On 14/3/06 10:57 am, in article ,
"Gill Passman" wrote:

Hi All,

First time poster here, live in the South East of England...bit noisy
around here but hey,ho....

My lawn has been ravaged by the dog running up and down, kids playing
and shrubs overgrowing one side...this year it does not look as if it
will make its usual recovery so I've decided to reseed.

The plan is to cut back the shrubs - the main offender is a Potato Shrub
(Solanum Rantonnetii) - so the first question is whether it would be a
good time to prune this (hack it - I think is more the description)? The
other offender is a Red Dogwood. Now I don't want to kill them off and
we are still getting quite severe frosts (no snow at all this winter
though). So should I wait, or would I be safe to go out and cut these
back now?

The next issue is the seeding of the lawn itself. I bought some "One
Step" which combines fertiliser and seed. I was going to wait a few
weeks to give me more time to do the prep work and to wait for the worst
of the frost to be over. My dilemma now is that yesterday I learnt that
we are having a hose-pipe ban slapped on us. So, if I wait too long I
won't be able to water it, which will be an issue if the weather warms
up in April as it did last year...So should I go ahead and seed now and
risk the frost, or should I wait but run the risk of not being able to
provide sufficient water?

My guess is that the continuing cold weather is the answer to everything you
ask, really. I wouldn't cut anything back while frost is a real danger and
especially not a Solanum Rantonnetii, which is a marvellous shrub and less
seen than the more usual S. crispum. However, it is not hardy and in most
places it is recommended as a conservatory plant, so certainly don't risk
pruning it now, if it is definitely S. Rantonnettii. And I think it very
probable that it is the cold that is stopping your lawn from showing signs
of life. I'd leave it alone, frankly. If you seed it now, it won't
germinate because the ground is so cold and watering it will only add to is
troubles in this weather! If the lawn doesn't come back when it gets to the
summer, you could consider an early autumn re-seeding then. My husband's
secret weapon in re-seeding patches of lawn here and there is to mix the
lawn seed with compost in the bag and leave it to germinate. Then he
scatters it where needed. That way, he gets much less taken by birds and
the seed gets away to a good start immediately.
I did ask him about your Solanum and he suggests you check it really is S.
rantonnettii. It's not impossible, of course but it isn't all that usual in
gardens in England, though I've seen it growing in Jersey gardens. He
certainly thinks that cutting anything precious back when you're still at
risk of hard frost, is a Bad Idea!
Welcome to urg and good gardening!
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
)