some kinds of weeds. Feeding it should make a big difference

 

OK. Thanks for the help folks. I'll decide on a test area and experiment with it. This spiking thing - do you need a special tool? What's the proceedure?

 

There are special tools. Just Google "lawn aerator" and you'll find 3 sorts - rotary, hollow tine and, believe it or not, shoes! I've not used any of them but I'd guess a hollow tine aerator was the most effective.

I just use an ordinary big garden fork and wiggle it down into the grass at least 75mm by standing on it. Do this every 150mm or so. In my garden, I hit big stones everywhere and it's a case of getting the fork in where I can. In my previous garden, I'd then brush a mixture of old growbag compost and sharp sand into the holes. This should relieve compaction and improve drainage. In a way, you're replacing some of the topsoil without having to dig it all up.