I have 3 boys who love to play football on the lawn!

My lawn used to look lovely but last year and this year it has turned really patchy.
http://www.ipar.co.uk/lawn1.JPG

I've tried to repair some of the patches but you'll see that the seed I used didn't match and it loos worse than it did befo
http://www.ipar.co.uk/lawn2.JPG

I've just had it aeriated and scarified but nothing is growing! The chap I used replaced the plugs with sand for better drainage.

Do you think I should get it aeriated again and replace plugs with seed?

I can't stop the kids playing football but I really want my nice lawn back! Any help much appreciated!

Steve

copels007 wrote:
I have 3 boys who love to play football on the lawn!

My lawn used to look lovely but last year and this year it has turned
really patchy.
http://www.ipar.co.uk/lawn1.JPG

I've tried to repair some of the patches but you'll see that the seed
I used didn't match and it loos worse than it did befo
http://www.ipar.co.uk/lawn2.JPG

I've just had it aeriated and scarified but nothing is growing! The
chap I used replaced the plugs with sand for better drainage.

Do you think I should get it aeriated again and replace plugs with
seed?

I can't stop the kids playing football but I really want my nice lawn
back! Any help much appreciated!


Feed the poor thing!

I applied lawn feed last weekend but I've not seen any improvement. The packet said I didn't need to water in but should I put more down and water?

Should I be putting any seed down to cover the patches?

Thanks for responding.

copels007 wrote:
Bob F;982517 Wrote:


Feed the poor thing!

I applied lawn feed last weekend but I've not seen any improvement.
The packet said I didn't need to water in but should I put more down
and water?

It won't do anything until you water it in and give it a few weeks. "Packet"
suggests a small amount to me. It should have been a significant bag.

You don't want to water weed and feed types of fertilizer right away, but water
is necessary to get the fertilizer to the grass. If it's been a week, go ahead
and water it.



Should I be putting any seed down to cover the patches?

You could, but you have to keep the seed damp until it sprouts. If you let it
dry out, it probably won't make it. Damp, not wet. Usually, you don't put down
seed and fertilizer at the same time.

On May 5, 6:18*pm, copels007
wrote:
Bob F;982517 Wrote:



Feed the poor thing!

I applied lawn feed last weekend but I've not seen any improvement. The
packet said I didn't need to water in but should I put more down and
water?

You don't need to put water down, but the fertilizer isn't
going to start to dissolve and move to the roots until it
gets water, either from rain or you. Also, how active grass
is depends on the temp, type of grass, etc. If the grass
isn't ready to grow, no amount of fertilizer is going to make
it happen.



Should I be putting any seed down to cover the patches?



I certainly would have when you did the aeration and
"scarification". You Britts are big on the scarification.
I would never do both aeration and that at the same time.
Both damage and kill some of the grass. And what exactly
is the point to scarification? It's useful IF you have a
thatch problem, which clearly you don't. Doing it damages
the grass and rips it up. It's worth doing IF you have a
real thatch problem. No evidence of that in your pic.

Whether you can put seed down now depends partly
on what fertilizer product you put down. If it's a weednfeed
type, they are generally not compatible with seeding.
See what the bag says.
If it's just slow release fertilizer, then you can seed.
Ideally you'd use starter fertilizer, but if you have a
typical general purpose lawn fertilizer it will be OK too.
If you seed, then keep it constantly moist until you have
good growth, then you can slowly back off the watering.
You don't need to flood it, just keep the surface damp.

Other factors are how loose the soil still is. If it's not, I'd
rent an over-seeder, which cuts grooves and drops seed. And
I'd also kill those couple spots with grass that looks way
different. Then re-seed over the whole thing with an
appropriate, high quality seed.

I'd also test the soil PH and make sure it's not out of whack.
Adjust if needed.

Fall is by far the best time to seed, renovate, etc. You
can still do it now, but it's more problematic.