Jungle Garden - What to do?

smb-uk

Hi all,
I'll try to make a long story short. I just moved into a house that was left vacant since I put my offer in 4 months ago. From what was a nice-ish garden has sprung a huge jungle or long grass, ragwurt, thistles etc. I have chopped the ragwurt and thisles down but when I've had a look at the grass its very poor indeed and it lifts the soil when pulled.

I had thought I would kill the whole lot and then re-seed but I have no odea whats the best way to do it?
Cover for a month with plastic to kill everything? was one idea.

Anyway and ideas help would be appreciated.

The garden in about 40m2 - so not small.

Thanks in advance
G

martindow

It will need more than a month of covering but black plastic or carpet can be very effective. Everything dies back and rots down. It's really a matter of whether you can face looking at plastic for a long time.

conradmum

Reseeding won't help if the grass is poor because it's in poor growing conditions. You'll go to a lot of effort for the same result. If the grass is bad because it hasn't been mowed for four months it will look awful but will regenerate quickly if mowed regularly from now on. I would strim it all down and rake off the excess, leave it a few days then mow it on a high setting. After that mow regularly - once a week or more (providing the grass has enough rain to be growing well). This will kill off all weeds except typical lawn weeds such as clover and daisies. If the grass is still poor after a couple of months of this you need to address the growing conditions.

hex2

I agree with both of the above posts.
From what you are saying the roots are very shallow? I would try poking a fork in as deep as you can every few inches. If it is because the soil is compacted this will open it up and encourage deeper root growth. You could also try brushing some top soil into the holes to improve what is underneath, or sand if it is clay.
It may also be worth chucking some autumn weed and feed on. They can make a significant difference very quickly in conjunction with the mowing. It wont help with the deeper roots problem, just the general condition.

angelavdavis

You don't mention whether you are in an area that has enjoyed the really hot weather?

It sounds like the lawn was Ok a few months ago, so there might not actually be a big problem here.

Most lawns in areas that have had little rainfall and lots of sunshine are like this and your description of shallow rooting like this would suggest that your lawn is probably in dormancy, because of the hot weather - it just looks even worse because it hasn't been cut regularly.

I agree once you have cut down the worst and planned a regular trim, you should give the area a good aerating as hex2 suggests - the ground will be rock hard and any rain will simply not penetrate very far. Try to do before the next rain is forecast. Once you have opened the soil up a little the rain/water will travel down easier, thus encouraging the roots further down. Then apply an autumn feed, again, just before the next rain is forecast.

Come spring, you can rack out any dead growth and thatch and feed again.

It won't look particularly great this year (although the autumn feed will help green it up a bit), but come spring it should be OK again.

Lord_Gardener

Apart from above, remember to edge your lawn - this will reduce the amount/discourage tufts of thick-bladed grasses appearing and prevent their rhizomes rooting into your borders and make it look much better! Don't cut your grass too short, 3/4 - 1" is best for drought conditions. Cut the grass on a regular basis to thicken it. Your long grass will initially experience some shock - go yellow/white but will recover fairly quickly - don't worry about feeding/aeration/scarifying until the autum or leave until next spring so not to stress the grass too much. That's the quick job now concentrate on your borders!