Cutting the Grass

We have 2 sections of lawn the main area looks OK and I spent the weekend scarifying it and ended up with 2 wheelie bins full of thatch - its on a slope and pretty big so I was knackered after doing that :lol:. We havent had much rain where I am and my irrigation isnt working so need to get that fixed.

The other bit sadly had loads of snow that never melted all winter so loads of dead patches on it that I have had to reseed so hopefully that picks up for the Summer
 


What mowers are we all using?

I had a g tech which packed up last year, not sure what to go for as a replacement.
McAllister Cordless/Battery

A full charge lasts 2 cuts front (small) and rear (medium) garden. Comes with two batteries which is canny, Saves a good 30-45 faffing with cables and extensions and shite like that.

Just charge it up first thing, and ya ready to go by 10am
 
I’ve a got a project at my lasses house. The lawn was terrible, full of moss and clover. So, scarified it, aerated it, put lawn seed down, then raked it (with scarifier but tines on and blades off), the overseeded it. Watered it in and two weeks later the lawn is full of dandelions. The lawn seed hasn’t taken off yet due to the temperatures but anyone got any advice on getting rid of the weeds. I thought they would’ve disappeared for good after scarifying
 
I’ve a got a project at my lasses house. The lawn was terrible, full of moss and clover. So, scarified it, aerated it, put lawn seed down, then raked it (with scarifier but tines on and blades off), the overseeded it. Watered it in and two weeks later the lawn is full of dandelions. The lawn seed hasn’t taken off yet due to the temperatures but anyone got any advice on getting rid of the weeds. I thought they would’ve disappeared for good after scarifying
You seeded, then power raked, then seeded again?

Grass seed needs light watering every day - not enough to cause any water to pool (that will move the seed), but enough so that the seed never dries out.
Afraid dandilion weeds have huge roots and can completely grow back if all the leaves are removed and only the crown remains. Pulling them by hand is the only way really if you're trying to grow grass seeds at the same time. Otherwise Weedol will do the trick nicely.

mind, this weed puller is absolutely great. (I think I got it cheaper than this though) https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fiskars-S8139910-Weed-Puller/dp/B0002TTRT4?th=1#

You're right though, April has been shit for the lawn. Almost zero rain, and overnight temps down to 0-5c almost every day, meaning the soil never warmed up.
 
I’ve a got a project at my lasses house. The lawn was terrible, full of moss and clover. So, scarified it, aerated it, put lawn seed down, then raked it (with scarifier but tines on and blades off), the overseeded it. Watered it in and two weeks later the lawn is full of dandelions. The lawn seed hasn’t taken off yet due to the temperatures but anyone got any advice on getting rid of the weeds. I thought they would’ve disappeared for good after scarifying
Leave them and love them. Dandelions are beautiful things. Fantastic for bees in flower, fantastic for birds when the clocks come
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That stone wall I dug all the stone out of the garden as it was buried when we moved in.
I planted all of those shrubs over 4 years.
It was basically bramble bushes before. Hard work but looks lovely now and it’s not as depressing as watching Swindon :)
Magnficient
 
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You seeded, then power raked, then seeded again?

Grass seed needs light watering every day - not enough to cause any water to pool (that will move the seed), but enough so that the seed never dries out.
Afraid dandilion weeds have huge roots and can completely grow back if all the leaves are removed and only the crown remains. Pulling them by hand is the only way really if you're trying to grow grass seeds at the same time. Otherwise Weedol will do the trick nicely.

mind, this weed puller is absolutely great. (I think I got it cheaper than this though) https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fiskars-S8139910-Weed-Puller/dp/B0002TTRT4?th=1#

You're right though, April has been shit for the lawn. Almost zero rain, and overnight temps down to 0-5c almost every day, meaning the soil never warmed up.
Sorry I meant pit lawn sand down, then raked then put the seed down. Is weedol lawn friendly?
 
Sorry I meant pit lawn sand down, then raked then put the seed down. Is weedol lawn friendly?
Weedol is basically the best all round selective weedkiller for home use. Doesn't kill grass, but kills just about everything else. But you can't use it where there's new grass or where you're trying to grow grass seeds I think.

Same with lawnsand, I don't think iron is good to have around at the same time as grass seed.
 
Weedol is basically the best all round selective weedkiller for home use. Doesn't kill grass, but kills just about everything else. But you can't use it where there's new grass or where you're trying to grow grass seeds I think.

Same with lawnsand, I don't think iron is good to have around at the same time as grass seed.
Cheers mate.
 
Sometimes the lawn is the easy bit. The front has a border all round that I've been trying to clean up for 6 months. I've never seen so many weeds. Even stripped the top 4" of top soil and added bagged compost on top, but nope - another trillion weeds came through after a month.
Went out at the weekend and turned it all over and lifted about 80% of the weeds out by hand, levelled it all off and compacted down. Just topped it off with ~3" woodchips. So now its only a few plants that I've put in - quite small - poking through.

If the weeds come back, they're getting the glyphosate treatment. Something I'm trying to avoid, as you inevitably get overspray onto the lawn, which is only just recovering after I scarified the nuts out of it 3 weeks ago. Its a right mess :lol:
 
Just wanted to drop a quick question here to hopefully nip it in the bud. The lawn has been down about 9 months so its pretty new turf, but i've noticed its starting to get see a lot of annual bluegrass appearing through it and spreading quickly. Just wondering if anyone's managed to get rid of this because ideally its said to be best treated before now but never really noticed it until past few days
 
Just wanted to drop a quick question here to hopefully nip it in the bud. The lawn has been down about 9 months so its pretty new turf, but i've noticed its starting to get see a lot of annual bluegrass appearing through it and spreading quickly. Just wondering if anyone's managed to get rid of this because ideally its said to be best treated before now but never really noticed it until past few days
Ah, welcome to the Poa Annua club.
There's no easy fix I'm afraid.

If you only have a few patches, literally cut it out with a knife about 4" down. Chuck some soil and seed back into the hole.

I'm riddled with it :(
 
Ah, welcome to the Poa Annua club.
There's no easy fix I'm afraid.

If you only have a few patches, literally cut it out with a knife about 4" down. Chuck some soil and seed back into the hole.

I'm riddled with it :(

I know it sounds ridiculous but I think I might be past that stage because it felt like it came from nowhere over a matter of a few days. Few articles have said just to keep cutting the lawn as much as possible with it but assume that's just going to spread the seeds.

I'll just have to soak it up and spend a bit of time now before it ultimately gets worse :(
 
I know it sounds ridiculous but I think I might be past that stage because it felt like it came from nowhere over a matter of a few days. Few articles have said just to keep cutting the lawn as much as possible with it but assume that's just going to spread the seeds.

I'll just have to soak it up and spend a bit of time now before it ultimately gets worse :(
Nothing simple really works.
You can cut as low as you like, but poa annual grows sideways and will chuck seedheads out at as little as 1cm.

In the states there is a chemical that hurts it, but doesn't kill it - and you can overseed other grasses at the same time. But its still not a magic cure. And you can't get it here - someone even tried to import it but it was taken by customs!

Even if you nuke the whole lawn with glyphosate, there's probably a billion seeds already in the top soil. So you'd need to leave it bare for 3-4 weeks and water it - just to germinate that, then kill it again. Its a nightmare!

2 things that can work:
verticutting ever 2-3 weeks. This slices all the horizonal growth and lifts all the seed heads up and out. This lets other grasses have the chance to flourish.
improve the soil biology.

I'm trying to work on these 2 things, but I'm struggling to get good biologically-active compost - my home made stuff won't be ready until about this time next year. I bought the bosch verticutter and use that as much as possible. (It doubles as a light-duty scarifier too)
 
Nothing simple really works.
You can cut as low as you like, but poa annual grows sideways and will chuck seedheads out at as little as 1cm.

In the states there is a chemical that hurts it, but doesn't kill it - and you can overseed other grasses at the same time. But its still not a magic cure. And you can't get it here - someone even tried to import it but it was taken by customs!

Even if you nuke the whole lawn with glyphosate, there's probably a billion seeds already in the top soil. So you'd need to leave it bare for 3-4 weeks and water it - just to germinate that, then kill it again. Its a nightmare!

2 things that can work:
verticutting ever 2-3 weeks. This slices all the horizonal growth and lifts all the seed heads up and out. This lets other grasses have the chance to flourish.
improve the soil biology.

I'm trying to work on these 2 things, but I'm struggling to get good biologically-active compost - my home made stuff won't be ready until about this time next year. I bought the bosch verticutter and use that as much as possible. (It doubles as a light-duty scarifier too)
Cheers for that mate, might look into the verticutter as well tbh and see if that makes a difference.

Does location play a part? I know it sounds stupid but facing nothing but fields wasn't sure if that had any effect with seeding etc incase its an uphill battle
 

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