Thick stalk like grass in my lawn.

Its all over the lawn, it is just like stalks and the lawnmower just seems to flatten it, its also very dead looking in colour. What is it called and how can I get rid of it, apart from pulling it up!!!!

 

Can you post any pics Tinkerbell?

It sounds like what are locally called bennets - seed head stalks, but you normally only see these later in the year. If it is just stalks and not actually leaf blades, you should be able to mow them with a rotary mower - a cylinder mower will just flatten them, because the front roller pushes them down, and the reel just skims over the top.

If you're already using a rotary, you ought to sharpen the blade...

 

Thanks Will, yes they do seed if the lawn isn't cut every week. I think if I cut then rake and cut again I might just catch all of it. Can anyone recommend a good lawn feed? It will look a bit thread bare by the time I'm finished!!!!!

 

It sounds as though the lawn is pretty well established, so just about any lawn food will do. I prefer the slow release ones, because they'll usually last a couple of months even if it pours with rain all summer - but they are more expensive.

Go for a spring / summer NPK analysis, which means that the N and the K should be roughly equal - about 10% if it's a soluble (quick release) feed, or up as high as 25% if it's a slow release - remember with a slow release the nutrient isn't all released in one hit, so you won't get a growth flush depsite the high N content.

The P content depends on how regularly you feed the lawn, and whether your normal feed contains phosphorous - it tends to lock up in the soil, so you need to apply less of it, and less often. Generally about 5% is about right.

Hope that helps.