"Mark" wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi there,

Basically, our front lawn is a mess. Its been growing for over a year
without being cut and at the weekend i strimmed it and mowed it to get
it into reasonable shape. Of course, its all yellow and horrible now
with some bare patches, i assume due to no light getting to the grass,
and its covered in weeds.

I have devised a plan of action to try and get it back to some kind of
reasonable condition. We are on a clay soil with really bad drainage.
Could someone just let me know if this plan is ok, and of any changes
that i need to make.

Mow grass to reasonable length (done this)
After a few days, add a weed and feed product as per instructions on
the packet.
Wait for weeds to start dying and grass to start greening up and then
mow again.
Rake/scarify lawn to remove dying weeds and any moss.
Dig up any big old weeds (we have some big clumps of a large type of
grass that will probably need digging up i expect)
Improve drainage by forking the lawn all over.
Overseed the lawn and then cover the lawn in a scattering of compost to
cover the seeds.
Wait for seeds to germinate and then grow (hopefully)

I think this should help to bring the lawn back to some kind of
normality.

How long after sowing and germination can i mow again? Is there
anything i need to do between sowing and mowing? (i read that some
people trample the shoots to get them to bush out)

Any help would be appreciated

Regards

Mark

mainly fine but dont dress with compost use soil sand 60/40 dressing ,
compost will cause thatch and root break when u first cut your new grass
use shears or a rotary mower dont use a cylinder and this will rip out the
new grass . Also just feed if you use weed and feed the new grass seed will
not germinate due to the weedkiller in the root zone