This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.
Lawn treatment
Desthemoaner
Posts: 191
Fundamental lawn treatment question, folks.
I've found out about scarifying, now I'm looking to weed and feed the lawn. I've had a quick look on the shelves in local stores and there appear to be treatments in both granular and solution based forms; but I'd prefer to use the latter, otherwise my new backpack sprayer becomes redundant. 
How should the lawn treatment year progress from now on? Brand names would be welcome, if that's allowed.
I'm really bad at making these sort of calculations, but I reckon the grassed area is about 150 sq m in total, and its on clay.
TY
0
Posts
I always use wilkinsons lawn feed my lawn always looks lovely and green after that
Heads up on the Wilkos lawn feed and weed. Works a treat. The soluble feed is also excellent.
Thanks folks, those two votes for Wilkos are very interesting, not least because their garden department was the very place I was browsing in before writing my post yesterday. Unfortunately there are no Wilko stores in this area and I was only in there because I was visiting my daughter on the Wirral; but maybe they sell their stuff online, so I'll have a look. Or I suppose I could wait till we visit again.
Mooresthemerrier, that company does sound very cheap. Since we moved here I've paid 35 quid each for quarterly treatments, and they wanted 80 quid to scarify, though presumably the price varies according to the size of the lawn. Having had that quote I decided to do the job myself, hence my original enquiry.
I ended up having them treat the lawn for Moss yesterday - to be honest I wont have Lawnhopper back! I dont think they sprayed the whole lawn properly as there is still lots of moss that has stayed green - it should turn black like the rest. Oh well think my husband will be busy with the lawn over the next year ha. Cheaper too!
My initial discomfiture with the service provided by the lawn firm centred around the time spent on the job versus the charge levied. For 35 quid the operative wandered around the lawn with a spray lance for ten minutes, no more. On that reckoning they're charging 200 quid an hour. OK, there's the cost of the travel time between jobs and of purchasing materials, but they will be paying less by buying in bulk than I ever could; and (hush my mouth/ call me a cynic) might they be tempted to dilute the product a little more generously than the manufacturer recommends, to make the treatment go further? They will of course pay tax on their earnings, but so do I. The firm provides jobs, but being retired, I really can't afford to offer charity.
So your post merely confirms the wisdom of my decision to take on the job myself, Moores.
Then He had to pay for his van and equipment plus petrol plus the solution and then all his insurances and taxes.
Actually ??35 sounds pretty good. Of course doing it yourself is always cheaper as you can cut out most of these costs.
It's way to early to be applying weed and feed. I'd say you have at least a month before you have to worry about it. They usually say apply from april, but not sure where you are but up in the north east the weeds are never growing vigorously till may really and i usually get much better results by applying it then.
Most weed/feeds work by over fertilising the weeds, so they grow more foliage than their roots can sustain and they just die. So if you apply them too soon the weed part isn't effective.
April sounds more sensible to me as well for weed and feed.
I spent several hours yesterday scarifying the lawns, raking up the debris (4 black bags full). Lots of moss this year. I use Westland weed and feed and the lawn did look better for a while last summer but I did have a lot (the 4 bags) of moss and thatch....and I scarify every year.
I'll try another weed and feed this year, see if it is any better and top dressing.
Once again, I'm returning to an old thread.
In the end, I used Evergreen moss killer and lawn treatment, which did indeed turned the moss black, ready for raking out. However, on the sloping parts of my lawn, where I've raked out the thatch and dead moss, the grass doesn't seem to have recovered; and there are significant bare patches.
How should I deal with this problem?