Hi all,

Recently moved into a house in a nice little village outside Basingstoke. One of the reasons we bought the house was because it has a nice big garden. The house was built in the 50's, and according to our neighbours, no one has ever really done a great deal with the garden. So, we have an 25m x 8m lawn that is 60 years old, and has never really been looked after. As a result, its a bit of a state.

There is a 2x4 metre section which is very badly thatched, and a lot of the lawn was riddled with moss. I have managed to kill the moss off, and scarified the living daylights out of it. I now have lots of dead bare patches. The soil is slightly acidic, and is potentially ex river bed / flood plain (very stoney, and if you dig down a foot or so the soil is so dry it is virtually sand. Where I have started to cut the lawn and care for it some sections have simply died.

My question is this. What is the best way to make this lawn look like a nice lawn?

I have been aerating periodically, but with solid tines. Would hollow tines make a difference? Given the soil do I need to dig it up and start again?

Any advice would be appriciated.

Thanks

Ben