Spring lawn weed and feed

[Tashyboy]

We bought one of the below about 2.5 years ago and have now used it 4 or 5 times. Green Thumb would have charges us ~ £100 per visit. We used it yesterday on our approx 100 sq m lawn without using the grass box (fills up every couple of metres or so) and had done a light scarify in about 20 mins. Another hour of so of going over the whole lot with the rotary mower a couple of times to pick up all the arisings and the jobs a good 'un.

Hyundai 15'' / 38cm Electric Lawn Scarifier Aerator Lawn Rake 1800W 230V | HYSC1800E

Hyundai 1800W Lightweight Electric Lawn Scarifier, Aerator and Electric Rake. For patchy grass, spongy lawns and increasing grass drainage. Removes weeds, moss and thatch for a healthy, green lawn. Click here to shop.

hyundaipowerequipment.co.uk

As Pants says, we have a very similar scarifier and it really is a thing of beauty. The problem is that the Box gets full after just two walks up and down the lawn. It is a slow process emptying the box but it does the job properly. Again I left the lawn an hour or so then went over with the mower to get the last bits up. The back garden, because it was more thatch than moss I went both ways to get as much as I could out. Quite looking forward to the rain tonight and over the weekend to help with germination.
As a side note, the scarifier also doubles up as an airiator, I tried it years ago but the ground was to wet and it ripped the lawn to bits.

 

[RichA]

Went ahead and bought the Makita scarifier because it uses the same batteries as the rest of my gardening equipment.
Delivered this afternoon. Just gave it a trial run on the small front lawn.

 

[Pants]

As Pants says, we have a very similar scarifier and it really is a thing of beauty. The problem is that the Box gets full after just two walks up and down the lawn. It is a slow process emptying the box but it does the job properly. Again I left the lawn an hour or so then went over with the mower to get the last bits up. The back garden, because it was more thatch than moss I went both ways to get as much as I could out. Quite looking forward to the rain tonight and over the weekend to help with germination.
As a side note, the scarifier also doubles up as an airiator, I tried it years ago but the ground was to wet and it ripped the lawn to bits.

We don't bother with the collection box. Just scarify the whole lawn then go over it a couple of times with the petrol rotary mower to collect arisings and cut the spindly grass strands.

 

[rulefan]

We don't bother with the collection box. Just scarify the whole lawn then go over it a couple of times with the petrol rotary mower to collect arisings and cut the spindly grass strands.

That doesn't really work with a cylinder mower.
But I scarify with the catcher off then rake the debris up into piles with a lawn rake. Then into the compost via a wheelbarrow.

 

[RichA]

That doesn't really work with a cylinder mower.
But I scarify with the catcher off then rake the debris up into piles with a lawn rake. Then into the compost via a wheelbarrow.

Rotary mowers are like outdoor vacuum cleaners. I wouldn't be without one now. Great for collecting and shredding leaves in autumn too.

 

[rulefan]

Rotary mowers are like outdoor vacuum cleaners. I wouldn't be without one now. Great for collecting and shredding leaves in autumn too.

I agree. The problem I have is wheels. My lawns are bordered by curved flower beds and the wheels drop off the edge unless I mow slowly and very carefully.
As it happens, a friend died about a year ago and his widow had been forced to get a gardener. She has just given me his old petrol rotary so I will use it once a year after scarifying
But I always reckon cylinders give a better finish .

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

If you have easy access to a rainwater drain system then field drains would probably be easier and note effective than a soak away. Really only of use for areas where you can’t tap in to a rain system.

The soakaway had to be dug for rainwater coming off the rear slopes of the roof of our house and of our new extension…we weren’t able/permitted to feed the rainwater into the drainage system. So a garden soakaway had to be dug and then turfed over.

 

[Golfmmad]

The soakaway had to be dug for rainwater coming off the rear slopes of the roof of our house and of our new extension…we weren’t able/permitted to feed the rainwater into the drainage system. So a garden soakaway had to be dug and then turfed over.

I take it you have a water butt system as well?

 

[GreiginFife]

The soakaway had to be dug for rainwater coming off the rear slopes of the roof of our house and of our new extension…we weren’t able/permitted to feed the rainwater into the drainage system. So a garden soakaway had to be dug and then turfed over.

Well no, if its a main sewer then you can’t tie rain water in to it. We’ve got rainwater lines that come off all the guttering downpipes that’s separate to the sewerage system.

 

[Tashyboy]

Well no, if its a main sewer then you can’t tie rain water in to it. We’ve got rainwater lines that come off all the guttering downpipes that’s separate to the sewerage system.

When we had the extension on the back of the house, the back garden is about three foot above the patio. That meant digging a channel to a soak away like we did on the front garden and then having a rain water soak away. However once the channel had been dug which also meant going under a 4ft high retaining wall. It meant the soak away would be about 8-10ft deep. It just was not practice. The planners said there is two options when speaking to the powers that be. Drop it into the mains sewers, or direct the rain water into a water butt. Get it passed and then remove the water butt in a years time and drop it back into the mains. Fortunately the planners agreed that the small extension roof would not overpower the mains drains.
There are a few exceptions to the rules but the soakaways are the best options.

Oddly enough when we had the extension on the front the council came around at various stages of the build to check everything was fine and dandy and met the building regs. They were sticklers for dotting the I’s and crossing the T’s
When we had the back extension done the building regs had been sourced out to a private company and they were massively helpful in ideas and alternative suggestions.

 

[Mudball]

We have fox visiting us every night. He/She/It cuts across our garden and goes over to the next one.. unfortunately it also feels that it should poo on our lawn.. so there is fresh deposit in around the same area every days.

Now with spring/summer and garden coming into use.. how do we stop it doing its business in the garden.

 

[Lord Tyrion]

We have fox visiting us every night. He/She/It cuts across our garden and goes over to the next one.. unfortunately it also feels that it should poo on our lawn.. so there is fresh deposit in around the same area every days.

Now with spring/summer and garden coming into use.. how do we stop it doing its business in the garden.

Citrus peels are quite successful. As fresh as possible as it's the citrus smell that puts them off. A bag of lemons are usually pretty cheap. Chop them up, scatter them in the area it uses, job's a good un (probably)

 

[larmen]

Does lawn stuff go off? I applied some granules last weekend and it doesn’t look like it has gone any greener. But we had it in the shed for a year, I think.

 

[rulefan]

Does lawn stuff go off? I applied some granules last weekend and it doesn’t look like it has gone any greener. But we had it in the shed for a year, I think.

It doesn't normally go off but if you have been having the same very dry weather that could explain it. The granules need moisture for the chemical to be taken up by the roots.

 

[larmen]

Maybe I need to do the spiky shoe dance. Takes me a couple of hours for what a green keeper does in a few seconds on his rig.

 

[rulefan]

Maybe I need to do the spiky shoe dance. Takes me a couple of hours for what a green keeper does in a few seconds on his rig.

That won't work unless you get some moisture into the ground. The granules will simply lie at the bottom of the spike holes.

 

[Mandofred]

Did a couple of mild scarifies on the front and back of the new house we have over a month ago. Landscaping guys in the last month and should be done towards the end of this week. New turf on 2/3 of the back yard and I've had to water twice a day....feeling a little guilty with how dry it is, but I'm not letting that much turf just go unwatered. Once they are gone I was going to get serious about scarifying the back old grass and planting new seed. I don't want to risk doing the front unless we start getting some rain. MET longrange forecast seems to think the chance of rain picks up towards the end of the month.

 

[Doon frae Troon]

Did a couple of mild scarifies on the front and back of the new house we have over a month ago. Landscaping guys in the last month and should be done towards the end of this week. New turf on 2/3 of the back yard and I've had to water twice a day....feeling a little guilty with how dry it is, but I'm not letting that much turf just go unwatered. Once they are gone I was going to get serious about scarifying the back old grass and planting new seed. I don't want to risk doing the front unless we start getting some rain. MET longrange forecast seems to think the chance of rain picks up towards the end of the month.

Wait until the end of August beginning of September to apply seed

 

[Tashyboy]

Come back from me jollydays and the lawn looked lush and green which surprised me with the amount of rain we haven’t had. It looks really nice. I think a lot of it was down to when it was scarified. Bro in law did his three weeks later than me and he said his lawn looks a mess.

 

[Mudball]

over Autumn, we may do some hard landscaping. Currently we have the lawn coming all the way to our patio.. it is a raised patio built on bricks. At the bottom its concrete foundations, but standard red bricks are visible. The plan is to create a vegetable/flowerbed type closer to te house and then lawn afterwards. We may go for wooden sleepers as a separator.

So if I do 1 or 2 raised sleeper on the outside, fill the gap between the patio and sleeper with soil. How do i ensure that we dont start getting damp up the wall. Is there a way to protect the wall or or should i go deeper to concrete level to fill?