Not Another Lawn ?

In 2010 we got a lovely wee lab (bitch). Over the period she was peeing on the grass in the back garden and we ended up with dead grass patches.

Then the winter hit .... ouch it was a bad one.

We ended up with pretty much no lawn at all after that .... just dirt.

In summer of 2011, I resolved myself to sorting the back garden. I halved it in two (horizontal) with the back section now being bark and the play area for the kids and the front re-turfed.

RE-TURFING - There wasnt much grass left .... in fact sod all (excuse the pun). The ground looked a little compacted so I thought grass roots would struggle to penetrate. I got myself a rotavator and went over the area a few times. On doing this it churned up all the crap that had obviously been burried during the building of the house back in the 60's so I spent 3 nights on my hands and knees picking out all the debris.

I rolled it and then got on with laying the lawn. Was easier than I thought.

It looked spectacular. Lush green grass and the lovely smelling bark enhancing my enjoyment on the garden swing chair. It was like this for a few months. I watered it, cut it .... treated it like one of the family.

At one point we had a lot of rain up here (aberdeen) and I just never got a chance to go out and cut the grass so it grew and grew. Eventually we started seeing some mushrooms so I thought sod it (again with the pun) got the flymo out and cut the grass down. The grass was wettish and it was long enough to be a bit of a struggle to cut. After that it was down hill.

Large patches started discolouring so I put down some of the grass restorer etc but to no avail. It gradually all died. There is a wee bit of grass returning but I dont see it getting better See below.

I have considered astro turff but I got alot of enjoyment from my the real stuff so would like to have another go. But before I do I need to understand why my grass died and to ensure that it doesnt happen again.

I should add that my dog now only pees on the bark and didnt actually pee on the new turff although the garden slopes a little from the bark area down to the grass. I wondered if the pee was running down but I very much doubt it.

Anyway please let me know what you think or if you need more information.

 

What type of soil do you have? If it's clay then I think the best thing you can do is start again. Rotovate and dig in something that will lighten the soil, compost maybe.
If you can stop the children and dog from using it for some while, it may be better to grass seed it instead with a general purpose seed which creates a slightly hardier lawn. If not re-turf. You must keep it watered during dry periods for the first 2 to 3 months while the roots are establishing. At the same time not cutting it to short.

Once it is established you need to cut it regularly. The more it's cut the least likely it will become patchy. Mowing will help it to produce more shoots, therefore making it more dense. Try and keep it cut throughout the seasons, even in winter if it's not boggy and it's getting to long. But at that time of year a higher setting on your mower is best, you only need to take the top off to keep it in check and it will help stop frost damage. Try to stay off it when it's frosty.