Improving grass on small lawns

Fabio

Hi all,
The front and back gardens could do with a bit of sprucing up. They're both relatively small (average 3 bed semi type of gardens).

The grass is looking a bit thin and even yellowing a little in some areas. I've done no work on it bar running a lawnmower over it and have little enough knowledge of gardening.

I was thinking of getting something like Miracle Gro Patch Magic to distribute throughout the grass to make it a bit more lush. I've recently planted box hedges in the front as a boundary and will probably need some sort of feed for those, but again, have no idea what to get.

Any pointers? Thanks all.

GreeBo

Now is a great time to scarify and/or power rake your lawn.

Its yellow due to old grass leaves and stems lying dead on the ground but not breaking down (thatch!)

Its a much easier job with a powered tool, but you can do it with a rake on small gardens.

LaLa2004

Get combined summer fertiliser and weedkiller. Follow the instructions carefully.
Don't mow the grass too short. This weakens the grass and allows weeds to take over.
Be patient and it should come along.

Fabio

Yeah it's only a small garden so I can manually rake it.

Then some combined summer fertiliser and weedkiller after that?

Any tips for keeping the weeds at bay in a lawn without access to weedkiller?

I have been pulling them out with a weeder.

Planet X

Trouble with moss like alot of people......to the degree that last year I dug up half my front lawn (not too big) which was covered with it.
No......killed it first, then dug it up to loosen soil so that I'd be able to plant new grass seed.

The trouble with raking the old lumpy dry infertile soil was a huge pain in the rear. And getting the new grass to take.

If I had half a tonne of topsoil or something lying around.....fine. Something for the new seed to "take".

Again, patches of moss, but I'm reticent of killing it until I have enough top soil to grow the new seed in.

What's the answer to this? Reseeding.

OpenAllHours

Looking for a bit of help from more experienced gardeners than me. I recently bought a house that had a neglected enough garden front and back. I strimmed it back about three weeks ago and noticed that probably most of it is dandelions, dock plants and moss. I applied some weed and feed which did help what bit of grass was in it

What I’m wondering is how do I get rid of the weeds and allow grass growth to take over. I’m not afraid of hard work, given the times we’re in a distraction would be good. But is it beyond saving that this point? Or what products/methods should I use.

Regie93

Fabio wrote: »

Hi all,
The front and back gardens could do with a bit of sprucing up. They're both relatively small (average 3 bed semi type of gardens).

The grass is looking a bit thin and even yellowing a little in some areas. I've done no work on it bar running a lawnmower over it and have little enough knowledge of gardening.

I was thinking of getting something like Miracle Gro Patch Magic to distribute throughout the grass to make it a bit more lush. I've recently planted box hedges in the front as a boundary and will probably need some sort of feed for those, but again, have no idea what to get.

Any pointers? Thanks all.

Actually, Miracle Gro products are great, at least from my experience. We too have a small lawn which was yellowing. Two years ago I decided to "revive", and now it looks much better.
Do you have any photos of the lawn to share? Sometimes it could be the fungus that is killing your lawn, so you have to get rid of it first.
Another question is - do you have a dog? That's what could cause the yellowing as well.
Watering is another topic, but water in a way to promote deep root growth. To have the roots go deep, the water has to be deep. This will make your lawn stronger. Sprinklers and such won't work.

Here are some tips that I found useful: http://www.gardenplansireland.com/forum/about243.html - Lawn Care and Maintenance rules for Ireland

OpenAllHours, a natural way to get rids of weeds is to pull them. It is easier to pull them when they are small, but from your post it seems that your lawn is overrun with these. If I were you, I'd start again.

dePeatrick

Why is everyone so hung up on grass, it is unbelievably boring, kill it off and plant wild flowers and let some life into your garden, otherwise get Astro turf.