newbie here - winter lawn care

Hi, new kid on the block. This is my first post.

I am planning on winter care for the lawn, its 14x10m. Lawn has been totally neglected. Have bad moss on one side under a mega eucalyptus tree.

I am in South London, north facing garden.

Now its past mid Oct, is it too late to scarifying, aerate or reseed the lawn. Or just give it a winter feed. Just bought a hand-held scarifying rake, was hoping to do light thatching.

I am new to winter lawn care so a bit lost in terms of timing.

Welcome an suggestions.

 

I thought you might have had some replies by now @Dilip.
You can certainly do a bit of scarifying, but it sounds like a very shady site, so it may not be ideal to do any more just now, especially if the ground's wet.
There are certainly autumn feeds, but I don't know how well they tackle moss, and then it may be too late for any seeding etc, so it might be best to wait until spring to really tackle it. I certainly couldn't sow seed just now, but it might be ok where you are in terms of temps. You'd need one that will suit the site - so one that's right for a shady site.
The length of the grass also affects it - have you given it a trim, and what does it look like?

A photo or two always helps as well if you can manage.

 

Oh wow, great to hear from you @fairygirl. You always gave me great advice on GW forum.

I have completely neglected the lawn over many years. I have landscaped most of the garden, now need to tackle the lawn.

I am having a path put in the centre of the lawn. I am ending up with two lawn halves. One side fair amount of sunlight the other in shade. I have used seeds suitable for shaded areas, so will use that again. I gave it a trim about a week ago. The temp in London is not too bad at the moment. From a distance the lawn looks okay but up close it’s covered in weeds and moss on the shady side.

I may do some light work for now and more in the spring. Don’t plan to do anything from November onwards.

Thank you, appreciate your advice and guidance.

 

Your lawn looks good in the second and third photos @Dilip. In the close up it looks a bit like mine. I used a weed and feed product about four weeks ago and it has helped reduce moss and improve greening. I'm going to apply it again in a couple of weeks' time, as recommended by the manufacturer (November is not too late). This is what I used:

miracle-gro-evergreen-autumn-lawn-care-28kg-carton

If you follow the instructions carefully you will see an improvement within a few days. My lawn is shaded from midday onwards and moss takes a hold if I don't treat it in Autumn. It's certainly worth a try!

 

Its a question of survival of the fittest. The grass is at a disadvantage due to the diminished light. It also loses water and nutrients to the trees in competition. Nature fills the deficit with 'weeds' and lesser plants such as moss, liverworts etc.
You need to have killed the moss prior to scarifying; else you spread the moss spores to a wider area. Once the moss has turned black, it will rake out together with 'thatch' (decaying grass ). You could then spike the lawn to penetrate any compacted areas before Spring, when you could reseed with the shady grass seed.
Applying a light but repeated top dressing of fine compost (well rotted, sieved FYM would be excellent; worms should be encouraged, they will draw this applied material in to the surface soil layer ,to the grass roots benefit.There is much less risk in scorching than with chemical fertisers.
Try and not walk upon the area while it is wet, to prevent recompacting this layer.

 

I'm really grateful for your advice @Plantminded, thank you!

I'll definitely follow your suggestion and give it a feed.

The lawn appears decent from afar, but a closer inspection reveals numerous small weeds and patches of moss. It definitely requires some tender loving care after being neglected for many years.

I'm curious if it's alright to leave the dead moss and scarify in the spring, or should I give it a gentle rake after the feed and once the moss has died?

Thanks once more for your kind response!

 

Great post, @infradig!

You're absolutely right; I should have taken care of the moss before scarifying. That’s why I initially asked if October is too late for scarifying, aerating, and reseeding the lawn.

I’ve only just found the time to focus on it now. I meant to tackle the lawn in September, but things got in the way. I'm really trying to catch up, but time is not on my side.

I’ll likely get to the work in the spring.

Thanks again for the helpful post!

 

If you use a weed and feed product @Dilip, you’ll see the moss turn black within a few days. I’d wait a couple of weeks and then rake it out to give the grass more light, air and access to water and nutrients.

I have accepted that I’m never going to have a perfect lawn here on shaded, sandy soil but have managed to keep most weeds and moss out with regular spring and autumn lawn treatments and it looks green, most of the time .

 

Thanks @Plantminded, It's a great point about staying realistic. My soil is decent, but the right side of my garden is mostly in the shade due to my neighbor's huge eucalyptus tree and other plants covering that area.

I'm going to put in some much needed effort into lawn care to give the grass a fair shot. As @infradig mentioned grass is at an disadvantage.

Also, I'll keep my expectations in check, just as you wisely mentioned.

Will buy the feed tomorrow.

Thanks again.

 

'
45 feeds, and I don't think I've ever used an autumn one, so I didn't know how well they worked.
The others have given you good advice, so if you don't want to wait until spring, it seems you can get going with the moss killing/scarifying, as it does look very mossy, but I don't know how well seed will take for you at this time of year, so it might be a case of doing that now as well as in spring, or leaving it until then if you don't want a very bare site from now until then. I certainly wouldn't like that, but it's always a personal choice.

 

I have sown grass seed here in October @Dilip and it created a good lawn, much to my neighbour’s disbelief . However, if you’re using an autumn weed and feed product now, I would delay reseeding until spring as the weed and feed will prevent seed germination for up to six weeks after use, and then it will be too late to sow this year.

 

Something odd has happened to my previous post - no idea, but must have accidentally deleted something!
I think I was saying I don't often use feeds for grass, and it's mainly just spring when I do, because grass just grows by itself here.

As @Plantminded says though, if you use a weed and feed type just now, you wouldn't be able to sow seed until spring, as the weedkiller part will affect seed, so it comes back to the look of it over winter.

 

You all are fantastic! A big thank you to @fairygirl and @Plantminded.

You've assisted me in creating a good plan.

I’ll be feeding, lightly scarifying, and clearing out the dead material. I might also aerate with a fork, but I’ll hold off on seeding until spring. I’m not too worried if the lawn doesn’t look good this winter; I’m more focused on a long-term strategy.

I really appreciate your support!

 

Good luck with your plan @Dilip, you’ll be able to play croquet there next year .