My strange bumpy lawn!!

Hello folks
Novice gardener Lolopo here again with another question!

Please see attached photo of the lawn in our garden. We are in the process of revamping the garden as an elderly gentleman used to live in our house and so it's all a bit neglected.

I have just mown the lawn and discovered all sorts of very large bumps in the turf. My boyfriend has tried to dig out the lumps but the ground is rock hard. I think the lawn is salvageable but he thinks we should just dig over and start all over again. It's a reasonable lawn in most places but does have lots of bald patches and of course these big lumps all over it. It seems the lawn is not flat and level at all.

So, we have a debate going on between the both of us: should we dig up and start from scratch with new seed? or salvage what is there with plenty of water, seed and love?!

I was going to soak whole garden tonight just to get some hydration into the soil and then either try to salvage the lawn or begin to dig up tomorrow.

Your advice would be much appreciated!!

Many thanks.

Lolopo x

 

Looks pretty bad :( Loads of couch and coarse grasses in there. Might be better to cut your losses, treat the whole lawn with Roundup, dig it through and remove any bricks etc., improve the soil condition then start again with either seed or turf.

If you have other priorities this year you could just keep it cut - it will improve it and lumps and bumps can easily be reduced but that couch will always be there ready to invade any borders.

Should you decide to redo the lawn you'll probably find the straight concrete path will scream at you so now's the time to plan how you want your garden to look and what sort of budget you have to play with. If you think you may be moving soon then tidy the existing lawn and concentrate on the borders.

 

Hi there
Thanks for your brilliant reply. Really helpful. I think now, we are going to redo the lawn then and start from scratch. What is couch by the way??

 

Couch, (ususally pronounced 'cooch') twitch, scutch or a number of other local or less polite names (Latin name Elymus repens) is a very invasive coarse grass that forms underground rhizomes (a tough rooting system) that will throw up new shoots at any opportunity. It's the main culprit for the overgrowth of your path and the clumps and bumps in the lawn.

It is possible to dig it out but eradication is difficult because any small piece of root left behind will re-grow. The new exploratory shoots also have sharp spear-like tips and I have seen a daffodil bulb pierced through by a couch tip. In a badly infested lawn it's one of the few cases I would recomend chemical eradication

For more info there is an RHS web page http://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profiles1004/couchgrasscontrol.asp or you could try http://www.purplesage.org.uk/profiles/couchgrass.htm where you will find it does have some usefull medicinal properties