Tips and advice needed for new lawn.

[4390evans]

I've give in! I'm lifting my lawn atm as its a right state, there is more weeds, clover, thatch, moss and nettles than what there is on the wild field out the back of me.

So I've give in I'm going to lay a new lawn. I'm having some top soil delivered to raise the lawn a bit but is there anything I should put on it before I put the grass seed down?
Is there anything I can do to stop weeds growing while the seed is rooting?

Any hits, tips or advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks guys
Jen

[dim]

you cannot use weed and feed fertilizer for 6 months after seeding a new lawn

that does not mean that you cannot use a lawn fertilizer but use one that does not have weedkiller

the trick with seeding a new lawn is that you need to cover the seed with a heavy compost such as John Innes #3, and the soil should be kept damp for several days .... It normally rains here in the UK during Wimbledon tennis tournament, so try and time seeding during that period when good rainfall is forecast

after 8-10 days, the seed will sprout, then wait until the grass is at least 3-4 inches tall .... then mow, but only remove 1/3 of the top growth

after a few mows, add a good lawn fertilizer with a high nitrogen content (I recently seeded my back lawn, and used Scotts Lawn builder (the one without weedkiller/moss killer), and which has a NPK of 22-5-5 ... it is recomended that you do not use fertilizer on a new seeded lawn for 8 weeks after seeding

I now have to mow twice a week, but the lawn looks lush and deep green .... The lawn fertilizer only lasts for 8 weeks, so after 8 weeks, apply more fertilizer

as regards weeds, by constanly mowing, and keeping the grass thick, the weeds will eventually disappear .... those that dont can be removed by hand

over winter, the remaining weeds will die down, and next spring, you can start using weed and feed fertilizer

here is the website for British Amenity .... they sell good seed, and also have pre-fertilizers etc which can be used at the time that you seed...

http://www.germinalamenity.com/produ...vants/compound

Fertilisers and Wetting Agents | BSH Amenity

[ButternutSquash]

It may be that your lawn is compacted and weed infested. A solution is to glyphosate the grass and weeds, wait for the grass and weeds to die, then leave for a few months. Rotavate the dead lawn, and level it out. You can leave it, and glyphosate weeds that appear, or not. Then sow seed in the autumn or spring. It is often too dry in summer. I spread sharp sand before rotavating and I now have a very good lawn, relatively speaking. It used to be all moss and weeds, and squelchy after rain. There were almost no worms, now there are loads. The black birds are happy. The problem with just spreading soil on top is that you might leave compacted soil underneath. And weeds might just grow up. My heavy soil was full of long thick birds foot trefoil roots. I pulled them all out when rotavating. Glyphosate did not kill them!

[ButternutSquash]

Oh, and if you do kill the lawn and rotavate, mow it very short first, it'll make rotavating easier.