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Spotty grass
Oxon_Ed
Posts: 8
I would be very grateful for a bit of advice. We paid for fresh turf to be laid a year and a half ago. We've slowly seen the lawn degrade to the condition below 
We have two obstacles. A small dog... causing the usual blockers and trees in our neighbour's gardens which block most of the direct sunlight. The bush on the right also clearly does not help, nor does the tree sucking up a lot of the moisture.
We paid for turf with grass that suits the shade. We also try and get the dog out enough that she does not kill off what we have. However, we're looking pretty post apocalytic, despite watering the lawn every couple of days for 15 minutes per time
Any ideas?? We have not been using grass feed. I've no idea how to use it... I'll read the back of the bottle and give it a crack soon but I doubt that's the only problem here.
We have two obstacles. A small dog... causing the usual blockers and trees in our neighbour's gardens which block most of the direct sunlight. The bush on the right also clearly does not help, nor does the tree sucking up a lot of the moisture.We paid for turf with grass that suits the shade. We also try and get the dog out enough that she does not kill off what we have. However, we're looking pretty post apocalytic, despite watering the lawn every couple of days for 15 minutes per time
Any ideas?? We have not been using grass feed. I've no idea how to use it... I'll read the back of the bottle and give it a crack soon but I doubt that's the only problem here.0
Posts
That's important, even in good growing conditions.
Watering also needs to be done for a lot longer than 15 mins every couple of days when first laid, unless you have very persistent [and consistent] rainfall.
However, feeding won't really do much good either, as it won't help when the grass is already struggling.
Hard to see from the photos, as they're too far away, but I think you'll either have to re seed - and probably quite often, or - forget about having grass at all. There are mixes which might suit better - ie just having clover or similar rather than standard 'grass', and although that likes sun too, it'll also manage shade.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
The guys that laid it rotovated and did the usual professional steps. We watered it for an hour per day for the first two weeks. It took well but then dropped off after a few months.
We don't really want to forget about having grass if we can help it. We have some clover which has taken root where we had seeded. I just watered it, hence why it looks quite moist.
Looks like we'll need to keep seeding. Sounds like the way forward.
If you want to keep it, you'll just need to persevere. I'm slightly concerned that you say the people who did it rotovated. Did they then level and rake, and is the soil well draining?
If the soil's heavy, that will impact the growth as well.
If it's struggling a bit, try and keep it a bit longer. That can help if you get lots of dry spells, but it's also better in damper weather too. My front 'lawn' is north west-ish facing, so it gets decent enough light and sun in summer, but in spring and autumn, when sun is lower, it's quite shady. I don't cut mine as short as others in the road, and mine definitely has more grass in it
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
They levelled and raked. The soil is heavily compacted even though they rotavated. It doesn't drain well
I'll try and cut mine long and will sow some seed in the autumn / spring. Fingers crossed.
your turf looks starving hungry, the Tree in the corner will suck up most of the moisture and nutrition in the ground as well as a lot of the large surrounding shrubs and trees, so unless you address this you will be back to the start once all the nutrition has gone from the new top soil.
For shade look into Carbohydrates for turf.
To be honest. Mown, we're not planning on getting rid of the tree or any of the shrubs & trees, so looks like we're stuck. Thanks for the advice. We'll just try and keep it watered and throw down lawn feed as regularly as possible.
I might have to change my name
Oh and I don't drink so no pub needed.