help with lawn

mikeoh

My problem is I have a very strong crop of grass and I'm having trouble keeping it cut. The lawn was sown 4 years ago with a lawn mix I got in B&Q but when my father in law didn't see it growing he went out with a bag af seed he had for his meadow and put it on the lawn , resulting in the thickest and fastest growing lawn west of the Shannon !!!. What are my options if I spray it with round up will I have to rotavate it before sowing grass seed .......or is there something I can put on it to stunt the growth any help much appreciated thanks

The Gardener

Sounds like your father in law sowed a mix containing a large percentage of perennial rye grass which is used for pasture. There are two ways of sorting your problem, the first is as you mentioned, spraying with Roundup or similar weedkiller and starting again and yes I would recommend rotovating the site again. The second way is to keep the lawn cut short so as to discourage the rye grass and encourage the lower and slower growing grasses, you will need to cut at least once a week during the growing season over a few years to achieve this.
The use of growth regulators on lawns has never been very successful in Ireland and in my experience just led to patchy lawns with some areas growing faster than others. If it were my lawn, and not too big an area I'd go with spraying and starting over again. Bear in mind that you might have very fertile soil which is also causing fast growth.

mikeoh

When is the best time of year to spray

The Gardener

mikeoh wrote: »

When is the best time of year to spray

Any of the Glyphosate based weedkillers of which Roundup is one work best when the grass is growing well, which should be from March/April onwards. The spray is taken up by the plant and "translocated" ie. spread to the roots, giving a complete kill.

mikeoh

Thanks so much for the advice it really was what I needed ....I guess Im busy for the summer so!!!!!..............

Squiggle

Gallup or Touchdown will do the same job as Roundup but at roughly half the price.

mikeoh

Squiggle wrote: »

Gallup or Touchdown will do the same job as Roundup but at roughly half the price.

A few bob to be saved there!