Copperdog, If you are looking for a bowling green lawn then there is lots to learn and aeration is part of it, but if you just want something for the children to romp about on then usually no aeration is needed, (but you can do it) unless you get lots of moss develop and have some kinds of damp patches. If the soil is very hard and on a slope water can roll off, but that's only when it's dry. When I was a park keeper and a groundsman, we only aeriated the cricket pitch between the wickets and the football pitch, the park itself was never aeriated and grew green and lush like parks all over the UK Most peoples lawns are actually full of all sorts of plants from daisies to plantians, from clover to buttercups, this is all fine provided one does not get to puritanical about it. It's all green stuff
Parts of my lawn looked equally as bad as your photos but they are recovering as we get more rain. No surprise that the worst affected areas are those which are in full sun so got baked for such a long time. I still have some bare patches but there are signs of life even in those.
I have raked and scarified yesterday and left hose on for a jolly good soak. It looks ten times better already! Just need to aerate it with the garden fork now. Should I then put some autumn lawn builder on it or just leave it?
I'd leave it for a bit ... it's a lot better but still looks a bit sparse ... I don't like feeding plants that aren't in top form ... a bit like giving a steak dinner to an invalid ... I'd be more inclined to sprinkle some grass seed on the bare patches and give it another soaking .... sprinkle a little seed lightly on the rest of the lawn too so that any difference in colour blends in.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
It's looking good already. Not sure what Lawn builder is, but stick to aerating it and see what happens for a few more weeks. If no regrowth in some gaps after rain, just re-seed those patches after giving the patches a light rake over. You have plenty of time, it's only the beginning of September.
That’s all really encouraging thanks Dove and Borderline. Lawn builder is just autumn lawn food by Scott’s it’s quite basic with no moss killer stuff and it’s no scorch too. I thought that maybe it would feed the little that’s there and help it bulk out.
I usually use the summer lawn builder in April. I knew aerating was good for the grass but didn’t realise it appears to be the best thing to do....especially when Yvie said she’d done hers a few times through the summer...do you water first before aerating or just get on and do it in the dry? I’d also wondered about the strap on aerating shoes! Does anyone recommend them? @Yviestevie
I do it dry and then water after. As for the shoes I don't think they could possibly get down far enough or have big enough spikes to make a difference, that said I've never used them. I'm lucky enough to have a small enough lawn to be able to use a garden fork.
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If you are looking for a bowling green lawn then there is lots to learn and aeration is part of it, but if you just want something for the children to romp about on then usually no aeration is needed, (but you can do it) unless you get lots of moss develop and have some kinds of damp patches. If the soil is very hard and on a slope water can roll off, but that's only when it's dry.
When I was a park keeper and a groundsman, we only aeriated the cricket pitch between the wickets and the football pitch, the park itself was never aeriated and grew green and lush like parks all over the UK
Most peoples lawns are actually full of all sorts of plants from daisies to plantians, from clover to buttercups, this is all fine provided one does not get to puritanical about it. It's all green stuff
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.