Garden assessment help - moss, weeds

Saint84

hi

i need some help with the state of my garden.  Can i just use some of the 4-1 and scarify it in a few weeks and it will get better (i.e more green and lush?)

I have not done any maintenance previously on this (i.e. just mow) and feels like it needs some TLC.

any suggestions/ideas 

.

Farway

Lots of dead patches. DO you have a dog?

fatbelly

My lawn looked like that even though I was using a weed and feed product.

As an experiment I used growmore at the same application rate and the grass miraculously turned green and lush

kempiejon

A good lawn comes from good care and prep maintaining good soil and grass roots. Thick thatch and compacted soil can degrade your turf.  Aerate and scarify are good moves. Top dressing and over seeding can help. I'm a firm believer in lawn sand. Boosts the lawn can green it up and help kill moss. 4 in 1 more expensive and in my experience not much better though of course have weed killer too. If your soil and thatch needs work lawn sand and 4 in 1 are short term solutions.

Saint84

fatbelly said:

My lawn looked like that even though I was using a weed and feed product.

As an experiment I used growmore at the same application rate and the grass miraculously turned green and lush

Can you give me the link in question ?

Saint84

Farway said:

Lots of dead patches. DO you have a dog?

Nope. Don’t know why/how the dead patches occurred. Any tips to revive? 4 in1 ?

-taff

You might be mowing too short too, try lifting the height one notch and letting the clippings fall on the grass.

fatbelly

Saint84 said:

Can you give me the link in question ?

Link to what? Growmore is a generic cheap granular fertilizer. I buy it in 25kg bags but you can buy any size, everywhere

Saint84

Ok I have applied the 4-1 onto my garden. Are they next steps correct?

1. water it if no rain fall within two days?
2. Mow it on weekend. Leaving all clippings on grass 
3. I will need to order a new blade as think my lawnmower blade is too blunt now

4. scarify it in two weeks?

kempiejon

1a. sharpen lawnmower blade

As we can't wind back time (I would scarify first) yes 4 in 1, water in if no rain.
You can cut your lawn if it needs doing. I'd tend to leave the sward as long as the mower allows.
Whatever 4 in 1 instructions say but a couple of weeks seems fair then scarify.

That won't fix the problem though. Good lawn health is an ongoing process. One needs a full regime of feed, maintenance and control. Aerate is high on the list of things to do. When I was renovating my lawn I would aerate a couple of times spring and autumn and scarify at either end of the summer. Give the lawn a chance to recover between aerating and scarifying.
I over sowed at the end of the season though you can over sow your patches as soon as you've cleared the moss and weeds. I use a mix of soil and coarse sand with my seed. I think it's worth applying moss killing over the winter but not where you've resown patches.

My scarifier has a blade for cutting which aerates though a garden fork will do the job. If you've football pitch a hollow tine aerating machine is a good call. 

As an extra thought I have read about a new moss control Nutrigrow that feeds the lawn while supressing the moss. Might be snake oil, I've not tried it as there's not much moss and a tiny lawn these days.

twopenny

Raising the blade - to leave a longer cut will make the grass more vigorous which helps to exclude weeds.

Unfortunately you may need to mow more.

Aerate - can you rent/borrow a machine for it? It only needs doing once or twice a year.

What sort of soil is it? Sandy/clay/stoney?

Feedings ok but it should be Spring and Autumn when the ground is damp.