Hi, regarding the weed problem you can rule out option 2 right away. It understanding the cycle of weed seed or seeds in general .
Some of the weeds you are seeing now could be dormant seeds from a last year or a few years ago , with turning the soil its exposing them to more light ( if they need light to germiante ) water etc. Some weed seedling like himalayen balsm can take up to 7 years to eradicate with dormant seeds spring to life , you miss one weed and let it seed and it all starts again . So no don't worry to much about the weeds prick out by hand when you are passing for now .
Once the grass has matured you can use selective weedkiller ( not weedkiller ) it can be applied to the entire lawn if you wish, it must be a selective lawn weedkiller it will not kill the grass and will kill anything which has a broad leaf. You may need to keep an eye out for weed grass it will have a broader leaf than your cultivated grass and will have a lighter colour green , Poa annua is a prolific weed grass and its inevitable you will get it but its probably not worth the effort pulling it out unless certain bits are bugging you , other weed grass like yorkshire fog look hideous large broad leaf it will take over large patches of lawn if not removed, selective weedkiller will not touch these weed grass.
I went out a moment ago and used a powerful LED torch and I must admit it looks quite surreal and I was hoping you might be able to identify the grass that is coming through strong?
Originally when I cleared out the garden there was a heavy/thick layer of grass, I must assume it was leftover from probably 5 years of growth, maybe more and may even at one time have been a lawn. Of course, reading your reply my concern now is that the grass that was there, across the top area of the garden might be one of the 'problem' grasses you mention.
Here is what the grass looked like close up, remember of course this is without years and years of care and just allowed to grow. This grass is clearly coming through first, mainly I guess as I fertilised the area well and dug in manure and watered it for about a week or so, (10 days I guess?) so while it is scattered in a grass sense, there is quite a lot of it coming up. Again, this probably looks worse than it is because the torch light really highlights it, but you can clearly see this 'original' grass has had an excellent head start.
I pulled one of the stalks out, some have a fair bit of a root system but I managed to remove one in its entirety with what looks like a really fat seed attached. 50p for scale...
Do you have any idea what it is? Does anyone reading this have any idea? And then I guess the next question is, if it's not a problem grass, do I just leave it to exist alongside all the new grass I planted? And then of course if it is a problem grass, is there anything I can do now to help deal with it (I can't walk into the lawn area any more there are too many shoots) or how might one deal with it once I am able to move over the lawn again?
Who knew planting grass would be so complicated!
The majority of the lawn area, probably 70% has the a light weed growth and none of this grass we are discussing, its pretty 'clean'.
SO! I lay in bed last night wondering about these long shoots. As you do. I have not yet determined if these are good or bad shoots, but my sense is if I didn't put them there, they probably aren't the best kind.
What could I do to deal with them now, while they are clearly making a complete show of themselves, without compromising the new seeds.
So, I thought about turning the liquid/viscose weed killer into something with a bit of stickiness, or a bit of thickness so that I can apply it carefully.
So this morning I tried various thickening agents and settled on Xanthan gum, a harmless food additive that reduces the viscosity in fluids. Once I had my formula I mixed up a strong dose of the Roundup weed killer and added the chosen volume of Xanthan gum and stirred to form a sticky, tacky gel. Next, to ensure I can confirm which shoots I have 'tagged' I added blue food colourant and stirred in!
Next I cut an old car cleaning sponge and cable-tied a section of it to the end of a broom handle, poured the weed killer into a secure tray and this is the result!
I then used an old scaffolding plank to access right across the area where the shoots are and carefully coated each shoot in this sticky blue formula.
I have no idea if it will work! But it's been fun. I should see them start to wilt in the next 24 hours if successful...if not as ever please send suggestions... HP.
The seedling in the picture with the 50p is definitely a new grass seedling, but whether it's from a seed that you sowed or one that was already in the soil, or one that's been blown in by the wind or dropped by a passing bird, is anybody's guess. I'd be inclined to assume it's a good guy, particularly if they're fairly uniform over the whole area.
Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
Tetraploid rye grass is apparently supposed to germinate faster and make more robust plants than the diploid varieties, so maybe that's what you're seeing.
Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
DAY 11: The sun has come out again and it's looking very, very green! I have begun to wonder what is next. I think I am supposed to wait about 4 weeks for the first cut, which is to trim back the top ends and encourage lateral growth, I think... And for those wondering why I am not using my underground sprinkler system, I had a miscalculation on the nozzles on the pop ups and they need to be replaced. Ordered 12 days ago but it would seem my order has yet to be dispatched...but I shall make the change as soon as the necessary bits arrive. £9.99 Aldi special buy sprinkler to the rescue.
So a question: @Perki you will probably have the answer but as ever all welcome.
I mentioned the broad leaf weeds were everywhere to start. 2 separate weed killer applications. They still appear to be almost everywhere and I wonder if they aren’t somehow stifling the growth of the new lawn, they are that bad in some areas.
I believe a selective weed killer will do the trick but I was wondering if anyone can recommend a specific brand or dilution, and importantly WHEN can I do a treatment?
Posts
I went out a moment ago and used a powerful LED torch and I must admit it looks quite surreal and I was hoping you might be able to identify the grass that is coming through strong?
Originally when I cleared out the garden there was a heavy/thick layer of grass, I must assume it was leftover from probably 5 years of growth, maybe more and may even at one time have been a lawn. Of course, reading your reply my concern now is that the grass that was there, across the top area of the garden might be one of the 'problem' grasses you mention.
Here is what the grass looked like close up, remember of course this is without years and years of care and just allowed to grow.
This grass is clearly coming through first, mainly I guess as I fertilised the area well and dug in manure and watered it for about a week or so, (10 days I guess?) so while it is scattered in a grass sense, there is quite a lot of it coming up. Again, this probably looks worse than it is because the torch light really highlights it, but you can clearly see this 'original' grass has had an excellent head start.
I pulled one of the stalks out, some have a fair bit of a root system but I managed to remove one in its entirety with what looks like a really fat seed attached. 50p for scale...
Do you have any idea what it is? Does anyone reading this have any idea? And then I guess the next question is, if it's not a problem grass, do I just leave it to exist alongside all the new grass I planted? And then of course if it is a problem grass, is there anything I can do now to help deal with it (I can't walk into the lawn area any more there are too many shoots) or how might one deal with it once I am able to move over the lawn again?
Who knew planting grass would be so complicated!
The majority of the lawn area, probably 70% has the a light weed growth and none of this grass we are discussing, its pretty 'clean'.
Do I have a new problem I didn't know I had?
As ever thank you all! HP.
SO! I lay in bed last night wondering about these long shoots. As you do. I have not yet determined if these are good or bad shoots, but my sense is if I didn't put them there, they probably aren't the best kind.
What could I do to deal with them now, while they are clearly making a complete show of themselves, without compromising the new seeds.
So, I thought about turning the liquid/viscose weed killer into something with a bit of stickiness, or a bit of thickness so that I can apply it carefully.
So this morning I tried various thickening agents and settled on Xanthan gum, a harmless food additive that reduces the viscosity in fluids. Once I had my formula I mixed up a strong dose of the Roundup weed killer and added the chosen volume of Xanthan gum and stirred to form a sticky, tacky gel. Next, to ensure I can confirm which shoots I have 'tagged' I added blue food colourant and stirred in!
Next I cut an old car cleaning sponge and cable-tied a section of it to the end of a broom handle, poured the weed killer into a secure tray and this is the result!
I then used an old scaffolding plank to access right across the area where the shoots are and carefully coated each shoot in this sticky blue formula.
I have no idea if it will work! But it's been fun.
There is an even, uniform distribution of shoots across the entire lawn area. So far I have to say I am pretty pleased:
The phone camera doesn't really do the colour justice but there is a lovely, rich green tone to the whole surface.
Onwards we go!
There are now entire areas that are starting to look more like lawn than like dirt!
The sun has come out again and it's looking very, very green!
I have begun to wonder what is next. I think I am supposed to wait about 4 weeks for the first cut, which is to trim back the top ends and encourage lateral growth, I think...
And for those wondering why I am not using my underground sprinkler system, I had a miscalculation on the nozzles on the pop ups and they need to be replaced. Ordered 12 days ago but it would seem my order has yet to be dispatched...but I shall make the change as soon as the necessary bits arrive. £9.99 Aldi special buy sprinkler to the rescue.
@Perki you will probably have the answer but as ever all welcome.
I believe a selective weed killer will do the trick but I was wondering if anyone can recommend a specific brand or dilution, and importantly WHEN can I do a treatment?
When is it safe to spray a new lawn? Is it ever?