Lawns

I wouldn't bother scarifying until after you've treated the lawn Mr. Grinch. If you're going to use a weed/feed/mosskiller it will kill everything off anyway. Mow first, remembering to leave for 2/3 days before treating. Just a pointer, with all the rain we are having at the moment it's not a...

I would add one point, have you had extremes of rain and dessicating dry winds (we have up here in East Scotland) This can cause problems with emerging seeds (encouraged to germinate by heavy rain and then hammered by dessicating wind). This, alongside the spring weed flush, is why autumn takes...

This is all probably a little too late but.....we have very heavy clay soil here in France. It really depends on the time of year as to when you should work it. Too wet and you cannot do a thing. Too dry and it is like working with concrete. There is a point that it begins to dry out and then it...

I compacted it a little with a cement trowel, with the plan to add a little top up when needed. Rain of course penetrates the grass, and drains in to the sand. Ideally slope your sand so water runs off if there's a heavy downpour.

Thanks to Tommy- topsoil, sand and almost the entire contents of my water butt.:D

Yes, but have you ever seen blackbirds and starlings anting? They preen themselves in ants and let them run into their feathers. The theory is that the ants squirt out formic acid which kills the bird's parasites. Ants in the garden do very little damage - they may loosen the soil under an...

B & Q not having skilled people who know about plants enough to keep them going is perhaps one thing.Our local "specialist" garden centre are just as bad, and it makes me angry - or maybe it should be a clear sign to the customers. If Wyevale can't keep their Tomato plants alive in their Shed...

Blimey - spelt it correctly!

no more than 300 quid + the turfIts not that big a job.

I'll send them my bill then! Always amazes me that football pitches can be re-turfed mid-season ... and I am sure that the sort of turf that comes on a huge many-tonne roll and is laid by machine is probably ready to be mowed the same day!! but those folk have all the necessary specialist...

My Pleasure Steve, hope it comes up quickly.

I never use the combination feed/weed/moss killers,tend to be Jacks of all trades. Better to treat the various problems separately.

Thanks very much for your replies.I've spoken to someone who is somewhat of an expert on scarification and the machine wasn't the right one for the job. If it had a rake attachment, it would've pulled the moss out much better than the machine I hired with the blade setup. He also recommended...

Thanks for your replies. Well i've given it a good soaking and a rake, so i'll see how it is tomorrow and try out kristens idea to see if I can break down the lumps some more once its dried a bit.

Sorry to jump into a thread here but kristen... Thank you for answering every question I had about my lawn!..that's why I love forums so much

Shouldn't do any harm, but if its wet the soil, and grass seedlings, may stick to your boots ..... I suggest putting a board down, and working from that.

where can i get the hawk kite from?

We had one visit the garden last week for the first time ever it was actually legging it out the greenhouse, when I got in there it had knocked 6 plants off the top shelf they are needless to say not welcome.They are responsible for robbing birds eggs and play havoc with our feathered friends in...

HiYes I think you could be right - that was actually my first thought as I did spread it by hand... I'll continue to water it.However, I did the spreading in two halves over two days - there are no patches on the second bit - but perhaps my technique had improved by then!Cheers

Many thanks for the replies to my question. Sorry for the delay in thanking you. We are well on the way to completing this project. Over 100 bags of soil so far, all of which we have sourced free, much of which we had to dig and bag. The cost savings do give us a warm glow, in addition to...