My lawn is a mess

fifi35

Hello everyone, I had a new lawn laid a couple of years ago, and it's not been very good. There are a lot of bare patches and mouldy bits, and some weeds are growing on it. I have some autumn moss weed killer and fertiliser. Do you think it would be okay to put it on the lawn now, in March?  Do you have any other suggestions as to how I can get my lawn looking better?
TIA.

kassy64

Does it get much sun? Regular mowing during cutting season will thicken it up, you could also try over-seeding (plenty of info on web about that). Also looks like it needs a bit of aerating. Probably best to look up a specialist website or get a book from your library as their is a lot of info out there and too much to list here. Starting point for me would be regular (during mowing season) mowing and aerate if possible.

fatbelly

That doesn't look too bad to me for this time of year.

Now is a good time for a feed. I used to use the weed & feed mixtures till I found I got better results for less money by just using growmore.

Once you get mowing that will control the weeds.

Personally i will occasionally spot weed with a selective weedkiller but not mind a few weeds too much

teaselMay

It just looks like an early spring lawn to me. I'd aerate it thoroughly with a fork, or whatever you have to hand. And probably overseed it in a week or two once the frosts have stopped. It'll likely be fine in a couple of months

Neversurrender

It doesn't look too bad to me, I think you need to pull out what weeds you can first get down deep to pull the root out, don't use any weed and feed yet, because the next thing to do is seed those many bare patches, but wait until it's fairly warm, late spring

If you use weed and feed now it will kill the seeds you apply later.

While you're waiting for the weather to warm up, do as much prep as possible on the lawn you have so far.

Get some miracle grow lawn feed Amazon with the hose adapter.

Pull out by hand as many weeds as poss

Get that soil nicely fed

Then when the warmer weather approaches sprinkle some seed on, google how to do that, you may need a bag of fine compost too.

Don't pick a time when there's no rain to seed if it is dry gently hose the seeded lawn morning and evening

HTH

fifi35

Thank you very much for all the replies and advice.  I don't feel quite as bad now. 

twopenny

To keep the grass thicker don't mow it too close tempting though that is.

Have the mower blade to leave a good inch of grass. And a feed.

That way it will grow thicker and that will make fewer weeds.

Sarahspangles

Don’t use your Autumn feed, it’s low nitrogen, which is the exact opposite of what makes a Spring lawn green up and thicken. The quantity of weed you have is minimal and it might be as quick to hand weed it.

singhini

Do what others have said AND you should scarify your lawn

Sarahspangles

I'm not sure it does need scarifying, rather than a light rake over with a spring tine rake, as there's minimal thatch.  Scarifying does encourage lawn grass to tiller (send out side shoots) but with patchy grass you can just end up pulling out clumps.

It does look like quite heavy soil so getting into a routine of spiking it from time to time will get some air into the root zone and encourage those roots to explore and any new seed to establish.

Neversurrender

Aeration is 100% important too, sorry I missed that in my earlier post, especially  if you have heavy clay soil

Don't scarify yet, you will destroy the grass you have, save scarification until your lawn is established and you see moss or dead thatch, which you don't yet have.

Concentrate on making the surface flat and adding feed to the soil for now so when you add seeds in around mid June your seeds will have plenty to keep them fed