New lawn advice

Hi all, i laid a new lawn just over six weeks ago, i cut it on the highest setting,and it looked lush, then 7 days later i cut it again on the lowest setting, and i skimmed off some of the turf that was slightly raised, and it looks patchy, will it grow back in, or is it dead, i have bought miracle gro patch magic just incase, see the picture of my lawn, please help,ANY advise would be great.

Thanks in advanced..

 

Oooops! It's always easy to be wise after the event and we've all done it in some way or another. With new lawns it's best to use the highest cut and then only gradually reduce the height as the turf 'beds down' and the roots establish themselves. From the look of your picture, I'm guessing the ground wasn't exactly super flat - amazing how just the tiniest raised bit can make such a difference. However, none of this helps you now.

Others may know better, but my suggestion would be firstly to raise that lawn mower back to, if not it's highest setting, certainly the second highest. Keep an eye on the bald areas, see if after a week or two there is any sign of new grass reappearing - if you bought really good quality turf you may be lucky and not have damaged the roots. Watch out for moss or weed seeds germinating on the bald spots and get rid of them PDQ if you spot any. If there's still no sign of new grass, I'd lightly rake some grass seed into the bald areas. Treat the whole lot as a 'new lawn' and stay off it (apart from a light mow) until the seeded area is the same height as the original turf.

 

I think you have to make sure you water it a lot for the first few weeks too.

We actually use a company called Green Thumb (they're on the web) and they come round once a season and spray various fertilizers and weed killers onto the grass. It's made such a big difference.

I don't know what the weather has been like where you are, but it hasn't rained here for over a week and the grass is beginning to suffer. Another piece of advice is that even with established grass, don't cut it too short.

Good luck, hope it picks up!