I can't even grow grass

alfa145

Not the smokey type, but proper green grass for a lawn. Got first house at the end of last summer and over the last few decent weekends when I've not been working on the car I've been trying to sort the garden. Having cleared most of the rubbish and giving it a good tidy and trim it looks half decent. I did some weeding and am now trying to repair the edge of the lawn where it meets various paths.

I dug all the old stuff up, pulled out the weeds. Made sure the soil was fine, planted the seeds, covered with soil (as per the instructions), have kept well watered, and after 3 weeks I just have large soil areas and I counted about 3 new blades of grass. These haven't grown any more for quite a while now, what is happening?

I think (as I was working from home this morning for the first time in ages) that there is a bit of clever team work going on - next doors cat digs up the soil then the birds swoop down and eat the grass seeds. So really I'm trying fight a few things here - my previous virginised green fingers, birds, and cats. I only want to grow some grass, anyone any ideas?!!

olibearhorse

oh no, poor you!

I have never grown grass but thought I would sympathise anyway. If you think it is cats etc, perhaps you should put a protective netting over it?

I am sure a grass growing whizz will turn up soon to answer your prayers!

BWZN93

Im no grass growing whizz, but I am currently trying to grow a lawn completley from seed - so I understand your problems! We have a notorious local population of birds that love to eat the seeds, so I came up with a two step plan to foil the little beggars.

Firstly, making sure that the ground is really well watered, I cover the patches with black bin liners for a couple of days to protect the seeds until germination. My seed pack says to leave the seeds on the surface and not to cover them though - i dont know why! After ive taken the plastic off, ive made sure that the area is as difficult for birds to get to - i didnt want to buy a load of nets though - so I got the branches from a tree i lopped down recently to cover the area and hung up a heck of a lot of old cd's to scare them off. It seems to have worked so far, and once they have started to grow properly i will remove the branches.

I dont know about the cats though - might be worth scaring them off from digging by using pepper or something??

Jo x

Mrs_pbradley936

Try getting the whole area turfed it is not expensive and it is instant.

Jayar

Another old remedy to deter birds is to tie lines of string across the patch, pegged at the sides. The string has strips of paper attached. These flutter in the wind and scare the birds. Fine if it's windy

olibearhorse

not so rewarding though! (re the turf option!)