Looking after our new lawn?

staceysteve

Hi,

We got new turf laid at the beginnnig of June and my fiance bless him has been trying so hard to keep it growing and looking good but sometimes it looks like we are fighting a loosing battle.
The Flymo we have just seems to churn up the grass. We treat it all the time, have put extra grass seed on and we still have patches.
We've left it too grow long thinking that may help establish it are we right?

Thanks for any advice

ukbill69

First thing is get rid of that rubbish flymo and get a petrol mower. If you want growth, then rain/water is key. Water every night and you will find lawn will repair it self.

staceysteve

Thanks, we getting a one next week, the flymo good on the front but terrible on the back. What do you think about more lawn feed and grass seed? We seem to have put loads on to no avail?
Have we made a mistake letting it grow long?

dollparts

I had a lawn laid in May and I was doing all the things they advise for caring for a new lawn, no traffic at first, watering etc etc.

Up to this point I had never mowed a lawn in my life far less chosen and bought one. I opted for a flymo hover vac, choosing Flymo because they are a very common brand and seem to have a prominent reputation in all the stores.

Well.....I do not know how they have managed to stay in business after al these years because this thing was like a pneumatic drill in disguise:eek:

It totally murdered my lawn, ripping it up from its delicate roots and I was left with a lawn that looked like it had hosted a festival for the beer- swilling, litter throwing great unwashed. That's being tame!

I aimed it straight out of the garden, and flogged it on ebay. I made sure the buyer knew what he was letting himself in for because even I am not that mean

I have replaced it with a Bosch 34 and it puts that nasty little orange beast to shame.

Your lawn will recover, mine is just about there. Just give it lots of water, light sprinkling for a longer period of time as opposed to a quick blast. That way you will be sure to soak the roots and not just the top layer.

I would definitely advise you to make sure you rake the lawn all over as despite the flymo claiming to hoover all the clippings, I was collecting dead cuttings and thatch for weeks after the initial massacre.

Now I have a lawnmower that doesn't actually belong in the armed forces as some sort of enemy fighting weaponry, It is bouncing back and I will treat it in the autumn with whatever the lawn website tells you to do (can't remember off the top of my head, I will post a link later on)

Good luck. (and please, no more [STRIKE]lawn murder [/STRIKE] Flymo

Viper_7

If using a flymo, really have to mow regularly, or it just rips it out.
Don't over treat with chemicals.
Make sure the grass can breath. Stick a garden fork in every foot.
Letting it grow then cutting causes the grass to become weak...regular mowing and watering is the key.

dollparts

Another trick I learned for the patches that were too far gone was to buy a bag of topsoil, throw some grass seed on and water leaving it in the bag. When the seeds began to germinate I sprinkled it over the patches and voila-the patches grew into a nice looking filler and now you can't tell the difference.

The reason I did it this way was because after laying the seed on the patches with the top soil and watering as per the instructions every bird in London decided it was open season and they woofed the whole lot in about a day. I'm all for feeding the birds but not at grass seed costing nearly a tenner a bag. By allowing the seeds to germinate before laying them on the lawn keeps the birds away because they have no interest in them once they start to sprout.

Lawn 1-0 Greedy birds