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Novice gardener - new lawn (turf) advice (dandelions!)

Hippodrome Song Owl

I have a garden for the first time in my life and I love it, but have no knowledge. Back garden is unfortunately North facing. The garden was in an awful state when I got the house so a lot of clearing work was done. There are still trees (out of control leylandii) to be removed after nesting season.

I got new turf laid in early June, back and front, and overall it has been doing really well. I wasn't given much information beyond watering and cutting advice for the first few weeks, which I followed religiously.

5 weeks later and my main concern is dandelions in the front lawn. I have gone back and read many older threads here for information, and I gather that "just keep mowing" is the main advice. With the current weather it has been difficult to keep on top of this. Ideally the lawn seems like it needs to be cut every 4-5 days. It was 7 days between cuts this last week due to constant rain, and the dandelions had really started to take hold out front.

1. I take it weed killer is not recommended at this early stage?

2. Should I dig them up, or will this damage the turf too much? I dug up 5 dandelion plants using a Wolf Garten weed extractor from a strip of muck between the trees and the lawn out the back as I didn't want them to flower and spread seeds. I definitely got the full roots, but a week later there are now 20 little dandelions in the muck! Disturbing the soil just made it worse!

3. Would keeping pulling the top off the dandelion leaves between cuts do any good, or do more harm?

4. Also, my lawnmower has just three cut levels - 60cm, 45cm, 30cm. I have been using the 45cm and it looks good, but grows out of control quickly. However, when I tried the 30cm on a strip it looked bald and damaged. Do I just continue with the 45cm cut for the moment and pray for more frequent dry days?

5. Do I need to use a lawn feed or fertiliser at all?

Thanks for reading. Any advice gratefully received!

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macraignil

I don't really understand the attraction of manicured sports pitch standard lawn so to me cutting every five days sounds excessive but its your garden so manage it whatever way makes you happy. Grass grows from the base so mowing regularly will help it outcompete other plants which will have their growing point cut off each time you mow. Taking a dandelion out of the lawn with a trowel or something similar carefully done will allow grass fill in the gap fairly fast and I have done this without problems in the past. I have found my lawn area is good with no chemicals used but I like to see clover, common daisy and some other wildflowers give it some more colour at times and help feed the pollinators.

Happy gardening!

Hippodrome Song Owl

@macraignil I'm not necessarily looking for a manicured perfect lawn in the long run, but just trying to make sure the grass can establish itself in a healthy way to start off with. And 5 days seems to be the point where the dandelions grow big and leafy . I would be delighted with daisies and buttercups, and wouldn't mind some clover either. Just the dandelions seem to take over very quickly so concerned about them.

macraignil

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120875046#Comment_120875046

It's just the seed heads on the dandelions that I'd be more worried about. Bigger leaves will still get cut by the mower and they wont have done a lot of damage to the grass if its just a few days longer between mowings. I think you found the right advice with the keep mowing but be careful also to avoid damaging the soil by putting too much weight on it when it is wet. As I mentioned I have found removing the odd persistent dandelion with a trowel in a lawn once it is established has worked fine for me and is preferable to killing all the clover, daisy, selfheal, etc. with herbicide. Enjoy your new garden.

SuperBowserWorld

Yeah, just remove carefully by hand. They are just dandelions. Weedkiller is not good for you or your garden, and you'll just have to keep using weedkiller if you go down that route.

looksee

You really don't want buttercups! All the others, fine, but not buttercups.

Hippodrome Song Owl

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120875267#Comment_120875267

What's the issue with buttercups? Genuine question. They're so pretty!

looksee

Meadow buttercups are the tall ones that are no more of a problem than any other weed/wildflower. However creeping buttercups get into lawns - and everywhere else - and are a menace. My garden apparently has perfect conditions for creeping buttercups, the whole place is infested with them. They are extremely vigorous and spread like a tide of foliage swamping everything else.

Right, so I am off out now to spray some more of them.

qaz123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120875986#Comment_120875986

What are you spraying the creeping buttercup with? Have you found it any good

Jim_Hodge

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120913595#Comment_120913595

Weedol Lawn Weedkiller is readily available and does a great job.

looksee

I have sprayed non-lawn areas with Roundup, with moderate success, it kills the tops but enough survives to come back again. Its been too windy the last while but when we get a settled spell I will have another go at them. I haven't done anything with the lawn area, I may give the Weedol a go.

[Deleted User]

Over 20% of our insects have disappeared in 10 years https://biodiversityireland.ie/the-silent-extinction-of-insects/#:~:text=The%20second%20headline%20statistic%20from,92%25%20loss%20over%20100%20years!

If you can resist the urge at all try keep away from pesticides. I despise creeping buttercup with a passion but there’s something very therapeutic about pulling them out.

Weeds are generally not a problem if you mow regularly but I personally prefer a little bit of colour in the lawn, gives a bit of character and the kids enjoy it too when they discover some new plants.

[Deleted User]

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120875986#Comment_120875986

I went through a year where they went everywhere, drove me mad! I was forensic about removing them from the ‘garden’ areas and left them in the wilder patches. Definitely worked as there’s only ever the odd few here and there now.

Jim_Hodge

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120913681#Comment_120913681

Personally, I haven't used a herbicide or pesticide in over 20 years and firmly believe in pulling weeds. But I do see a place for them in some situations for some people. After almost 45 years gardening, I disagree that regular mowing will control weeds and I can full understand somebody with a new lawn wanting it to be a weed free lawn. There are countless ways to encourage and sustain insects without letting a lawn go to weed.

[Deleted User]

No I agree, letting it go to weed doesn’t suit many people, and that’s not my point. But I think there’s room for balance without weed killer where possible that’s all.

Our front lawn is ‘manicured’ to an inch of its life, straight lines etc. Mowed twice a week, still has flowers/weeds they aren’t noticeable unless you stood in it and looked for them. Passing neighbours have often commented on how himself keeps it so well. Back lawn mowed 1/2 and 1/2 one side per week, which allows flower growth and replenishment. At the very back it has 2 wilder 2m x 5m ‘meadows’ and a lawnmower sized path up the middle.

Room for perfection and weeds without a jungle 👌

looksee

I have lots of wild areas in my garden and my 'lawn' has a considerable amount of weeds that get mowed with the grass and flower 'short', win-win.

However the areas that are taken over by buttercup are solid masses of buttercup where I am trying to encourage other things to grow, not a single other plant grows in some of the areas and they are practically un-dig-able - I will try and take a pic tomorrow. Hand weeding the area is not an option as the garden is an acre and I am getting past that level of manual weeding.

Water John

Wonder if changing the ph of the soil would help? I think buttercup prefers acid soil.

Jim_Hodge

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120913780#Comment_120913780

Creeping buttercup prefers heavy wet soils but will grow in any soils. Bulbous buttercup prefers alkaline soils but, again, will grow anywhere.

[Deleted User]

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120913760#Comment_120913760

That is very understandable!some battles are unwinnable 😊

looksee

I have soil that tends to acid, though it is the opposite of heavy or wet, very free draining.

Jim_Hodge

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120913817#Comment_120913817

Yes, weeds will be weeds. They don't read the botany books.

Hippodrome Song Owl

Unfortunately I think the dandelions seem to winning the battle against the grass on my new front lawn. The back garden is doing much better, just a small few that seems manageable. The front is starting to look awful, though, and the grass seems to be getting sparse while dandelion leaves flourish.

Spanish Eyes

Have you tried a box of "feed, weed and mosskiller" stuff?

I don't know what's in it, but I did use it many years ago in a similar situation to yourself, worked great. These days I do get a crop of dandelions alright, but just for a couple of weeks earlier in the season, they die off then and I don't see them again until next year at the same time. I just mow them out now and don't use anything on the grass anymore.

And yes, I get daisies and buttercups all year though. They don't bother me, I just mow them out.

10-10-20

The way that I deal with dandelions is that I use a trowel about 4cms away from the root and I point it in at a 45 degree angle towards the bottom of the tap-root, then pull up by the leaves as I push the trowel in while I also lever the root up from the base.You'll often get all or most of the root that way. Dead-heading or pulling the plant without the root just causes it to throw more leaves up as it fights back.

Hippodrome Song Owl

My concern with digging the dandelions up is just that it would damage a lot of the grass too, which is still quite new at only 7 weeks laid now. Obviously the same issue only worse for using weedkiller!

I have dug up a few out the back where they are far more sparse, but this has left very obvious gaps in the grass cover a few weeks on - not an issue with just three spread over a larger area, but the front lawn is covered in them.

Here's the current situation out front - 8 days since the grass was cut, as it has rained too much to get it done again since Friday.

Jim_Hodge

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120927124#Comment_120927124

A quick spray of a lawn weedkiller will shift them no problem. The grass will fill the gaps quickly.

Hippodrome Song Owl

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120927179#Comment_120927179

Given the turf was only laid 7 weeks ago, do you think something like Weedol would be relatively safe to use now? Or at what stage?

Hippodrome Song Owl

Do you think I should still water the turf during dryish spells? We haven't had much rain this week, and won't until Friday. Turf is 9 weeks old.

D-Lo Brown

I think you're mad spraying weed killer in your lawn. Why do you want a monoculture? One of the best parts of spring, for me, is seeing the dandelions pop up! I love them. Leave them there and learn to love them!

More dandelions I say! And buttercups! And daisies! And clover!

Jim_Hodge

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121062015#Comment_121062015

That's your taste. Some people like a green well maintained lawn. Usually the well maintained lawn is accompanied by rich flower and shrub beds providing a versatile habit for nature. I'm not a user of weedkiller, preferring to manually remove weeds, but I accept people may need to use it.

AhhHere

Novice here too. I read somewhere I should look to overseed the lawn in September. Would the no. 2 mix above be suitable for that?