Morning all this is my fist post so be gentle with me. I searched the forum but not managed to find an answer to my query.

I laid some new turn at the front of my house around 5 weeks ago. The turf was abolutely perfect I prepped the ground perfectly.

The week after laying the turf was a sunny week, I was watering it in the morning and at night and the roots were going down well after the first week.

Following that week it rained heavy all week and the grass grew rapidly. I then gave the lawn a cut on the highest setting of the mower however it still took a good chunk off as it had grown a lot without me being able to cut it.

I have gradually started lowering the cut over the last 2 weeks however the turf seems to be going thin and I think slightly yellow in places.

My last cut was last night and I raised the cut from the last time I mowed. I also gave it a good water as its been sunny. I have attached a few images but I'm afraid they aren't great.

Does anyone have any suggestions? I have read that a light fertiliser may help?

Another image

On Jun 5, 4:26*am, jonnystuartuk
wrote:
Morning all this is my fist post so be gentle with me. I searched the
forum but not managed to find an answer to my query.

I laid some new turn at the front of my house around 5 weeks ago. The
turf was abolutely perfect I prepped the ground perfectly.

The week after laying the turf was a sunny week, I was watering it in
the morning and at night and the roots were going down well after the
first week.

Following that week it rained heavy all week and the grass grew rapidly.
I then gave the lawn a cut on the highest setting of the mower however
it still took a good chunk off as it had grown a lot without me being
able to cut it.

I have gradually started lowering the cut over the last 2 weeks however
the turf seems to be going thin and I think slightly yellow in places.

My last cut was last night and I raised the cut from the last time I
mowed. *I also gave it a good water as its been sunny. I have attached a
few images but I'm afraid they aren't great.

Does anyone have any suggestions? I have read that a light fertiliser
may help?

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|Download:http://www.gardenbanter.co.uk/attachment.php?attachmentid=15578|
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jonnystuartuk

It doesn't look too bad from the pic. Five weeks in, I would be
reducing the watering, so that it has a chance for the upper part
to dry out. Grass being constantly wet is not a good thing, as it
promotes many diseases. If it's hot while wet, that's the worst
combination. I'd reduce to watering every other day. And you
should water it so that the watering ends around sunrise. That
way it will be wet for the shortest period. You want to water it
deeply a couple times a week, once established, depending on
the weather.

You might want to check the mower blade too. The ends of the
grass are shreaded. Mowing it higher as you've been doing is
better too, at least until it gets more established.

On 6/5/2013 12:11 PM, wrote:
On Jun 5, 4:26 am, jonnystuartuk
wrote:
Morning all this is my fist post so be gentle with me. I searched the
forum but not managed to find an answer to my query.

I laid some new turn at the front of my house around 5 weeks ago. The
turf was abolutely perfect I prepped the ground perfectly.

The week after laying the turf was a sunny week, I was watering it in
the morning and at night and the roots were going down well after the
first week.

Following that week it rained heavy all week and the grass grew rapidly.
I then gave the lawn a cut on the highest setting of the mower however
it still took a good chunk off as it had grown a lot without me being
able to cut it.

I have gradually started lowering the cut over the last 2 weeks however
the turf seems to be going thin and I think slightly yellow in places.

My last cut was last night and I raised the cut from the last time I
mowed. I also gave it a good water as its been sunny. I have attached a
few images but I'm afraid they aren't great.

Does anyone have any suggestions? I have read that a light fertiliser
may help?

+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
|Filename: image.jpg |
|Download:http://www.gardenbanter.co.uk/attachment.php?attachmentid=15578|
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+

--
jonnystuartuk

It doesn't look too bad from the pic. Five weeks in, I would be
reducing the watering, so that it has a chance for the upper part
to dry out. Grass being constantly wet is not a good thing, as it
promotes many diseases. If it's hot while wet, that's the worst
combination. I'd reduce to watering every other day. And you
should water it so that the watering ends around sunrise. That
way it will be wet for the shortest period. You want to water it
deeply a couple times a week, once established, depending on
the weather.

You might want to check the mower blade too. The ends of the
grass are shreaded. Mowing it higher as you've been doing is
better too, at least until it gets more established.


I don't think it looks that bad either.
I was surprised a few weeks ago to see a TV bit on how they grew sod
commercially to find that they cut it three times a week. I suppose if
you followed that practice at your home after you bought it, it might
look good as new. Personally, I'll be damned if I want to be a slave to
my lawn

jonnystuartuk wrote:
Morning all this is my fist post so be gentle with me. I searched the
forum but not managed to find an answer to my query.

I laid some new turn at the front of my house around 5 weeks ago. The
turf was abolutely perfect I prepped the ground perfectly.

The week after laying the turf was a sunny week, I was watering it in
the morning and at night and the roots were going down well after the
first week.

Following that week it rained heavy all week and the grass grew
rapidly. I then gave the lawn a cut on the highest setting of the
mower however it still took a good chunk off as it had grown a lot
without me being able to cut it.

I have gradually started lowering the cut over the last 2 weeks
however the turf seems to be going thin and I think slightly yellow
in places.


My last cut was last night and I raised the cut from the last time I
mowed. I also gave it a good water as its been sunny. I have
attached a few images but I'm afraid they aren't great.

Does anyone have any suggestions? I have read that a light fertiliser
may help?


It seems a little early to need fertilizer. If you do, definately make it a
light application.

You should be tapering off on the watering. Ideally, you want to end up watering
heavily about once a week so the water gets deep. Watering too ofter encourages
shallow root growth, which increases water need for the grass.

Thanks for the replies guys,

I think my plan of action is to keep watering it for a few more weeks every other day or so and see how I get on.

The blade is brand new so should be nice and sharp (apart from when I caught it the other day on an edging stone! May have to sharpen it.)

If I look down from the bedroom I can see it going thin in places

I have actually been cutting it every 3/4 days so it doesn't get too long and end up scalping it. Saves me going backwards and forwards emptying the box all the time.

jonnystuartuk wrote:
....
My last cut was last night and I raised the cut from the last time I
mowed. I also gave it a good water as its been sunny. I have attached a
few images but I'm afraid they aren't great.

Does anyone have any suggestions? I have read that a light fertiliser
may help?

what kind of soil and how deep is it underneath
the turf?

are you using a mulching mower or removing the
clippings?


songbird

On Jun 6, 4:14*am, jonnystuartuk
wrote:
Thanks for the replies guys,

I think my plan of action is to keep watering it for a few more weeks
every other day or so and see how I get on.

The blade is brand new so should be nice and sharp (apart from when I
caught it the other day on an edging stone! May have to sharpen it.)

If I look down from the bedroom I can see it going thin in places

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jonnystuartuk

Did you try to pull back a piece in a couple of spots? Try one where
the grass is doing well, other where it's not. See if there is root
development, examine closely for any insects, etc. If you've been
over-watering it and keeping it saturated, constantly wet, I would
definitely cut it back. I would not water it more than once a day
except for maybe the first few days. Then by 2 weeks in, I'd be
back to every other day. After about two months, I'd reduce
again to every 3rd day.

I did stop watering it for a little while as it was constantly raining. I'm definitely going back to every other day now. It could possibly by drying out a little

The soil is very sandy, its pretty deep, I rotivated it before levelling and laying

jonnystuartuk wrote:
[_2_ Wrote:
I did stop watering it for a little while as it was constantly
raining. I'm definitely going back to every other day now. It could
possibly by drying out a little

Grass needs to dry out a little. Watering every day or two is too much. IT will
never grow anything but surface roots with water that often, and will likely get
fungal disease.