Lawn

andy.hansen88 · April 2022

Morning All,

I've been in my newbuild for nearly 3 years now and the lawn is slowly getting worse. The foundations are probably rubbish and clay based. I aerated the lawn with a aerator that I hired and reseeded last year. Now we are approaching spring (doesn't feel like it today) - I was wondering what could be done? I also have a small dog which doesn't help!

For some reason one part of the grass grows much better than the other (2nd photo compared to first). I'm guessing all the other sporadic green patches are from the dogs wee acting as a fertiliser. Any advice welcome!

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6030279/uploads/editor/sk/skbg8b3h1916.jpg

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6030279/uploads/editor/a8/d0vlu66yhcnt.jpg

Dave Humby · April 2022

Yes, dog wee is high in nitrogen, however it's too concentrated and scorches the immediate patch but fertilizes, as it get's weaker, on the outer reaches. The only real solution is to run around with a watering can to dilute the patch every time your dog wee's but that's not overly practical. Or keep them off the lawn, or accept the damage.

Your lawn doesn't look too bad for the time of year. Some over-seeding and you'll have a decent enough lawn in three or four weeks. As you say, the sub-base is the most likely cause for your issues and there's normally no easy fix unfortunately.

andy.hansen88 · April 2022

Thanks Dave. Does the lawn need to be scarified (never been done) and and aerated again?

Dave Humby · April 2022

A relatively new lawn probably doesn't need scarifying. You could try with a spring rake and see how much thatch comes up. Certainly a light raking around the dead spots from the dog wee before re-seeding will help establish the seeds and let them germinate.

For aerating I would suggest trying with a decent garden fork and push that in as far as you can and lever it to decompact further down into the subsoil. The 'trouble' with the aerator machines is they typically only go a couple of inches down. With a new build - and all the crud probably in the ground and all the heavy machinery that would have compacted the subsoil during the house construction - I would expect your problem to be further down and not the top few inches.

andy.hansen88 · April 2022

Thanks Dave. Will give this all a go and fingers crossed i'll see an improvement!

Fairygirl · April 2022

I'd be delighted if my grass looked that good at the start of April too!
I think, apart from what @Dave Humby has already said re the dog etc, it's probably too late to do much about improving the base of the lawn, but some aerating and even adding a bit of soil and reseeding will gradually improve the growing conditions from above. Grass doesn't need a huge depth of soil to thrive in, but if you can improve the drainage with a fork, that will be less damaging than using a machine, which might even make the site worse.
New builds are always tricky in that respect.

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