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Lawn Advice Appreciated
andy whitwham
Posts: 6
Hi all, Im just about to start my second year living in our bungalow, and during my first year I did a LOT of work transforming a horrible looking front garden into something much more decent. I am seeking advice for my front lawn. I know I need to do some work on it, as from a distance it looks ok, but get close up and its all clover, dandelions, bits of moss and other undesirables. All Ive done so far during the past summer is shape the edges, mow it regularly and work on the borders. In 2015 I want a nice lawn, not sure how to replace all the clover, moss etc with actual grass, unless I dig the whole thing up and start again...or is there some feed anyone can recommend ...many thanks, and happy christmas... ~ andy ~
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Hi Andy - Merry Christmas to you too
At this time of year you can give it an established lawn a good spiking all over with an aerator or garden fork - this will get some air down into the soil and also help drainage. Other than that I'd leave it alone in the wet soggy weather and try to keep off it when frosty or when there's snow on it.
In the early spring you can use an all in one lawn feed which also contains weed and moss killer - it's a good idea to hire/borrow a spreader for this as it's important not to over apply it. This will kill off lawn weeds and moss and then you can rake them out. The lawn will look a bit grim for a while but the lawn feed will soon perk the grass up and it will spread and take over the bare patches. If there are any thin areas left by September a sprinkling of lawn seed will soon remedy that and then you'll be well on the way to having a lawn to be proud of.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
We do exactly as Dove says, every Spring, using Westland weed feed and mosskiller, I find it the best, having used several others. We do have an electric scarifer, and a little spreader,
Wait until Spring when there is some leafy growth on the weeds, then just follow the instructions on the bag.
We always scarify first, then apply then after about a month, wh
en you see the moss has turned black, give it another scarifying
.
If its really bad, you can have another go later in the year, it will tell you about that on the bag/box, whatever you choose to buy
Your not alone with lawn problems though, when we first came here, or rather my parents, this garden was just a corner of a field, my dad has really worked on it over the years, never stripped it or returfed and now its lovely.
Yep totally agree, I had problems at the beginning of the year with the front lawn full of moss, clover and dandelions, the problem with the front lawn is that it is north facing and is shadowed by our house resulting in not getting lots of sunlight.
But I invested in an aerator which takes plugs out of the lawn to helps oxygen get to the roots of the grass and it also releases the Carbon Dioxide from the compact soil which is trapped, I did this in May, a bit late but gave it a try, next year I will be doing it it earlier probably late Feb or early March. It is also a good idea to aerate the lawn in Autumn as the soil really gets compact in the wet and cold months that follow.
Then I treated the lawn with Westlands lawn product as they are the best from my experience as Lyn found out. Raked the dead moss out once it turned black and dry looking, and then just let nature take its course.
I didn't think i could save the lawn at the front but it ended up being better than the lawn i had at the back.
Also you can use lawn conditioner throughout the year as this will bring out lush green colour and help growth.
Hope this helps as it worked for me, but you do have to keep on top of it.
Many thanks for the replies, I am a newby as far as gardening goes, so I really do appreciate all these very useful comments and I will be acting upon them... Regards ~ andy
Hello all the above good advice
But dandelions seem to survive feed/weed so this year I have started spraying them individually with weed killer , it does work but it also kills the grass a bit , so I put some seed down and it does grow again , does look a bit messy
Not sure how successful my Dandelion extermination project will be until next year
The Westland will kill the dandelions, they will come back the following year but then the lawn benefits from a yearly treatment.
When you start mowing again in Spring, do it regularly but never short. Mow it longish.
Good thought WW, always just take off the top on the first couple of cuts.
I mow like this all year. I haven't changed the setting. I think grass needs leaf to be strong. Mine is currently looking better than it has for several years on this regime. Last cut was 1 week ago.( also collects last of leaf fall) Also less moss than usual. Will use Feed and weed next spring.
Its cropping it too short that causes the moss I have found. Couldnt get a late cut in, much to wet here, the fronts been done because its covered in snowdrops and if the grass is long they dont stand out.
I would have loved to get another cut in as its always so wet in the Spring, we cut later.