Hi, My gardening book says its lawn month. We have raked it & the book
says it should be spiked & the holes filled with sand.
Our lawn is 17m x 15m and I think it will take ages to do with a hand
fork as it suggests.

Can such a thing be hired?
Does anyone know what the name of the machine is called?

Am I being too lazy, should I do it with my garden fork?

Thanks

"tina" wrote in message
...
Hi, My gardening book says its lawn month. We have raked it & the book
says it should be spiked & the holes filled with sand.
Our lawn is 17m x 15m and I think it will take ages to do with a hand
fork as it suggests.

Can such a thing be hired?
Does anyone know what the name of the machine is called?

Am I being too lazy, should I do it with my garden fork?

You can do it many ways, including your fork, but it's a big lawn for that.
You could walk up and down it inn high heels, that would work. But you
should probably hire a lawn aerator from your local tool hire place.

Steve

But you
should probably hire a lawn aerator from your local tool hire place.
Thanks for that advice Steve. Having done a quick search on Google I
have found one thats £70 per day to hire. It seems a bit expensive,
but is that what i should expect to pay?

Thanks

"tina" wrote in message
...
But you
should probably hire a lawn aerator from your local tool hire place.
Thanks for that advice Steve. Having done a quick search on Google I
have found one thats £70 per day to hire. It seems a bit expensive,
but is that what i should expect to pay?

Thanks

Errr, I don't know, my lawn is the size of a postage stamp so I've never
hired one. Maybe several of you could get together to split the cost, and
have a mass lawn spiking day?

Steve

In reply to shazzbat ) who wrote this in
, I, Marvo, say :

"tina" wrote in message
...
But you
should probably hire a lawn aerator from your local tool hire place.
Thanks for that advice Steve. Having done a quick search on Google I
have found one thats £70 per day to hire. It seems a bit expensive,
but is that what i should expect to pay?

Thanks

Errr, I don't know, my lawn is the size of a postage stamp so I've
never hired one. Maybe several of you could get together to split the
cost, and have a mass lawn spiking day?

http://www.tvtoolhire.co.uk/pricelist/heating.html

7 squid for a day. That's what you expect to pay, obviously they'll want a
refundable deposit.

All they are is a roller with spikes on, sometimes a very heavy one,
sometimes fillable with water so they are easy to transport. I've used one
donkey's years ago and it was quick and easy. However, it didn't seem to do
much good :-)

Worms are better. I don't know how you encourage worms to get under your
lawn but I bet somebody here does.

"Uncle Marvo" wrote in message
...


Worms are better. I don't know how you encourage worms to get under your
lawn but I bet somebody here does.



Well, if you spread compost/muck over the garden then the worms pull it all
down. (So I am led to understand) Sooooo, if you sift your compost so it is
nice and fine and then sprinkle that all over the lawn and do that a few
times, then the worms will pull it down. No I don't mean a layer 6 inches
deep so you cannot see the grass, but sufficient for it to go down between
the blades of grass with a fine raking :-)) ???

No?

Mike


--
--------------------------------------
Royal Naval Electrical Branch Association
www.rnshipmates.co.uk
www.nsrafa.com

In reply to Mike ) who wrote this in
, I, Marvo, say :

"Uncle Marvo" wrote in message
...


Worms are better. I don't know how you encourage worms to get under
your lawn but I bet somebody here does.



Well, if you spread compost/muck over the garden then the worms pull
it all down. (So I am led to understand) Sooooo, if you sift your
compost so it is nice and fine and then sprinkle that all over the
lawn and do that a few times, then the worms will pull it down. No I
don't mean a layer 6 inches deep so you cannot see the grass, but
sufficient for it to go down between the blades of grass with a fine
raking :-)) ???

No?

Yes, I would say. A top idea, worms being a lot fatter than the spikes on a
spiker. I suspect rotted veg compost might not be the best bet though, as it
won't sieve well. But proprietary compost, possibly cheaper than hiring the
spiker.

Where did you hear about the worms pulling down compost?

"tina" wrote in message
...
Hi, My gardening book says its lawn month. We have raked it & the book
says it should be spiked & the holes filled with sand.
Our lawn is 17m x 15m and I think it will take ages to do with a hand
fork as it suggests.

Can such a thing be hired?
Does anyone know what the name of the machine is called?

Am I being too lazy, should I do it with my garden fork?

Thanks

worms are bad if they are the casting type as this will damage the level of
your lawn.
Also putting down organic matter is bad advice as this will just build up a
thatch layer and cause problems.
If your lawn is small you can buy(argos)spiked shoes that fit over your
normal shoes they are relativly cheap .
Wouldnt worry too much with the sand idea unless you have severe drainage
problems.
Failing that ask your local groundsman if he will spike it for you.
Good luck

pied piper wrote:
worms are bad if they are the casting type as this will damage the level of
your lawn.
Also putting down organic matter is bad advice as this will just build up a
thatch layer and cause problems.
If your lawn is small you can buy(argos)spiked shoes that fit over your
normal shoes they are relativly cheap .
Wouldnt worry too much with the sand idea unless you have severe drainage
problems.
Failing that ask your local groundsman if he will spike it for you.
Good luck

Pogo stick with the rubber bit taken off? :-)

I've only ever seen hollow tining on golf greens. Never on tees or
anywhere else so unless there's some drainage problem I'm not really
sure it does an awful lot of good.

"Uncle Marvo" wrote in message
...
In reply to shazzbat ) who wrote this in
, I, Marvo, say :

"tina" wrote in message
...
But you
should probably hire a lawn aerator from your local tool hire place.
Thanks for that advice Steve. Having done a quick search on Google I
have found one thats £70 per day to hire. It seems a bit expensive,
but is that what i should expect to pay?

Thanks

Errr, I don't know, my lawn is the size of a postage stamp so I've
never hired one. Maybe several of you could get together to split the
cost, and have a mass lawn spiking day?

http://www.tvtoolhire.co.uk/pricelist/heating.html

7 squid for a day. That's what you expect to pay, obviously they'll want a
refundable deposit.

All they are is a roller with spikes on, sometimes a very heavy one,
sometimes fillable with water so they are easy to transport. I've used one
donkey's years ago and it was quick and easy. However, it didn't seem to
do much good :-)

Worms are better. I don't know how you encourage worms to get under your
lawn but I bet somebody here does.


They're already there. If you don't believe me, water a patch of lawn and
cover it overnight with a plastic sheet, or even a bit of carpet. Lift it
in the morning and you'll find them.

In reply to shazzbat ) who wrote this in
, I, Marvo, say :

"Uncle Marvo" wrote in message
...
In reply to shazzbat ) who wrote
this in , I, Marvo, say :

"tina" wrote in message
...
But you
should probably hire a lawn aerator from your local tool hire
place.
Thanks for that advice Steve. Having done a quick search on Google
I have found one thats £70 per day to hire. It seems a bit
expensive, but is that what i should expect to pay?

Thanks

Errr, I don't know, my lawn is the size of a postage stamp so I've
never hired one. Maybe several of you could get together to split
the cost, and have a mass lawn spiking day?

http://www.tvtoolhire.co.uk/pricelist/heating.html

7 squid for a day. That's what you expect to pay, obviously they'll
want a refundable deposit.

All they are is a roller with spikes on, sometimes a very heavy one,
sometimes fillable with water so they are easy to transport. I've
used one donkey's years ago and it was quick and easy. However, it
didn't seem to do much good :-)

Worms are better. I don't know how you encourage worms to get under
your lawn but I bet somebody here does.


They're already there. If you don't believe me, water a patch of lawn
and cover it overnight with a plastic sheet, or even a bit of carpet.
Lift it in the morning and you'll find them.

Excellent. Then remove the cover, wait for the worms to go back down, no
need for the spiker!

Uncle Marvo writes
In reply to shazzbat ) who wrote this in
, I, Marvo, say :

"tina" wrote in message
...
But you
should probably hire a lawn aerator from your local tool hire place.
Thanks for that advice Steve. Having done a quick search on Google I
have found one thats £70 per day to hire. It seems a bit expensive,
but is that what i should expect to pay?

Thanks

Errr, I don't know, my lawn is the size of a postage stamp so I've
never hired one. Maybe several of you could get together to split the
cost, and have a mass lawn spiking day?

http://www.tvtoolhire.co.uk/pricelist/heating.html

7 squid for a day. That's what you expect to pay, obviously they'll want a
refundable deposit.

All they are is a roller with spikes on, sometimes a very heavy one,
sometimes fillable with water so they are easy to transport. I've used one
donkey's years ago and it was quick and easy. However, it didn't seem to do
much good :-)

Or £70 for a presumably motorised one if you move on down to the bottom
of the page.

How much is saving your time worth to you?

--
Kay

In reply to K ) who wrote this in
, I, Marvo, say :

Uncle Marvo writes
In reply to shazzbat ) who wrote
this in , I, Marvo, say :

"tina" wrote in message
...
But you
should probably hire a lawn aerator from your local tool hire
place.
Thanks for that advice Steve. Having done a quick search on Google
I have found one thats £70 per day to hire. It seems a bit
expensive, but is that what i should expect to pay?

Thanks

Errr, I don't know, my lawn is the size of a postage stamp so I've
never hired one. Maybe several of you could get together to split
the cost, and have a mass lawn spiking day?

http://www.tvtoolhire.co.uk/pricelist/heating.html

7 squid for a day. That's what you expect to pay, obviously they'll
want a refundable deposit.

All they are is a roller with spikes on, sometimes a very heavy one,
sometimes fillable with water so they are easy to transport. I've
used one donkey's years ago and it was quick and easy. However, it
didn't seem to do much good :-)

Or £70 for a presumably motorised one if you move on down to the
bottom of the page.

How much is saving your time worth to you?

If I wanted to save time I'd pay someone else to do it!

Keeps you fit :-)

wrote:
pied piper wrote:
worms are bad if they are the casting type as this will damage the level of
your lawn.
Also putting down organic matter is bad advice as this will just build up a
thatch layer and cause problems.
If your lawn is small you can buy(argos)spiked shoes that fit over your
normal shoes they are relativly cheap .
Wouldnt worry too much with the sand idea unless you have severe drainage
problems.
Failing that ask your local groundsman if he will spike it for you.
Good luck

Pogo stick with the rubber bit taken off? :-)

I've only ever seen hollow tining on golf greens. Never on tees or
anywhere else so unless there's some drainage problem I'm not really
sure it does an awful lot of good.

It's almost certainly a complete waste of time and trouble. Few
domestic lawns get such a bashing that they need artificial aeration:
the odd corner which gets walked on too much is easy enough to loosen
up by hand if it's really necessary. For the most part, spikomania is
just another fad designed to get somebody's hand into gardeners'
pockets.

--
Mike.