Renovate or maybe start from scratch.

No, I have not cut the front garden yet because the grass is not long enough, maybe 2 inches tall. I know cutting grass encourages lateral growth but I have not mowed it yet, plus it has been raining on and off for the past few days so the grass is never completely dry.

I was hoping the seed would remain viable for at least a year as the package date is July 2015. It is staying inside the house as the temperatures/humidity levels fluctuate too much outside in the store. Then again it does not matter too much about germination as spreading it on the soil is still better than throwing it away.

 

Update, cut the front.

This was 2 weeks


This is at 5 weeks

 

That's a big improvement Mosamahab.

 

Yeah, the past week has been full of sunshine and mild temperature so it has helped the growth.

Though the corners are still bare, lots of seed but no growth. Can see algae developing, or maybe moss. Have not inspected it closely. I prepared the soil properly so I am thinking bad growth is mostly because no sunshine so I cut quite a lot of the neighbours tree off hoping it will help.

 

You can buy seed for shaded areas, perhaps you could try that in the spring.

 

I have over seeded with a shady mixture after poor growth with the original mixture in some areas. I over seeded the back and the front on the 19th with a bluegrass (smooth and wood), fescue (hard, slender, strong), highland bent and PRG mixture.

The original general lawn mixture was fescue (strong, chewings) and PRG. It was my mistake not buying the shady mixture to begin with but this has been a learning experience. Though, not all waste; as the grass still came up where the sun shines just not good in the shade. So I bought a big bag of shade mixture. A little extra expenditure, not a big deal. And there is still plenty leftover for next year.

https://www.lawnuk.com/content/shelf-life-how-long-does-seed-keep

 

There's always something new to learn with gardening and every garden has it's own quirks that we have to solve. A plant can be discarded and replaced with something different if it doesn't thrive but lawns are more of a challenge as they are a permanent feature that covers a large area of our gardens. As you say, you have learnt from laying your lawns and it's something to be filed mentally for the future.

I've found lawn seed isn't viable after it's first year but that depends a lot on the type used. I've only ever used a general purpose which will be a general mix, as it's not been necessary for me to use a seed for a particular problem.

 

As earlier predicted slugs ARE eating grass seedlings.

I see germination and two three days later it is almost gone. Chewed leaves everywhere. The lack of sunshine does not help either as it is not growing fast enough. They are having a party at my expense. Cheeky.

One thing is sorted though. Tree is no more. Neighbour borrowed the chainsaw and chopped it off. So I should be getting whatever limited sunlight that is left reach the grass.

I will have to do something about the slugs.



Nothing growing, only algae.

 

The slugs will only be eating the freshly germinated grass, annoying though it is. We are coming into the wet part of the year now so perhaps it would be best to leave any more re-seeding until next year when the weather is dryer. Dry spells will send them deep underground.

Perhaps you should turn the patch where nothing is growing into a bed and plant some small shrubs.

 

Yeah, The little buggers seem to love the baby grass. I kept seeding and seeing germination and then the grass would disappear. 2 times I did that. Originally on 30/08 then 21/09. Eventually I went out at night to confirm my suspicions and there they were munching away.

It is amazing how many things you need to save your seed from. Birds, cats digging, slugs eating them, rain washing it away and sun drying it out

I am not going to re seed as I said earlier in the thread. No point because it is not going to germinate. It is getting quite cold at nights averaging 7 degrees. I will look at growing the grass in empty patches mid to late April next year. For now I am done with the gardens. The only thing I will be doing is cutting the grass.

Here, look at banquet they are having.

 

You could try using a couple of slug pubs to see if they will draw them away from the grass.

 

I hear flour, sugar and yeast solution can be set up as a trap. I'll see what that achieves.

 

Cheap beer will work in a slug pub. A number of members have used this with success.

 

Thanks for that. I'll grab some awful beer tomorrow and some pellets as well.

 

The yeast, sugar and flour solution worked as I was not able to purchase beer being busy all day.

So I just put out some traps and I'd say almost fifty slugs were in there. Slug pellets are down as well so it is a carnage in the garden. At least they won't be eating new grass.