Lawn Advice
 

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

Lawn Advice
 

Ben Wing wrote:

Hi all,
....
Any advice would be appriciated.

just keep mowing it regularly using a mulching
mower, have the height up so that the plants will
shade the ground.

when you removed the thatch you removed your
organic matter which would also hold moisture
and encourage other things to grow.

add some compost in layers once in a while.

before your fall/rainy season starts add some
plant seeds that you want to encourage to fill
in and some more compost. if it doesn't rain
enough keep it moist to get the plants started.

keep mowing at a decent height on a regular
basis.


songbird1

some good advice right there!

Lawn Advice
 

On Monday, July 10, 2017 at 6:29:48 PM UTC-4, Ben Wing wrote:
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




--
Ben Wing

I'd wait until early Sept, then kill it all off with Roundup (glyphosate).
When it'd dead, in about 10 days, mow it very short and rake up the debris.
Rent an overseeder and seed it with a quality grass seed that's
appropriate for the area, apply starter fertilizer and keep it constantly
moist. I'd start with a new, uniform, quality grass, instead of just
accepting and pouring money into whatever mess is growing there now.

Google lawn renovation.