[digital_biscuit]

Hi All

Have recently moved in to a new house and the garden is a state! Slowly working through that, but have issues with the lawn and would like some advice....

The lawn is not too great! Full of weeds and the majority of the grass seems to be couch. Should I..

1 - Use a weedkiller which removes just the weeds and keeps the grass then add lawn seed to regrown a better lawn

2 - Kill off all the lawn to remove the couch and start again from scratch

For either option, when is the best time to sow?

Thanks very much,
Digi

[Runwell-Steve]

It's a tricky one really.

A new lawn will need plenty of watering, something which in the current drought situation is unlikely to be easy, so I wouldn't want to go too drastic.

I think I'd just try some weed and feed and keep it cut for now, you could overseed any bare patches,  If in the early Autumn it is looking irrepairable you could consider more drastic action as hopefully by then there might be some rain in the pipeline.

[compostqueen]

I was told April and September are optimum sowing times but obviously prevailing weather conditions will have influence on it    I wouldn't fancy sowing a lawn today for example 

[digital_biscuit]

Compost Queen, I have no idea what you are saying about the weather today? I look out of my window and I see lovely blue skies!! The joys of the South East!

Thanks for the help

[arugula]

We had a similar situation here, with added molehills, when we moved in. We stripped the entire garden with a digger, brought in new topsoil and seeded the lawn freshly. I appreciate in the drought and potential water shortage conditions, that keeping a newly seeded lawn wet enough may be tricky, but it'll be easier than trying to turf it and keep that happy.

Otherwise, I think at best you can weed and feed which is likely to leave patches which will need re-seeding and it will always look patchy. It just depends on how pristine you want it to look.