Forum home› Problem solving
This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.

New Grass Seed - Yellowing

FledglingFledgling Posts: 16
in Problem solving

Hello,

I recently worked on a relatives garden that had major drainage issues. The soil was mostly clay and held water like a pond. Over previous winters the garden has flooded every time making it unusable in winter.

Following the advice of this forum and the RHS I removed all the old turf, laid a couple of land drains covered in membrane and stone and mixed in three tonne bags of grit sand to the clay soil along with the usual fertilisers, blood fish and bone etc.

I then levelled and rolled the soil having planted new grass seed. Everything appeared to be going well (see the pictures) when all of a sudden parts of the grass started to yellow. At first I though it might be cats, but then a week later it appeared everywhere.

So my questions:

1) Given the weather at the moment, should I be looking to mow this before winter, or should I leave it until next spring now?

2) What is the purpose of rolling the new grass. I've read elsewhere that you should roll it at this stage to break the blades, then mow it. Any suggestions or tips

And finally,

3) Do you know what could be causing the yellowing? How can I fix it?

 

I'm fairly new to gardening so there is a good chance I've made mistakes... Thanks in advance.

 

image

 

image

 

image

 

 

 

 

Posts

  • Dave MorganDave Morgan Posts: 3,123

    I think I'd look at the drainage issue again. I'd spike the lawn all over and brush in grit, as much as you can for now. It looks to have taken relatively well so I wouldn't be too concerned yet. Lawns are often long term projects taking several years to get right. Rolling at this stage could well compact the soil and undo some of the hard work you've already done. I'd redo the spiking in spring then see how it grows. Just a high cut now is all I'd do.

  • FledglingFledgling Posts: 16

    Perfect! Thanks for the quick reply Dave. So you suspect too much water - I'll give it a go this weekend (or when the weather eases slightly).

  • Dave MorganDave Morgan Posts: 3,123

    With clay you always get patches that won't drain despite what you've done so spiking and gritting is the way to go for those areas.

  • FledglingFledgling Posts: 16

    Any ideas where to get "grit" from? Or will grit sand do?

  • Dave MorganDave Morgan Posts: 3,123

    Garden centres will sell grit. You want horticultural grit.

  • Garden noobGarden noob Posts: 260
    This is a really interesting thread as it's similar to what I saw last autumn. I sowed grass seed in the Sept and by Nov/Dec it yellowed and I suspected cats/foxes. The good news is that, come the spring, it greened up perfectly as you'd hope. I assumed the grass species yellowed as it went dormant for winter, a bit like leaves yellow in autumn. I'd never considered that drainage could be the issue, but my lawn did used to have a problem with moss (which I'd attributed to a lack of light - this has been fixed now). This autumn I spiked it and the grass does seem a little less yellow. The variety of grass seems to be important too. The part I reseeded is a cheap "family lawn mix" (it didn't even state the grasses or ratios) and it suffers more than the original lawn (whatever that is).
  • FledglingFledgling Posts: 16

    Hello Garden Noob,

    This is the grass seed I used:

    http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/160812676739?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

    Mixture

    Dwarf Perennial  = 50%

    Strong Creeping Red Fescue = 50%

    Suitable for amenity use

    I got the grass off ebay and it did seem to take quite well. I'll probably try the forking as it will not do any harm. Once a bit more dry I'll give it a high cut, then leave it. We can then see in spring how it's doing. Post back if you fancy some updates image.

    Thanks

     

     

  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117

    I sowed a new lawn in the back garden this summer - a beautiful emerald sward which is now yellowing. I used a lot of grit and compost to assist drainage as we get high rainfall. It's just the time of year. My front grass is the same and it's lovely during the summer after a spring feed. I don't use an autumn feed, but I spiked them both during September to help a little during winter.

    A good regime from spring onwards will see it recover, Fledgling  image

    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • FledglingFledgling Posts: 16

    Thanks for all the comments. By way of an update, I spiked the lawn as suggested to aid drainage and then left the lawn over winter. This spring it came back with a vengeance; I gave it it's first cut and over seeded the few bald spots. This is a picture of the lawn after winter with additional spring growth.

    It looks like FairyGirl was spot on, it recovered on it's own come spring.

    image

    Last edited: 12 May 2016 21:11:23

Sign In or Register to comment.