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We’ve spent a good few days pulling out a lot of moss from our lawn with a scarifier and treating it with moss killer/lawn feed.
We now have very little moss, but also not so much grass. We’re left with a brown patchy mess.
I think the next stage is to put down some topsoil and re-seed which I want to do next week sometime.
How do I know how much topsoil to use? I’m struggling to find anything useful regarding quantities / depth.
Be grateful if anyone could give us any helpful pointers please?
Cheers!
Some photos of its current state 🤨
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Looks like nice fertile ground. Have you considered the cultivation of spuds over that of a nicely manicured lawn?
Never mind spuds. Hammer some frozen sausages into it.
Just spread some seed and get some sprinklers (or pray for rain). Need to do it quickly though as the grass will stop growing soon unless we get a rainy spell. Ive just bought 5 sprinklers to try and save mine.
FYI moss killer is just iron sulphate. Buy it cheap in bulk and dilute with dry sand or dissolve into a watering can.
You could always just tarmac it?
Actually, it looks big enough for a pump track
@binners We were thinking too practically.
@phil5556 It sounds like you may need agreement on what you do with the land. Throw some wildflower seed around the perimeter. Herbs take up no space so they can be easily located behind berms.
Therefore the answer is:
Lots and lots of dirt, with which to build a pump track.
You can thank me once you're enjoying it or curse me once you're single.
With that amount of space I'd build a second house and turn a problem Garden in to a tidy profit 🙂
@eyestwice - great minds indeed. That’s screaming out for a truck load of dirt and a BMX
It's been really dry and the lawn will be stressed after that much scarification. Water regularly try some top dressing and reseeding but it can be hard to get going if it stays this dry and hot.
You also need to airate the lawn. Most likely the soul will be compacted with no air getting into the ground. I’m doin this at the mo to mine after a good scarification and using a fork just stabbing the ground and creating small holes. Breaks up the soil, let’s air get into it and makes it easier for worms to get in there.
Once you get it going again then get Mr Greenthumb in. Turns up once a quarter, and all we have to do now is mow it. Our lawn has never been in better condition.
if it stays this dry and hot.
Won't be an issue where we live!.
Phil, neighbour scarified and seeded a couple of weeks ago, no topsoil, it's looking miles better already, just a bit of evening sprinkling.
It desperately needs water..
Some slow release fertilizer.
Some top dressing and reseeding.
If you don't change the initial conditions then you'll ultimately end up with the same result.
Before you plant more grass seed, figure out what was causing the moss to thrive and outcompete the grass.
My money is on poor drainage.
A hollow core tine fork, a back breaking shift or two and a bag of sharp sand brushed into the holes will improve drainage, reduce compaction and increase aeration which'll tip the balance back in favour of the grass.
Then reseed it.
The most useful advice I was ever given for growing a nice lawn was "cut it half as short but twice as often".
I’d like to thank you, you’ve now guaranteed us another long summer with drought conditions
What is this "dry and hot" you southerners are talking about? 🙂
Thanks for he tip about iron sulphate.
My money is on poor drainage
I can't see it, I'm about as far from the beach and the same elevation as Phil, our soil is pretty much just sand, drains too well.
My sister used to live near Phil, same problems, and she was garden mad, it may be some kind of nutrient deficiency, and the dry weather recently won't have helped. The golf courses round here are burnt brown, which usually doesn't happen until later in summer.
We’ve only had 59mm of rain since the start of March here in Stourbridge
I can’t see it,
That's why I said this....
figure out what was causing the moss to thrive and outcompete the grass.
Could still be poor drainage due to compaction though. The soil, sandy or not, is packed so tight that the water sits on the surface, favouring the moss, rather than draining down into the soil, where it benefits the grass.
They hollow core tine the greens of lots of Ayrshire links golf courses for exactly this reason. They're on sandy soil, next to the sea.
What are you trying to achieve?
Croquet lawn with stripes or daisy strewn green area?
I have just been through the same process but on a slightly smaller scale. Had it machine scarified and aerated. Loam tipped on and spread and seeded.
Warning - using a hollow tine machine produces a lot of cores to dispose of so have a plan ready.
16 sqm produced a third of a dumpy bag or more than I could lift.
I cut my grass to 50mm which is supposed to slow or prevent moisture loss and spot weed the medusa heads of meadow grass then fill and reseed.
I use this guy 'the lawn man' who is local to me but do read his guide to looking after lawns. Mine was a disaster area after the winter but is now looking not too bad.
https://thelawnman.co.uk/
You might be able to hire the equipment and do it yourself.
They hollow core tine the greens of lots of Ayrshire links golf courses for exactly this reason. They’re on sandy soil, next to the sea
Yup, they also use a shit ton of water.
I think the moss doesn't necessarily out-compete the grass, I think it moves in where the grass has failed, a chicken and egg scenario.
Perchy touches on a good point, next time your walking through Killie Barassie GC, ask one of the greenkeepers, they'll be happy to give you some ideas.
Have you considered the cultivation of spuds
Not advisable, socialists will flock to steal your potatoes, you will need an arsenal of automatic weapons to protect them.
'Proper' way is to get some grass seed on that and get it watered and do it regularly...the sooner the grass seeds and grows, the less chance of returning moss.
Depending on size, there are things you can spread that includes seed, feed and weed killer, so the seed gets a chance to root and grow - this is more expensive than just seed, but it can work well - needs water as well.
If you aren't needing to do anything on the grass for a coupe of weeks, then grass seed and spend some time working it.
Once it is sorted, you will need to scarify as you will get thatch that holds moisture and encourages moss, so a 'regular' scarify can do wonders - first cut and a week later a scarify, then once mid-summer and one about a month before the final cut - these scarifies shouldn't be as hard or heavy as removing the moss as it will hopefully just get the thatch moved and you can get rid of that - so there should be a lot of bald patches on show so adjust the scarifier to not go as deep.
Depending on your soil I wouldn't bother with the hollow tine tool - In my clay soil it was bloody hard work and just jammed the whole time. Next time - in a few more years once the bloomin kids have grown out of the trampoline that gets in the way of my sad old man lawn fetish - I'll hire a big powered hollow tine machine for a weekend I think.
erratum
16 sqm produced a third of a dumpy bag or more than I could lift.
That should read 64 sqm.....
Its 16 meters long.
Cheers all. Potatoes & a pump track do sound great but not really what I’m after 😆
And building a house there would spoil my view.
I’m just trying to achieve a reasonably green lawn with more grass than moss. We have that now but probably have an equal amount of mud to grass.
I imagine its biggest issue is the 25 years of neglect from the previous owners, I hope that a bit of care now will keep it a bit nicer than it has been.
It is sandy soil and drains well apart from the bottom few meters which does flood in heavy rain, up against the little wall. I guess that bit will always suffer. Next door have actually had a drain dug with a sump that pumps water up to a drain, without doing that I don’t think we’ll fix it.
Some top dressing and reseeding
This is the bit I’m struggling to find a definitive answer on. How much top dressing? It’s approx 270sqm ish. 2 bulk bags enough? A posh soil/sand mix or just a fine topsoil?
I’m not much of a gardener.....
do you really need topsoil after youve scarified it?
Once you get it going again then get Mr Greenthumb in. Turns up once a quarter, and all we have to do now is mow it. Our lawn has never been in better condition.
My thoughts exactly - we did a bit of a job on our lawn with the scarifier then quickly realised it was much easier to pay someone to maintain it - they come in several times a year at the right time (not 'the right time' < > two months) to feed, treat, weed etc. Yes it costs more but I think it is worth it. Our lawn is being hammered right now (two kids in lockdown + good weather) and it's holding up okay. I am avoiding watering it as we'll just end up with muck being traipsed into the house via the bi-folds which have been open for weeks.
moss killer/lawn feed
Check the bag the stuff i used said 8 weeks before reseeding
I'm no expert but my lawn looked similar to yours not long ago. The grass is recovering fairly quickly now with spring lawn feed and regular water. As for top-dressing, I understand the soil is only really needed to cover the seed and expose it to nutrients as much as possible, so doesn't need any real depth. I've just used a light sprinkling then pressed down gently to ensure the seed is covered and in contact.
Seems to be working, when I can keep the birds off!
A hollow core tine fork, a back breaking shift or two and a bag of sharp sand brushed into the holes will improve drainage, reduce compaction and increase aeration which’ll tip the balance back in favour of the grass.
That doesn't work in clay soil, as above - and adding sand makes it rock hard. Ask me how I know. If you're in clay then you need to add compost.
The OP already says he's on sand so I'd expect he needs to add compost too. The aerator might work for him.
Try Prolawn in Prestwick, get a very good name and seem reasonably priced.
Cheers I’ve messaged them, although using their on line quote thing it looks like it’ll be about £1k.
I think we’ll probably persevere ourselves.
When do you want it done by? If you can put up with it this year, why not just reseed it in autumn before it gets too cold and rake it in. By next spring it should start to grow as normal.
https://www.scotbarkuk.com/blog/autumn-overseeding
Iron sulphate (incredibly effective at thickening and greening the lawn, killing moss and dirt cheap) and put your mower on the highest setting, moss loves short grass. I've got spuds, garlic, herbs etc all in drilled polythene bins down to flower pots. You don't have to dig up your lawn. Will be putting courgettes in the borders though.
It's also worth remembering that a 'perfect' green lawn, especially the type you'll get using people like Green Thumb, is essentially monoculture on a micro scale. Lawns are sometimes described as 'green deserts' by conservation types.
I get the desire to remove the moss, but a 'healthy' lawn will have a good mix of grass types, clover, daisies etc etc (even a bit of moss!). It won't look like the perfect striped greens at a golf club or the centre court at Wimbledon, but it'll still be attractive, it'll still be nice to sit/lie/play on, and importantly it will support a range of flora and fauna.