@ bebe It quite a simple natural process of grass living and dying, the living grass is feeding off the nitrogen ( maybe to much nitrogen in this case ) it grows faster - new stolon / rhizomes are formed faster etc so the grass goes through its life cycle faster . At the other end when it dies they nothing there to help with the speed of the grass dying cause the natural cycle has been over worked which accumulates in a buildup of thatch , some grass species form thatch faster than others like some bents / fescues . I hope that helps explain where I am coming from .
Interesting about using distilled water, the water round here is very soft / acidic and its gone through it rigmarole with the water company it comes out of my tap Ph7.5 soft water .
I understand what you are saying Iron burning moss to help control it but not thatch , you can more a less watch moss turn black. Once its turned black it doesn't disappear / rots away overnight unless you're dealing with low amounts of moss .
Your lawn doesn't look to bad Kenny especially at this time of year . Them houses look very familiar, they remind me of some down F.road ? just ignore me if I am incorrect
The first 2 pics show the drought damage slowly recovering. Wed 05 Oct.
The 2nd two pics show the appearance on Thursday 06 October. 24 hours after treatment with FeSO4 solution.
Following the FeSO4 application, I decided to spike. This is not the best scientific technique as it adds another variable. But hey! Then we got a very heavy rain shower, so the FeSO4 was washed off after a very short dwell time.
The dead patches (aka thatch) have darkened and have become significantly less noticeable. It is my experience that the thatch will continue to rot and be absorbed quickly. But not overnight.
Quod erat demonstrandum.
location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand. "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
Iron Sulphate is used to kill moss, harden up grass so that it is more resistant to disease and to green up grass. It DOES NOT get rid of thatch. By using iron sulphate you may think that you are getting rid of the thatch in your lawn but you’re not. As I’ve said in a previous post too much thatch isn’t good for your lawn. It stops water from getting to the roots of the grass. It also stops any food that you put on from getting to the roots and so you are wasting time, effort and your money. By the way bédé my qualifications are nearly 30 years as a horticulturalist dealing with all things plants, shrubs and lawns.
There looks like quite a lot of thatch and moss there still @kennyatkinsonuk . It should look quite ragged if scarifying is done properly, according to my lawn books! I spent a couple of hours on my small lawn yesterday, first mowing at a low level, then scarifying lengthways and across, followed by mowing again and then raking to distribute any disturbed earth. It doesn’t look as bare as in previous years, so I'm not too worried as it recovered well last time. My soil is shallow and sandy so there's no hope of meeting a greenkeeper's standards! There seems to be quite a few worms there though as the lawn is regularly paraded by blackbirds! Here’s how it looks today after an hour of rain.
The opposite of my "don't scarify" policy is a scary picture like Plantminded's above. Apart from the hard work (though perhaps better than going to the gym) you seriously damage the lawn. You open up your lawn for an invasion of Nature's opportunists - weeds.
location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand. "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
As I’ve said in a previous post too much thatch isn’t good for your lawn. It stops water from getting to the roots of the grass. It also stops any food that you put on from getting to the roots .
Saying it, even repeatedly, isn't evidence. A lot of classical gardening knowledge is passed on without any proper verification. What is your evidence for your statements?
By the way, can you comment on my practice of spreading 1-2 year old garden compost onto my lawn each March? Am I adding "thatch"?
It surprised me that this compost addition achieves a quick boost to growth and greenness, equivalent to spreading a high nitrogen fertiliser. I though: humus only. I expected all the N, P, and K to be tied up in the incompleted rotted plant material, which has not had any compost accelerators, and had been exposed to the rain all winter..
location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand. "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
Wet hay aka dead grass turns blackish as it rots. Seen tons of it in my time.
I am pretty sure of what I am achieving. However, if I wanted to experiment further I might use hay. It would certainly be easier to control the variables scientifically.
I understand that if you incorporate unrotted vegetable material in the soil, the bacteria that rot it down take up a lot of nitrogen. This is then released when the bacteria die. I think I may experiment with watering dead grass with a dilute solution of Sodium Nitrate or Ammonium Nitrate, and see what happens. THis after all is the principle of composting accelerators.
location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand. "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
Posts
Interesting about using distilled water, the water round here is very soft / acidic and its gone through it rigmarole with the water company it comes out of my tap Ph7.5 soft water .
I understand what you are saying Iron burning moss to help control it but not thatch , you can more a less watch moss turn black. Once its turned black it doesn't disappear / rots away overnight unless you're dealing with low amounts of moss .
The first 2 pics show the drought damage slowly recovering. Wed 05 Oct.
The 2nd two pics show the appearance on Thursday 06 October. 24 hours after treatment with FeSO4 solution.
Following the FeSO4 application, I decided to spike. This is not the best scientific technique as it adds another variable. But hey! Then we got a very heavy rain shower, so the FeSO4 was washed off after a very short dwell time.
The dead patches (aka thatch) have darkened and have become significantly less noticeable. It is my experience that the thatch will continue to rot and be absorbed quickly. But not overnight.
Quod erat demonstrandum.
"Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
"Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
By the way, can you comment on my practice of spreading 1-2 year old garden compost onto my lawn each March? Am I adding "thatch"?
It surprised me that this compost addition achieves a quick boost to growth and greenness, equivalent to spreading a high nitrogen fertiliser. I though: humus only. I expected all the N, P, and K to be tied up in the incompleted rotted plant material, which has not had any compost accelerators, and had been exposed to the rain all winter..
"Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
I understand that if you incorporate unrotted vegetable material in the soil, the bacteria that rot it down take up a lot of nitrogen. This is then released when the bacteria die. I think I may experiment with watering dead grass with a dilute solution of Sodium Nitrate or Ammonium Nitrate, and see what happens. THis after all is the principle of composting accelerators.
"Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."