I live in Blaine - Washington state. Weather here is prety much like
Devon. I joined this group awhile back and apprecitate all the information
I've read.
A question though - my lawn here is terrible and I'm hoping someone can
give some information on how to improve it. Like Devon (I lived there for
a few years) the lawn is subjected to periods of drought during the summer
- but lot's of rain the rest of the year. El Nino was pretty severe here -
no rain last summer.
Any help greatly appreciated.

On Thu, 19 May 2016 06:15:33 +0000, Mark wrote:

I live in Blaine - Washington state. Weather here is prety much like
Devon. I joined this group awhile back and apprecitate all the
information I've read.
A question though - my lawn here is terrible and I'm hoping someone can
give some information on how to improve it. Like Devon (I lived there
for a few years) the lawn is subjected to periods of drought during the
summer - but lot's of rain the rest of the year. El Nino was pretty
severe here - no rain last summer.
Any help greatly appreciated.

You don't say what kind of "terrible".

Lawns can usually be kept going by weed and feed (including moss killer)
in the spring, followed by re-seeding to fill in the bare patches. This
generally lasts until the cold and wet in the winter encourage more moss.

I thought the USA was well known for using lawn sprinklers during drought!

If you have major problems with water logging, or lack of water retention,
then possibly you need more drainage or more organic matter under the lawn.

We really need a bit more information about your lawn, including what the
major problems are, what the underlying soil is like, drainage etc.

Cheers


Dave R

--
Windows 8.1 on PCSpecialist box

On 19/05/2016 07:15, Mark wrote:
I live in Blaine - Washington state. Weather here is prety much like
Devon. I joined this group awhile back and apprecitate all the information
I've read.
A question though - my lawn here is terrible and I'm hoping someone can
give some information on how to improve it. Like Devon (I lived there for
a few years) the lawn is subjected to periods of drought during the summer
- but lot's of rain the rest of the year. El Nino was pretty severe here -
no rain last summer.
Any help greatly appreciated.

Grass is not really my thing but the best time for seeding is late
summer/autumn, but I guess it doesn't matter much if you can keep it
damped off until established, asking locally for the best seed mixes is
probably the way to go

--
Charlie Pridham, Gardening in Cornwall
www.roselandhouse.co.uk
National collections of Clematis viticella & Lapageria rosea

On 19/05/2016 07:15, Mark wrote:
I live in Blaine - Washington state. Weather here is prety much like
Devon. I joined this group awhile back and apprecitate all the information
I've read.
A question though - my lawn here is terrible and I'm hoping someone can
give some information on how to improve it. Like Devon (I lived there for
a few years) the lawn is subjected to periods of drought during the summer
- but lot's of rain the rest of the year.

Are you sure that Washington/US lawns use the same varieties of grass
as the ones available in UK? Differences are why US lawn care is so
different from UK.

http://lawngrass.com/states/washington.html

"Recommended Grass For Washington Lawns

Kentucky Bluegrass, Bentgrass and Fine Fescues are commonly found
throughout Washington. Turf-Type perennial Rye grasses are also commonly
used as a component of a mixture. Sometimes perennial ryegrass is used
as a stand alone lawn grass in western portions of Washington. All of
these grasses have good performance records throughout the state.".

Unless you know what kind of grass you have (and it's a kind grown in
UK lawns) it's unlikely any UK advice will help.


Janet.

In article ,
Janet wrote:

On 19/05/2016 07:15, Mark wrote:
I live in Blaine - Washington state. Weather here is prety much like
Devon. I joined this group awhile back and apprecitate all the information
I've read.
A question though - my lawn here is terrible and I'm hoping someone can
give some information on how to improve it. Like Devon (I lived there for
a few years) the lawn is subjected to periods of drought during the summer
- but lot's of rain the rest of the year.

Are you sure that Washington/US lawns use the same varieties of grass
as the ones available in UK? Differences are why US lawn care is so
different from UK.

http://lawngrass.com/states/washington.html

"Recommended Grass For Washington Lawns

Kentucky Bluegrass, Bentgrass and Fine Fescues are commonly found
throughout Washington. Turf-Type perennial Rye grasses are also commonly
used as a component of a mixture. Sometimes perennial ryegrass is used
as a stand alone lawn grass in western portions of Washington. All of
these grasses have good performance records throughout the state.".

Unless you know what kind of grass you have (and it's a kind grown in
UK lawns) it's unlikely any UK advice will help.

All of those except bluegrass are normal parts of UK lawn mixtures,
and even that is used on occasion. However, Devon has periods of
drought only in dry years - try Cambridge for somewhere that has
them more often. Most UK advice will be reasonably accurate.

However, the first question is WHY is it terrible? Until that has
been answered, attempting to fix the problem is a waste of time,
money and effort. If it is because you are getting anything like
drought in the summer on a regular basis, you are shafted; that
is why so many transpondians use an obscene amount of water on
their lawns. Lawns are not viable if the soil dries out badly at
any time, because all lawn grasses will die; the only ones that
can take drying out are clump-forming. Note that it's not just
the rainfall that matters, but how much hot sunlight (and hence
evaporation), which is why almost all UK 'droughts' are such jokes.
The following page may be useful:

http://www.thegrassseedstore.co.uk/l...-lawn-mix.html

Note the cutting height, and that even those won't take real drought.
However, that's extremely rare in the UK, though I have seen it in
Cambridge - and it was only a minor drought by the standards of most
of the world.



Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

On 19/05/16 13:39, Nick Maclaren wrote:

However, the first question is WHY is it terrible? Until that has
been answered, attempting to fix the problem is a waste of time,
money and effort. If it is because you are getting anything like
drought in the summer on a regular basis, you are shafted; that
is why so many transpondians use an obscene amount of water on
their lawns. Lawns are not viable if the soil dries out badly at
any time

Not just drying out; if they are waterlogged, particularly in shade, all
that will grow well is moss (which I prefer to grass as it doesn't need
cutting so frequently, and doesn't invade adjacent flower beds). And the
OP did refer to lots of rain other than in summer.

--

Jeff

In article ,
Jeff Layman wrote:

However, the first question is WHY is it terrible? Until that has
been answered, attempting to fix the problem is a waste of time,
money and effort. If it is because you are getting anything like
drought in the summer on a regular basis, you are shafted; that
is why so many transpondians use an obscene amount of water on
their lawns. Lawns are not viable if the soil dries out badly at
any time

Not just drying out; if they are waterlogged, particularly in shade, all
that will grow well is moss (which I prefer to grass as it doesn't need
cutting so frequently, and doesn't invade adjacent flower beds). And the
OP did refer to lots of rain other than in summer.

Well, yes, but a moss lawn is still a lawn :-)


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Mark

In article ,
Janet wrote:

On 19/05/2016 07:15, Mark wrote:
I live in Blaine - Washington state. Weather here is prety much
like Devon. I joined this group awhile back and apprecitate all
the information I've read.
A question though - my lawn here is terrible and I'm hoping
someone can give some information on how to improve it. Like
Devon (I lived there for a few years) the lawn is subjected to
periods of drought during the summer - but lot's of rain the rest
of the year.

Are you sure that Washington/US lawns use the same varieties of
grass
as the ones available in UK? Differences are why US lawn care is so
different from UK.

http://lawngrass.com/states/washington.html

"Recommended Grass For Washington Lawns

Kentucky Bluegrass, Bentgrass and Fine Fescues are commonly found
throughout Washington. Turf-Type perennial Rye grasses are also
commonly used as a component of a mixture. Sometimes perennial
ryegrass is used as a stand alone lawn grass in western portions of
Washington. All of these grasses have good performance records
throughout the state.".

Unless you know what kind of grass you have (and it's a kind grown
in
UK lawns) it's unlikely any UK advice will help.

All of those except bluegrass are normal parts of UK lawn mixtures,
and even that is used on occasion. However, Devon has periods of
drought only in dry years - try Cambridge for somewhere that has
them more often. Most UK advice will be reasonably accurate.

However, the first question is WHY is it terrible? Until that has
been answered, attempting to fix the problem is a waste of time,
money and effort. If it is because you are getting anything like
drought in the summer on a regular basis, you are shafted; that
is why so many transpondians use an obscene amount of water on
their lawns. Lawns are not viable if the soil dries out badly at
any time, because all lawn grasses will die; the only ones that
can take drying out are clump-forming. Note that it's not just
the rainfall that matters, but how much hot sunlight (and hence
evaporation), which is why almost all UK 'droughts' are such jokes.
The following page may be useful:

http://www.thegrassseedstore.co.uk/l...ds-1/kentucky-
bluegrass/drou
ght-resistant-lawn-mix.html

Note the cutting height, and that even those won't take real drought.
However, that's extremely rare in the UK, though I have seen it in
Cambridge - and it was only a minor drought by the standards of most
of the world.



Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Thank you so much for your replys. No, we don't have irrigation -- just
the hose pipe (wife is British). Last year was pretty intense here -
hot, dry and lot's of wild fires close by. Northwest Washington has had
pretty much the same weather as Southwest England until the last few
years - hoping it's just the El Nino effect.

Wonderful group here - now... how the heck do I grow radishes (they
always bolt before I can harvest them)?

Gratefully yours,
Mark Thompson

In article ,
Chris Hogg wrote:
On Sun, 07 Aug 2016 17:41:01 GMT, Mark wrote:

Wonderful group here - now... how the heck do I grow radishes (they
always bolt before I can harvest them)?

http://tinyurl.com/hrfpknk

Add to that, they bolt if they don't get enough water. Basically,
you need a month of cool but not cold weather with adequate
rainfall. Mine fail two times out of three.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.