Help with lawn

Acc72

Hi All,

I am looking for some advice with regards to my lawn.

It became overgrown late last year, and after mowing am left with a lot of patches, moss and some weeds.

My question is what order do I do things ?

eg. mow lawn, scarify, aerate, good water then what ?

I want to overseed, but am aware that I will need to sort out the weeds and moss first.

Would it be best to first use fertilizer - so that what is there gets the best chance of growing?

Use lawn food or one of the all-in-one products ?

Would you then oversed in a few weeks/months or wait until autumn ?

I have done a search on Google but am still unsure about the correct order to do things, any help would be much appreciated.

officeguru

Hi Acc72, I scarified the lawn last spring and it took ages to recover and the judges who came round the gardens said that I shouldn't have done it until Sept.. I would buy an all-in-one weed & feed to get rid of the weeds and feed the grass (Pay attention to the instructions on the container regarding mowing the grass). I would water the grass in the evenings if there has been a spell of hot weather (like at the moment).

What I usually do after the summer is:

Scarify the lawn
Aerate it
Then get a wheelbarrow of compost (I have 3 bins) and then I mix a load of grass seed through it and spread it over the lawn in stages. After I have put the compost/grass seed on a bit, I get my witches broom and work it in a little (not too much but you want to be able to see the tops of the existing grass through the dirt) and I then complete the whole lawn... concentrating where it needs it most.

I find this is a better time to do it as you are not having to tell people, kids, visitors to stay off the grass and there is a lot less traffic on the grass in the autumn... (You want the grass seed to get started while there is some warmth in the ground and before the winter sets in). Plus you won't have to mow the lawn so much at that time of year while the new grass is trying to grow.

Just for now you could aerate the grass and put down the weed & feed and water it when necessary and leave the rest until late summer early autumn..

I hope this helps

Cheers

[Deleted User]

Hi I hope it's OK to join this thread:o

My garden hasn't been treated for 5+ yrs before I moved in. 80% weeds, nettles and dandelions and 20% sorry looking grass and bare ground. I have zero gardening exp so asked my new neighbours who have a 'bowling-green' lawn and did some online research - Amazon's product reviews are v helpful.

The advice I was given is similar to Officeguru's above: aerate the lawn for now and to use a weed n feed preparation (Ie: Evergreen Complete 4 in 1) and a lawn spreader for even application. Luckily both are on Special offer on Amazon and Homebase. Have only used them today obviously it's too early to tell how effective it will be..

Water well if no rain within 48hrs of application. Wait a couple of weeks by then most of the weeds should have gone or should at least be dying. Then mow. If needed re-seed any bald, over treated, discoloured areas. And follow Officeguru's recommendations above for treating later in the season.

Hope something in all of this is of some help to you, Acc72. Good luck! I'd be interested to see how you get on.

Acc72

Thanks to both Officeguru and bushbaby - I will take your advice !