lawn help

  • 9 Replies
  • 4217 Views
*

dmg

  • Senior Member
  • ****
  • Location: Ayrshire
  • 662
lawn help
« on: March 15, 2014, 01:47 »
My back lawn has finally started to drain away- my area is a naturally swampy area. It is mostly moss with lots of bare patches. In the worst part I have tried forking in a couple bags of sharp sand as it flooded at the lowest part by a few inches in the wettest weather. It is east facing

Do I:
Continue adding sharp sand round the whole lawn and how much of?
Sow grass seed now or when?
Give it one of the lawn treatments 4 in 1 etc.
Also what is the best products to use as I would like it to be hard wearing as I have 2 playful dogs

Thanks
Dmg

*

Asherweef

  • Senior Member
  • ****
  • 568
Re: lawn help
« Reply #1 on: March 15, 2014, 08:04 »
You're going to need a mix that includes rye grass so that's it's quite hard wearing - what type is down at the moment? Is it a fine grass or something that would blend well with rye?

I would give it a really good mow if you can get it a bit dryer and then give it a week before raking the thatch out. Once you've done that you could start sowing again... Alternatively you could apply lawn sand and then rake all the dead moss out? Just make sure you follow the instructions and don't apply after a cut...

Once the moss has been killed off you could then resow a couple of weeks later.

*

Sparkyrog

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Location: Taunton
  • 2081
Re: lawn help
« Reply #2 on: March 15, 2014, 08:23 »
I would also give it a good spiking to help with drainage,you could hire one of those machines that takes out little soil cores then brush sharp sand in .
I cook therefore I grow

*

fatcat1955

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Location: Hunsdon Herts
  • 1441
Re: lawn help
« Reply #3 on: March 15, 2014, 08:39 »
DO NOT rake the thatch until you have killed the moss. You will spread the moss everywhere. I would leave it to dry then give it a dose of weed feed and mosskiller. Leave it till the moss goes black then scarify it. Do a soil ph test, chances are that if you have moss your soil is acid. If so give it a dose of lime. As regards to the flooding you can put as much sand on it as you like but unless you raise the whole lawn above the flood level it will still flood.

*

Goosegirl

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Location: Caton, Lancaster.
  • 8941
Re: lawn help
« Reply #4 on: March 15, 2014, 11:49 »
I have three lawns on silty soil, one of which gets very mossy. I spent a lot of time the other year killing the moss, mechanically raking it (I could not believe how much stuff I got out  :ohmy: ), spiking with a garden fork (on spiking, it didn't seem that much compacted at all) then brushing sharp and and compost stuff in to help with drainage and to make it more level, then re-seeded the bare patches. Anyway, the moss came back and I realised it was partly as a result of the shade from some trees which have now been cut back so we'll see what happens this summer. If you don't have any trees shading your lawn which you can do something about, then your naturally swampy area will provide the ideal site for moss to thrive whatever you do. I just put up with it now as our area is reclaimed mossland - 'nuff said!
I work very hard so don't expect me to think as well.

*

Asherweef

  • Senior Member
  • ****
  • 568
Re: lawn help
« Reply #5 on: March 15, 2014, 13:19 »
DO NOT rake the thatch until you have killed the moss. You will spread the moss everywhere. I would leave it to dry then give it a dose of weed feed and mosskiller. Leave it till the moss goes black then scarify it. Do a soil ph test, chances are that if you have moss your soil is acid. If so give it a dose of lime. As regards to the flooding you can put as much sand on it as you like but unless you raise the whole lawn above the flood level it will still flood.

Unless you want to do it organically in which case rake or scarifying with a machine...

*

fatcat1955

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Location: Hunsdon Herts
  • 1441
Re: lawn help
« Reply #6 on: March 15, 2014, 19:16 »
Don't care which way you want to do it. If you rake live moss you end up with more moss .Fact

*

Asherweef

  • Senior Member
  • ****
  • 568
Re: lawn help
« Reply #7 on: March 15, 2014, 19:25 »
Don't care which way you want to do it. If you rake live moss you end up with more moss .Fact

I didn't mean to upset you so apologies if I did. I'm showing a different chain of thought, and raking a lawn has worked very well for me in the past with no spreading (at least the areas that I could be bothered to do -- it's strenuous!)

Anyway - the website I use for the maintenance of my lawn is Lawnsmith…

You should find a lot of good info on there, including the use of a rake if you so choose. http://www.lawnsmith.co.uk/novice/lawn-scarifying-raking

And

Quote from: http://www.lawnsmith.co.uk/novice/lawn-scarifying-raking/types-of-lawn-scarifier-raker
Hand Held
The simple spring-bok or spring tine rake is perfectly adequate for moss removal and raking small lawns. However, if you want to make hand scarifying and raking a lot easier then a rolling lawn scarifier* is perfect.

*

fatcat1955

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Location: Hunsdon Herts
  • 1441
Re: lawn help
« Reply #8 on: March 15, 2014, 19:46 »
You have not upset me at all, but moss will be spread all over your lawn if you rake or scarify it whilst it is alive.

*

Goosegirl

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Location: Caton, Lancaster.
  • 8941
Re: lawn help
« Reply #9 on: March 16, 2014, 10:52 »
... and don't use the moss debris as a mulch or in the compost bin as there will enivitably be some live moss in it and it will grow - been ther, done it.  :ohmy:



xx
New Lawn

Started by Jamie Butterworth on General Gardening

1 Replies
1780 Views
Last post May 25, 2010, 20:41
by clarkey95
xx
My Lawn

Started by digital_biscuit on General Gardening

4 Replies
3112 Views
Last post April 04, 2012, 12:21
by arugula
xx
new lawn

Started by CHRIS THE VEG on General Gardening

1 Replies
2394 Views
Last post March 28, 2007, 20:14
by muntjac
clip
MY lawn !!!!§

Started by mrs bouquet on General Gardening

15 Replies
3445 Views
Last post September 07, 2020, 13:53
by mrs bouquet
 

Page created in 0.14 seconds with 39 queries.

Powered by SMFPacks Social Login Mod
Powered by SMFPacks SEO Pro Mod |