I agree with others that trying to grow grass under the shade of a tree will be hard work. Remember also the tree roots will spread out at least as far as the canopy & take water & nutrients out of the ground. As others have said, you could make a bed round it or you could go Japanese & grow moss instead!
For now - I'd just cut that - don't take too much off the first time as it's quite long. A week later cut again a little lower to get it to the best sort of height. Depending on where you are and what weather you're getting, you could either dig out the dandelions (which seem to be the main weed you have there) or use a bit of spot weedkiller on them. Ideally you need a bit of growth on the weeds for it to be effective, but be careful of getting any on surrounding planting or the grass. Wait for a calm day, and preferably till later in the evening when there are fewer pollinating insects around.
Since it's newly seeded, it's probably best to leave anything else till spring. You can then start a programme of scarifying, aerating, feeding etc. Just keep cutting regularly, only taking a little off at a time to keep it healthy, until growth slows up for the winter. I'd agree with the others that it'll be difficult to keep grass thriving under the tree. If you don't want anything too high maintenence, you could simply clear a circular area round the tree and dress it with bark. An edging strip of some kind will help prevent the bark 'travelling' onto the grass, and make mowing easier too. Some spring bulbs would be attractive in there, and that's something you can do in the next month or so. I'm not keen on serious underplanting of a mature tree like that, as there's even more competition for water and nutrients, and it can just look messy, but that's a personal opinion.
If you can/are allowed , remove all the excess stuff on the main trunk of the tree - that'll make a big difference to it. You might be allowed to raise the canopy as well. That just means removing some lower branches, which would allow a lot of extra light into the garden. That will benefit your grass. I expect a shade mix of seed has been sown, and that's the best type for your conditions. You'll just have to play it by ear a little.
Hopefully you can maintain a nice green space with the tree as an attractive focal point. It will take a bit of work, and you'll probably need to keep the grass slightly longer than the ideal because it will grow less well in the shade you have. Good luck with it anyway.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Yes, top height on mower I'd say at first and then perhaps reduce a centimetre a week to about 4cm? Should be enough to not shock the grass and keep it healthy while looking good.
With the weeds, depends on how many there are (looks quite a few), so either hand-pull, spot weed or the blanket weedkiller, depending on how much you value the local ecosystem!. You can do aeration and scarifying any time I think - scarifying is more straightforward; aeration can depend on how hard the soil is. The blanket weedkiller may have a feed in as well, but if not, look at feeding - perhaps an autumn feed to strengthen roots. I'd probably water it, if no rain, though this will depend on the weedkiller!
The overall idea would be to start to move the lawn towards what you want without shocking it too much, so food and water, with careful cutting, should help it to survive the onslaught you'll be putting it through!
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The only further advice I would add is keep the grass 3 inches high to support the weed killer in inhabiting new weed growth. Good luck.
I agree with others that trying to grow grass under the shade of a tree will be hard work. Remember also the tree roots will spread out at least as far as the canopy & take water & nutrients out of the ground. As others have said, you could make a bed round it or you could go Japanese & grow moss instead!
Just a thought
For now - I'd just cut that - don't take too much off the first time as it's quite long. A week later cut again a little lower to get it to the best sort of height. Depending on where you are and what weather you're getting, you could either dig out the dandelions (which seem to be the main weed you have there) or use a bit of spot weedkiller on them. Ideally you need a bit of growth on the weeds for it to be effective, but be careful of getting any on surrounding planting or the grass. Wait for a calm day, and preferably till later in the evening when there are fewer pollinating insects around.
Since it's newly seeded, it's probably best to leave anything else till spring. You can then start a programme of scarifying, aerating, feeding etc. Just keep cutting regularly, only taking a little off at a time to keep it healthy, until growth slows up for the winter. I'd agree with the others that it'll be difficult to keep grass thriving under the tree. If you don't want anything too high maintenence, you could simply clear a circular area round the tree and dress it with bark. An edging strip of some kind will help prevent the bark 'travelling' onto the grass, and make mowing easier too. Some spring bulbs would be attractive in there, and that's something you can do in the next month or so. I'm not keen on serious underplanting of a mature tree like that, as there's even more competition for water and nutrients, and it can just look messy, but that's a personal opinion.
If you can/are allowed , remove all the excess stuff on the main trunk of the tree - that'll make a big difference to it. You might be allowed to raise the canopy as well. That just means removing some lower branches, which would allow a lot of extra light into the garden. That will benefit your grass. I expect a shade mix of seed has been sown, and that's the best type for your conditions. You'll just have to play it by ear a little.
Hopefully you can maintain a nice green space with the tree as an attractive focal point. It will take a bit of work, and you'll probably need to keep the grass slightly longer than the ideal because it will grow less well in the shade you have. Good luck with it anyway.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
With the weeds, depends on how many there are (looks quite a few), so either hand-pull, spot weed or the blanket weedkiller, depending on how much you value the local ecosystem!. You can do aeration and scarifying any time I think - scarifying is more straightforward; aeration can depend on how hard the soil is. The blanket weedkiller may have a feed in as well, but if not, look at feeding - perhaps an autumn feed to strengthen roots. I'd probably water it, if no rain, though this will depend on the weedkiller!
The overall idea would be to start to move the lawn towards what you want without shocking it too much, so food and water, with careful cutting, should help it to survive the onslaught you'll be putting it through!