New lawn, finally growing. Some questions!

Morning all,

New lawn is finally growing (see pictures attached)!

However you will notice there are a fair few 'weeds' or whatever these are. Little leaf-y numbers with very shallow roots.

Question 1) How best to deal with these weeds? Obviously they need to go at some point, but I don't want to go stomping all over the lawn pulling them (and probably some grass at the same time) out.


This leads me on to...

Question 2) It's getting towards time that the lawn needs trimming. I had thought to buy a push mower of sorts. However someone at work quite rightly pointed out that you risk pulling up all the grass because it has not established a strong root structure yet.

I wouldn't mind the effort of using long handled shears to cut it all, however I would worry about constantly shuffling across the grass, thus either crushing the new lawn or pulling it up in the process!


Thoughts?


Chris

 

Looks like a great lawn in on the way. Good job!!!

Leave the mowing or shearing for now. It's a worrying time when you're waiting for a lawn to grow but keeping off it until it is stroger and thicker will pay dividends in the next couple of weeks.

It's hard to ID the seedlings at this early stage so I'd be inclined to leave them be for now. New grass is rather tender (as you've already mentioned) and to remove the weeds at this stage may do more harm than good by disturbing the grass that has germinated or is about to do so.

In the meantime, keep watering the lawn regularly and when it's ready to mow, the weeds will get mown too. New grass can require mowing a couple of times a week and many weeds will struggle to keep up with being mown down and succumb.

If they persist once the grass is established and after at least a couple of months afterward mowing is possible, a selective lawn weedkiller will see them off. Don't be tempted to use a 'weed & feed' product though as it may cause the grass to divert much of its energy into foliage production at the expense of establishing a strong root network. As your garden looks quite shaded, it needs the strongest roots possible for the wet months as sun and wind drying up moisture will be inhibited, possibly leading to rotting of weak roots and potential moss issues

 

Sounds like sage advice to me! And my thoughts exactly on the weeds.

How would you recommend trimming when it comes to it, shearing or mowing?


Generally, the collective internet seems to suggest that 3 to 3.5 inches is a good time to cut, and some clumps are certainly getting that way... Alan Titchmarsh (a man who I would tend to trust on such matters) suggested that cutting should encourage the grass to spread and fill the gaps.

You're right about the shading, it's not quite as bad as it looks (and will be made better when we can get back onto the lawn to trim back the ivy overhanging from next door!).