Newly laid turf. Problems when coming to cut it...

isotonic_uk

Hi

Hoping i can get some advice from fellow mse gardeners who know a thing or two about newly laid turf.

Last year in october we had some garden work done wbich included laying turf in new areas. Once it was in for the first few weeks I ensured i was watering it.

The winter came and then i didnt do much with it, the only thing i checked was to see if the turf was getting stuck in, which it has.

Now in late March it was a nice day it was growing quite nicely from afar and i thought i will cut the grass. However as soon as i started i noticed that on the new lawn it was taking away large parts of the grass and leaving noticable areas.

I not sure what would be causing this. I have had a quick look on the internet and i seem to get the impression that i may need to apply some lawn feed. Something similar to aftercut ultra green plus?

Would this be recommended? The area where i tried this on was an area which is well lit in sunlight and if it rains it would be get a good amount. There are some areas of the garden which doesnt get the light which has been newly laid and having trouble growing fully. Could the lawn feed help in this as well?

Any advice on this would be most appreciated.

Thanks

neilmcl

It's far too early to be cutting the grass, especially a new lawn, no wonder you're taking chunks out of it.

getmore4less

As well as probably a bit early

What sort of mower, sound like it may not be that good

beaker141

I've mown twice this year now, the grass is looking ace.

Have you got the mower too low, is the lawn flat and level - I just wonder if youre scalping any high spots off ?

EssexExile

If I hadn't started cutting my grass a few weeks ago it would be over a foot high by now.

Don't worry about it, it will recover. If you want a perfect lawn then you are going to have to feed, weed, moss kill, aerate, scarify..... If you just want a lawn then it will be fine.

Alan2020

You mow twice a year??
Is this a joke?

I mow every week in summer, lawn feed with weed killer and patch magic where something goes bad.

Lawn is perfect, like a carpet.

In winter grass is not mowed once growth stops.

For a perfect lawn you need to mow daily.

[Deleted User]

No-one's said anything about only mowing twice a year.
Worth bearing in mind that in milder areas, like the far south west here, that grass can grow through winter, albeit slower, also, site, orientation, etc. can affect growing conditions.
My own area is a veritable micro climate and this affects growing cycles of all plantlife.


OP, perhaps double check that the roots have actually settled/bedded down into the soil underneath, the turves may be lifting because they're not attached fully.


That might mean re-preparing the ground and lay it back down again.


It's faintly possible that they've formed a mat ontop of the surface it's on …….
Just my thoughts though.

snowcat75

Cutting it will encourage it to thicken (tiller) ideally it wants the top taken out of it then each week it can be cut lower, I suspect much of the problem is its fairly long overwinter grass that is remaining wet this will never cut well until you get the top off and as I said then weekly cuts.

I put a new garden (or started it last year) which I seeded the lawn last spring and thankfully as iv my own well and water source I could water it all summer... Iv put on it a couple of doses of 0-24-24 (fertilizer with just p&k) sprayed out the broadleaved weeds and done 2 cuts already this year, Its had another dose of P&K this time with some Nitrogen Il also add another dose of Nitrogen late spring early summer... This year as its now established I wont bother with the watering.

Id also would roll new grass.

Iv grown grass commercially lawns are just a smaller scale... The weed and feed products from garden centres do the same job as commercial ferts and sprays just not quite as well, importance is timing, do the work in the spring as there's no point in attempting to feed or weed kill a lawn in summer that's not growing.