Why is my grass so tough and hard.

jamesdeanjames

Hi all.

Looking for some pointers. The grass in my garden is very tough and hard and even straw like in places. I don't cut it too low but unless it's cut high it's yellow ish and hard. A of the grass is like stalks. And it can be quite thick at ground level.

The garden was only laid three years ago. It was a field before then and top soil was spread out over it after out house build.I'm not looking for golf course standard but it's not great looking. I hear about things like aerating and scarifying but not sure where to start. I'd say the soil is fairly compact.

Any suggestions would be great as I genuinely haven't a clue how to improve it. I threw fertiliser down a couple of times and it did a good job on growth and greenness but problems still persist.

Thanks!

jamesdeanjames

Sample.

jamesdeanjames

Another.

jamesdeanjames

And another.

Thanks!

T-Maxx

Sounds to me like you have the wrong type of grass.

The Continental Op

Looks more like it will produce a crop of grain of some sort rather than good grass.

Sorry OP think you need to start again or just put up with it for a few years when most of that grass will have gone and whatever is in the area will have blown in (in groundmaship parlance - tumble down).

magicbastarder

Is that skutch grass?

The Continental Op

We keep chickens and other fowl. That grass looks like something that would grow from the grain we feed them.

randomguy

That looks like scutch grass. Has me tormented here. https://www.rhs.org.uk/weeds/couch-grass

Ruins the lawn, then it gets from the lawn into beds, and next thing you see it coming up the middle of a box/laurel/pieris etc. I have tried blasting it in patches with weedkiller, and pulling it when I see it. I keep it under control, but can't seem to eradicate it.

standardg60

Rough grass dominating, and i saw a bit of clover there too, are sure signs of poor nutrition.

I would get a big bag of 10-10-20 from the local co-op and apply generously. Follow that with regular and close enough mowing (the finer grasses will respond better to this than the rougher). It will look sh1te for a while but i'd say you'd be surprised with the results after a couple of months

Good advice above. You have scutch that has taken over. Fertilise and the good grass will start to win out again and cut regularly. I use a product called Landscaper pro, which is a slow release fertiliser and find it brilliant.

hayse

Throw out some lime also

jamesdeanjames

Thanks for the comments all.

The thought of reseeding is killer as it will be costly as my garden is pretty big but something will definitely consider as in the long run it will save me the headache.

I used 10-10-20 a few months back but can go with the landscaper pro to get rid of the clover etc and will get on that asap. I have always suspected the soil is very compact and might consider something like an aerator in Autumn. I'll cut it down nice and tight and maintain it like that also. I'll get lime also.

Thanks!