Lawn Care

[3offTheTee]

We have used Green Thumb for a few years but their costs are rising by 25% with the cost being around £230 p.a. Whilst affordable I have my doubts I am receiving value for money.

The problem is that when the house was built the builders threw rubbish, bricks, hardcore, wood down and covered with little soil. We are not going to relay/ re turf the lawn as too costly. There are a few hardy weeds on the edges which GL has not removed despite requests.

All I need is a good weed and feed I think.

Any help/ advice would be appreciated.

 

[IanM]

You said it yourself.

A good weed and feed. Top dress every year too, if the builders left little subsoil...that makes a big difference.

 

[Captain_Black.]

I care for my own lawn.
When the ground is soft (now) I carefully tease out any weeds I find.
I've just done my 1st cut
In the next few days I'll sprinkle some Aftercut granules over the lawn, it turns the grass black & stinks for a few days, but it's great stuff.
It thickens the lawn whilst killing any weeds & moss.
It's important to use it before the weather gets too dry (it needs moisture to work)
After a few weeks, I'll overseed any thin areas, again before it gets too dry.

My front lawn is a nightmare
I do all of the above to it, but the soil is extremely thin & it gets the full sun in the summer.
Every year it turns to straw & I have to try to rescue it in the autumn.
The soil just isn't deep enough to retain any moisture.
It would cost me a fortune to leave a sprinkler on (water meter)
The only other option would be to completely relay it with much deeper soil.

 

[Canary_Yellow]

Get on lawnsmith.co.uk

Like you, I had a lawn company come and apply treatments and scarify / aerate, but found it expensive.

Now I just follow the guidance on lawnsmith and my lawn looks better than ever. Same as you, I need a new lawn really, but I’m not after anything ornamental.

I’ve got an electric rake / scarifier from screwfix, and then just apply lawnsmith treatments as needed. I enjoy doing it.

 

[Canary_Yellow]

I care for my own lawn.
When the ground is soft (now) I carefully tease out any weeds I find.
I've just done my 1st cut
In the next few days I'll sprinkle some Aftercut granules over the lawn, it turns the grass black & stinks for a few days, but it's great stuff.
It thickens the lawn whilst killing any weeds & moss.
It's important to use it before the weather gets too dry (it needs moisture to work)
After a few weeks, I'll overseed any thin areas, again before it gets too dry.

My front lawn is a nightmare
I do all of the above to it, but the soil is extremely thin & it gets the full sun in the summer.
Every year it turns to straw & I have to try to rescue it in the autumn.
The soil just isn't deep enough to retain any moisture.
It would cost me a fortune to leave a sprinkler on (water meter)
The only other option would be to completely relay it with much deeper soil.

Try using a wetting agent on your front lawn

 

[3offTheTee]

Thanks for your helpful comments. Appreciated.
Lawnsmith it is and Green Thumb dumped to the bin!

 

[Crazyface]

I've given up on mine for the last few years. It's a constant battle v Moss. A bloke once said to me, well no wonder, you live on The Moss Estate! We also have a bonfire every November so have a big black hole to reseed each year. When I did fight it, I got the timing wrong, killed the moss, scarified it out, I have a amazing machine to do it with, then blow me the sun came out for ever and scorched the lot. What a mess it was that year. It's a huge lawn as well, so it looked horrendous.
I'm going to have a bash at it again this year though. It's a tough job as there are different areas that get different hours of sunshine and some areas that just seem boggy all year. Oh well.

 

[larmen]

Our soils was so compact due to building materials under it we couldn’t airrate it al all. When we did the patio we lifted the whole thing by about 10 cm and now it is easy to care for. Same with the flowers next to it. If there is no proper soil I don’t think you have a chance, and i ‘lawnsmithed’ the hell out of it, with no success before.

 

[Billysboots]

I used Green Thumb a number of years ago and they were okay to begin with, but then scarified the living daylights out of my lawn to the point where I had not a blade of grass left. I could have lived with it had they rectified the problem, but they ran for the hills when I raised a complaint.

Look after my own now.

 

[larmen]

I assume that on a golf forum we have ‘higher expectations ’ than the average house owner when it comes to lawns?

Also, we all know a guy or two who have those tools and machines that could do our lawns in 15 minutes, if we could just crane them over the house?
I mean, we cry when they hollow tine a green in a whisker, then we spend 2 days trying to get the same done at home by stepping repeatedly a fork or wading on spikes across our lawns.

 

[rulefan]

It's a constant battle v Moss.

Ferrous Sulphate in powder form NOT in granule form. About 4 measures (or 4 tablespoons) in10 litres of water well mixed. Late winter early spring after a light trim, blades up two notches)
Then I have my lawn hollow tined every two years (alternating with solid tining) by an independent lawn specialist (retired greenkeeper).
I have my own scarifier which I use lightly a week or so after tining. Rake up debris and mow one notch up.
Use a propriety Feed n Weed twice a year. But watch out for speedwell, it doesn't respond to most weedkillers. Either dig it out or try spot killing with Resolva Lawn Weed killer (but aim well as it will kill the grass if you miss).


Many favourable comments by neighbours and visitors

 

[harpo_72]

Did a big effort on our front lawn last year. Used the raking head instead of the slitter to remove the moss... I’ll do that this year.
I then mowed it and used lawn sand to kill the rest off and feed what was left.
I then mixed up a seed sand and soil mix and applied in the bare patches and watered… all of this was done in a very nonchalant manner much to my super gardening neighbours..
But the real solution was the purchase of “Ernie “ who is an automated mower who doesn’t need cables … I love him, I can drink a beer and watch him for hours.
The back garden is 3 x the size .. so did not get the pre treatment.. but “Ernie “ maintained it and the results were good.
And the mulched or short cut grass does feed it.