Lawn Care (stripes!)

randomguy

Hi all,

After 10 years in an apartment we moved into a house over the summer, and I am trying to get the garden into shape, never having been a gardener before. The house was empty throughout the spring, summer and drought, so when we moved in, mid-drought, the lawn was completely yellow. We hoped it would grow back in autumn, but never really recovered. I really wanted to get some grass leaf growth before the winter, just so it doesn't become a muddy mess for the next 5 months.

So I scarified it twice in Sept/Oct, taking up a load of white/yellow thatch both times, and threw down some autumn lawn fertiliser. BUT I did it badly, throwing it unevenly by hand with the attention of returning to brush it to even it out. Life got in the way, I never brushed it, and now it looks like this:

IMG_20181122_091034__01.jpg

Should I try to even it out by putting autumn lawn fertiliser on the non-green parts?
Or just leave it altogether? Will it even itself out over the winter/spring?
Or try to do something in Spring?

Thanks for any advice.

homer911

It's almost December - I'd leave it alone, I've seen a lot worse

aw

Apart from the different shades, fair play it's looking a lot better, by the sounds of it.

Bit late now to spread feed on it but it looks decently healthy to face into the winter.

Spread some feed in Spring (March/April). Spread it evenly and keep it trimmed and by Summer you will have a lovely carpet.

Defunkd

Looks like a crop circle...by drunken aliens!
Buy a spreader: either one that fits over your wrist or a drop-down (lawn is too narrow for a broadcast spreader).
Come March, buy your spring fert, or general lawn fert, and spread it. The nutrients will be there for when the grass kicks off. One bag of 25kg could do you 2years on that lawn.

Was going to say as well looks in pretty good shape. Fair play.
Some liquid iron or zero Moss killer would green up the yellowish areas and might level out the colour a bit.

New Home

It looks like you were trying to write something in joint writing.

standardg60

Lol reminds me of those weed and feeds that had that 'see where you've been formula'!

It's no harm to apply more autumn lawn feed to the other areas..'autumn' is a misnomer as it can be applied at any time of year, it's purpose is to feed the roots so the grass doesn't have to be actively growing. You can then apply a nitrogen feed in the spring.
Honestly it already looks great, obviously the soil is good.

Btw, stripes are only achieved by using a cylinder mower, as it's the direction the blades of grass face after cutting which gives the colour contrast.

randomguy

Thanks for the advice - the lawn never seemed to die fully in the drought, but never woke back up after it either. It just stayed yellow and stalky and a bit crunchy, and a bit of green started to come up through it. Then the dark green lines came up after i scattered the second autumn fertiliser.

I'd be tempted to give the yellow parts a go of a lawn feed, just to see if I can make it look less like alien graffiti! If I do, I will use a hand spreader this time!