Lawn Problems

[Storm]

Right! after all that chit chat on the Intro thread it's time to get down to it!

I appreciate that this forum is aimed mostly at growing fruit and veg but i was wondering if there was anyone out there who could offer some advice about my lawn.

I sewed it last spring and the grass began to grow very vigourously through the warm spring. But then it began to wither and go yellow in patches and now looks very sorry for itself as the patches have begun to join up.

large bald patches have appeared - though i think that this is in part to the fact that i didn't sew the seed to a great enough density initially. I can' t understand why the grass has failed to take.

I used a good all purpose seed. It was well watered in dry weather and the soil in my garden is the envy of my gardening friends (it's lovely and crumbly after years of neglect). The lawn are was previously covered in gravel.

the garden faces south west and gets lots of sun... any ideas what i am doing wrong?

I have attached some pics so you can see the place. there are houses to the North,East and West. the South and south west are open though there is a 5 ft high wall there between my neighbour and me. the garden is a total suntrap though and my sweet peas etc were still flowering at new year...

any ideas appreciated... does it need lime? re-sowing?

cheers

[Lavenderblue]

Its the cats destroying it. They are teh evil.

*runs out of thread*

[sewer rat]

Lavenderblue obviously has inside information.
From your photos it looks as if the grass that is dying is quite long, and also I do get the impression that maybe , as you suggest yourself, it wasn't sown quite thick enough.
However, neither of these problems are any real bother to sort out. Wait til the weather warms up and the grass begins to put on fresh growth then give it a cut - not too short though. Following that, chuck more grass seed over the lawn, water (if required and let the new seed grow a bit before you start to cut it regularly.
It may be that the grass seed mix was high in some of the longer general purpose grasses and it is those that make it look scruffy.
Also, as your garden had been neglected and the lawn was previously a gravelled over area, it could well need a feed - again wait til the warmer weather appears.
Hope this is of some use.

[Storm]

cheers for the help Ratty. yes, LB does have inside info... the local cats have been generously "fertilising" my garden for 2 years now much to my annoyance - my neighbours have covered their gardens with slabs so there is nowhere in their own gardens for them to go some of the bald spots are where the cats have dug

some of the grass *was* quite long when it was first cut. it said on teh side of the box to let it grow to a certain height before cutting it.. did i let it grow *too* long perhaps??

the seed was a general purpose box from Wilko including Rye. how short should i cut it when it starts to grow? i have to use a strimmer as the lawn is small and a very uneven shape and surface.

any suggestions on what to feed it with? preferably organic? will comfrey liquid fertiliser do the trick?

cheers for your help!

Lavenderblue obviously has inside information.
From your photos it looks as if the grass that is dying is quite long, and also I do get the impression that maybe , as you suggest yourself, it wasn't sown quite thick enough.
However, neither of these problems are any real bother to sort out. Wait til the weather warms up and the grass begins to put on fresh growth then give it a cut - not too short though. Following that, chuck more grass seed over the lawn, water (if required and let the new seed grow a bit before you start to cut it regularly.
It may be that the grass seed mix was high in some of the longer general purpose grasses and it is those that make it look scruffy.
Also, as your garden had been neglected and the lawn was previously a gravelled over area, it could well need a feed - again wait til the warmer weather appears.
Hope this is of some use.

[Nicos]

Did you loosen the soil before sowing??
It could be that the soil is compacted and needs aerating- wouldn't do it any harm using a fork just to make some holes into it .
(I imagine that as it's a small area that it's well walked on and that may have caused further compacting of the soil)
I'm not too good with lawns ( you should see mine!!) but we needed to do that .....although it was an established lawn.

[Snadger]

It seems to have a lot of thatch in it? If so, I would wait until March/April and give it a good going over with a grass rake. It will look a mess when you're finished but you should have created a good surface tilth with which to sow some more seed.
At the same time give it a feed. If you wanted to use organic I imagine blood fish and bone would be appropriate giving a boost for existing grass but also feeding the 'soon to be' new grass.
By the look of it ,it seems to have a lot of bent grass so go for a pure ryegrass mix to overseed it with if possible!

As has already mentioned, because it is a reasonably small area, you could aerate it now with a garden fork which may release a bit of surface compaction.

[Storm]

yes, i dug thw whole are over twice and then hit it with a hoe. the earth is compacted in some places but to be honest the lawn got almost zero use recreationally cos the weather was soooo bad last summer - when the sun *did* shine we headed off to the coast

i will rake off the thatch and go over it with a fork befre oversowing as you suggest.


the other thing i forgot to point out, was that the lawn has not got a *single* weed growing in it... not even a daisy or clover or buttercup or even a dandilion! the fact that even those toughies can't even get a hold coupled with the state of the grass really made me wonder if i was doing something dramtically wrong

thanks for your help. i think i am going to be busy in spring

Did you loosen the soil before sowing??
It could be that the soil is compacted and needs aerating- wouldn't do it any harm using a fork just to make some holes into it .
(I imagine that as it's a small area that it's well walked on and that may have caused further compacting of the soil)
I'm not too good with lawns ( you should see mine!!) but we needed to do that .....although it was an established lawn.

[Storm]

cheers for that Snadge! will head off down to WIlkos in town today. they have got pure rye grass there.

i got some shady lawn seed for the corner where the compost "Dalek" is (see the pics) - it gets very shadey there cos of the plum tree.

still, the garden is a lot healthier than it was - when i moved in i didn't even know i *had* a plum tree 'cos it was so engulfed in ivy

It seems to have a lot of thatch in it? If so, I would wait until March/April and give it a good going over with a grass rake. It will look a mess when you're finished but you should have created a good surface tilth with which to sow some more seed.
At the same time give it a feed. If you wanted to use organic I imagine blood fish and bone would be appropriate giving a boost for existing grass but also feeding the 'soon to be' new grass.
By the look of it ,it seems to have a lot of bent grass so go for a pure ryegrass mix to overseed it with if possible!

As has already mentioned, because it is a reasonably small area, you could aerate it now with a garden fork which may release a bit of surface compaction.

[Nicos]

It's a nice looking garden Storm- can we have a piccy in the summer?

[Storm]

i have got some pics of last summer somewhere.... it was hard work transforming it in a year.... tonnes of gravel, concrete, slabs and weeds to get out....

i will see what i can find...

It's a nice looking garden Storm- can we have a piccy in the summer?

[HeyWayne]

I don't think you'll go far wrong with the advice given so far. When I re-turfed our lawn the year before last I found this place quite useful: www.lawn.co.uk - The Lawn Company Ltd - Lawn maintenance, Lawn treatment service, Weed killing lawn

A little slow in responding, but most questions have been asked before so a little poke around the old posts found what I was after.

Aerate, scarify and feed, don't think you'll go far wrong. Good luck.

[Matt.]

I don't think it looks too bad given its a new lawn. I'd echo the comments about raking the thatch up in March, feeding and possibly adding more seed. If you do add more make sure it goes everywhere don't patch fill otherwise you'll get uneven colour and growth!Once established make sure you keep it cut regularly throughout the growing season.

[Nicos]

Just a thought...
Did you leave the strimmings on the lawn???- might have killed off some of the seedlings because of all the warm damp weather we had.

[Snadger]

Funnily enough I noticed the lack of broad leaved weeds thats why I didn't recommend the 'Weed and feed' treatment.

Normally weeds, apart from plantains and a few others thrive in an alkaline soil so yours may be on the acid side? Fescue, bents and Ryegrasses thrive at a mean average of about 6.5 ph

The other thing that springs to mind with regard to the preparation was the possibility of subsoil being mixed with topsoil? Subsoil will compact easier and will give poor growth characteristics similar to yours........I know this because I inadvertantly did this myself once!