Resurrecting a totally abandoned lawn?
 

Just bought a house whose garden has been left to its own devices for a
good length of time. I want to bring the lawn vaguely back under
control this coming season - how best to go about this? The grass has
grown out and has collapsed under its own weight into a fairly flat,
soggy mess. Feels like it needs raking and blow-drying, then it could
be attacked with a strimmer or mower maybe!

I'm aware that for a proper job I have no option but to start from
scratch with seed or turf, but that ain't going to happen any time soon
as there are other priorities!

Any advice as to how I can get the jungle back to some semblance of a
lawn this year would be much appreciated!

David

In article ,
Lobster wrote:
Just bought a house whose garden has been left to its own devices for a
good length of time. I want to bring the lawn vaguely back under
control this coming season - how best to go about this? The grass has
grown out and has collapsed under its own weight into a fairly flat,
soggy mess. Feels like it needs raking and blow-drying, then it could
be attacked with a strimmer or mower maybe!

I'm aware that for a proper job I have no option but to start from
scratch with seed or turf, but that ain't going to happen any time soon
as there are other priorities!

Any advice as to how I can get the jungle back to some semblance of a
lawn this year would be much appreciated!

Remove the surplus by hook, crook or sickle, and then mow it. It will
turn back into a rough lawn amazingly fast. In the lowlands of the UK
(most of the inhabited parts), all that you need to do to turn some
land into pasture/lawn is to cut down the trees and shrubs, flatten
it and graze or mow it. Seriously.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Lobster wrote:
Just bought a house whose garden has been left to its own devices
for
a good length of time. I want to bring the lawn vaguely back under
control this coming season - how best to go about this? The grass
has
grown out and has collapsed under its own weight into a fairly
flat,
soggy mess. Feels like it needs raking and blow-drying, then it
could
be attacked with a strimmer or mower maybe!

I'm aware that for a proper job I have no option but to start from
scratch with seed or turf, but that ain't going to happen any time
soon as there are other priorities!

Any advice as to how I can get the jungle back to some semblance of
a
lawn this year would be much appreciated!

David

I'd start right now. If possible, rake it over to see if you can get
a lot of last year's dead stuff out. Then go over it with the mower
at the highest setting, even if it involves a lot of shoving and
cursing, before it really starts back into growth. Collect the
mowings if possible. If there are serious patches of bare earth, rake
in some grass-seed. Then just keep going at it, lowering the cut as
it becomes possible, at least once a week and preferably more, until
to your great surprise you suddenly realise that you have a lawn.

I'd only bother with a strimmer if it really did turn out impossible
to get a high-set mower over it; and even then I'd first ask the hire
shop if they had a mower suitable for clearing (I think I remember
the brand "Victa"), as strimming a large area is a pain. (Could be
cheaper to grab the bloke working for the Council next time you see
him and offer him the job, one-off.)

It sounds as though there will be clumps of very coarse grass such as
Yorkshire Fog. Sometimes close mowing kills these off, and sometimes
you have to dig them out and reseed the patch.

Safety: if you _do_ have to do a lot of shoving and cursing, don't
run the mower over your foot; and whatever you do, don't trip over. I
can't bear to think about it.

Mike.

"Nick Maclaren" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Lobster wrote:
Just bought a house whose garden has been left to its own devices for a
good length of time. I want to bring the lawn vaguely back under
control this coming season - how best to go about this? The grass has
grown out and has collapsed under its own weight into a fairly flat,
soggy mess. Feels like it needs raking and blow-drying, then it could
be attacked with a strimmer or mower maybe!

I'm aware that for a proper job I have no option but to start from
scratch with seed or turf, but that ain't going to happen any time soon
as there are other priorities!

Any advice as to how I can get the jungle back to some semblance of a
lawn this year would be much appreciated!

Remove the surplus by hook, crook or sickle, and then mow it. It will
turn back into a rough lawn amazingly fast. In the lowlands of the UK
(most of the inhabited parts), all that you need to do to turn some
land into pasture/lawn is to cut down the trees and shrubs, flatten
it and graze or mow it. Seriously.

I got mine sorted with a tool rental "scarafier". It will remove all the
dead growth and allow air to get to the soil. Works a treat but there will
be a lot of waste to rake up and get rid of.

I agree with the others, but there are plus sides to this unkemptness
too; the fact that its been allowed to grow long probably means there
isn't any moss to get rid of each spring and autumn, and you might have
some lovely wild flowers popping up.

A really good book for novices on lawns is The Lawn Expert by Dr
Hesayon - can get them cheap on Ebay / Amazon too. General rules are
cut it on the highest setting of the mower and often - dont be tempted
to cut it very short to save you mowing again for a while as the moss
will get hold and a few days without rain will kill off the roots of
the grass then you will be starting again!. And dont walk on it when
its very wet.

If you're going to the garden centre for some food/fertiliser, there is
different stuff for spring and autumn, so check before you buy.

In article . com,
"Jules" writes:
|
| I agree with the others, but there are plus sides to this unkemptness
| too; the fact that its been allowed to grow long probably means there
| isn't any moss to get rid of each spring and autumn, and you might have
| some lovely wild flowers popping up.
|
| If you're going to the garden centre for some food/fertiliser, there is
| different stuff for spring and autumn, so check before you buy.

If you want to preserve the meadow flowers, you must not fertilise
the lawn - EVEN with lawn fertilisers that contain no weedkillers.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Jules wrote:
I agree with the others, but there are plus sides to this unkemptness
too; the fact that its been allowed to grow long probably means there
isn't any moss to get rid of each spring and autumn, and you might have
some lovely wild flowers popping up.

Thanks for the advice, all.

Somehow I don't really think we're in the realms of pretty meadows and
wild flowers here... first task is to get rid of the debris (eg
yesterday I discovered two iron gates lying there hitherto unnoticed
beneath the soggy grassy mess), then tackle the rat's nest of brambles
snaking across the place...!

David

Lobster wrote:
[...]
Somehow I don't really think we're in the realms of pretty meadows
and
wild flowers here... first task is to get rid of the debris (eg
yesterday I discovered two iron gates lying there hitherto
unnoticed
beneath the soggy grassy mess), then tackle the rat's nest of
brambles
snaking across the place...!

Ah, the most satisfying kind! It'll still turn into a decent lawn
very quickly, though. For brambles, I don good gloves, cut each
tentacle into convenient lengths with secateurs, and haul 'em out by
hand. The crowns can either be dug out with a fork, or cut to the
base: once the new shoots appear in a week or two they're vulnerable
to weedkiller. The seedlings which _will_ appear will often be
knocked out by regular mowing if the soil is level; if not, they
usually pull up easily.

Mental attitude is important: if you think of it as creating
something nice it can be fun; but if you slip into "What a norrible
chore, and now I've scratched my hand again!" it won't be.

Mike.

Nick Maclaren wrote:
In the lowlands of the UK
(most of the inhabited parts), all that you need to do to turn some
land into pasture/lawn is to cut down the trees and shrubs, flatten
it and graze or mow it. Seriously.

Weak anthropic principle, init. That's /why/ and /how/ lawns were
invented!