Killing the weeds

Apodemus

You'll have that looking good in no time! 

Farway

Apodemus said:

You'll have that looking good in no time! 

It's not too bad, never be a bowling green but with regular mowing [high blades] and feeding it'll come good

Naomim

I have a hover mower but no idea where the extra bits are to raise the blades. 🤔 might have to see if I can get some replacements.

kdotdotdotdot

Can you borrow something from a neighbour?

Farway

Naomim said:

I have a hover mower but no idea where the extra bits are to raise the blades. 🤔 might have to see if I can get some replacements.

With mine there is a spacer under the blade, just flipping the spacer over gives a thicker / thinner spacer

Anything on line for make / model instructions?

twopenny

Not as bad as the first photo looks.

A neighbour and I who had big lawns decided that the clover stayed green in the height of summer and needed less mowing so was not to be worried about.

The second photo it all looks in poor condition and compacted. Take a garden fork to it and drop it and wiggle it a little to open up the soil and let it breath. It's a good way to get rid of some frustration about lockdown.

Give it a feed with the product of your choice.

The clover does however fix nitrogen in the soil that will feed grass. It's broadleaved though so a weedkiller will deal with it easily. I'd be inclined to dig out the areas that are really bad and replace with some turf (seed won't establish before the new clover does) then treat the whole lawn with something the grass enjoys and making it grow strong will reduce the amount of weed.

You need fewer spacers in a hover mower to get it to cut higher.  So just whip out at least one of what is there at the moment.

A_Lert

Wait, that's the "before"? I'd be quite happy with that as the after in our gardens!

Naomim

It was just showing what is growing in the garden. It doesn't look so bad in the photos but I guess when I compare to my neighbours it's awful. 

I'm going to look at my mower tomorrow and see if the spacers are in it, remove them if they're in it and cut the grass. Then think about digging the border whilst the ground should be soft enough. 

Naomim

The "grass" had it's first cut with my highest setting. I have ordered some new spacers ready for later in the year. 

Today my lovely FiL and son have been out the front digging the border, except they hit the Virgin Media cable so we lost all internet and tv 🤦‍♀️. Engineer booked but MrM not happy. I've managed to get online using my work mobile hotspot.

So with the border, once it's all dug what do I need to put on it? Get some topsoil on it then plant and put mulch down?

Thanks

Naomim

twopenny

Good topsoil is best from a nursery which should be as near weed free as you can get. You can get cheaper from a builders merchant but that likely hasn't been steralised.

Mulching should be after some wet weather and after planting. You'll be looking forward to rain

Sorry to hear about the cable. At least you have someone to blame and it wasn't you!

You could always read some gardening books instead of watching TV.........