Is it now too late to overseed?

I wanted to overseed my lawn this spring but couldn't get round to it.

I've got bare patches along a border, the grass itself seems a bit dead (not sure if seeds would touch the soil even after raking it) and a moist patch where I've just got rid a load of moss which is probably now vulnerable from weeds as it's quite bare.

I'm thinking of buying this aswell if it'll make a big difference?
I had already bought one but gave it away


Thanks very much and hope you can help.

 

Still time to overseed GnOme
You must keep soil moist though
For me the best value lawn raker is one offered by screwfix
If you can live with your lawn as it is for the summer I would scarify and rake it thoroughly in late August and early September then reseed. Results would be much better

 

As Verdun said, still time and you have to water the area but the weather is what’s important if you can’t water but before that can I ask.

Have you fed the lawn or treated it?
How long has this lawn been established?
There is an issue in your second photo, 918. Is the photo colour correct as the turf looks white?
When did you first notice the lawn struggling?
Height of cut looks low, how are you cutting the lawn?
Have you been watering the lawn?
Did you scarified or aerated the lawn last year.

I would hold back on raking at the moment, grass looks weak. There’s an issue and it’s hard to tell if it’s compaction or a lawn disease looking at the photos.

 

Excellent advice as always liz the pot

 

Thanks for your replies, I really appreciate this.

I treated it with Miracle-Gro Evergreen Complete 4in1 about 2 weeks ago.

The lawn was laid in March 2017.

The turf isn't white, I think it's a lot of dead grass!

Regarding previous scarification and aeration, I don't think I did any or rather everything has been ad hoc. Only just finding out how important it is, so wouldn't have given my B&D raker away!

I cut it low last time because I was intending to overseed it.

I've only water it once this year.

Basically, I'm trying to get a real routine going but looks like I've missed the boat this summer....again! It's really frustrating but I've only got myself to blame.

 

Was the grass in poor condition before the weed and feed?
We’ve had a bit of a dry spell here so it would have been best to water the grass to help the feed take hold.
With the 4 in 1 feeds they need to be applied at the recommended levels to work best, how was it applied?
Hopefully you had a nice spot of rain today. If the feed was spread correctly the grass should respond again.
Were you going to add soil after you seeded?

In the first photo unless you have edged the lawn you can see a gap between the soil and the brick, it looks like the soil is very dry.

If it were me I would hold back and insure the grass is watered and allow it to grow and keep the height around 2.5inches in length. if the feed was applied evenly you should see it respond and start to green up evenly.
I would hold off raking it with any type of machine as it may make further problems. A light hand rake would be ok but a very light one.
If the feed was applied evenly and you still don’t see any improvement we can go from there.

Let’s see what the lawn is like in 5 days time. Water it early morning or evening if temps pick up.


I’ll be honest, the lawn rake you linked to is for removing surface waste only, it’s a tine machine. A bladed machine with fixed blades would allow soil penetration which helps but it ups the cost considerably.

 

I would say the grass was in the same shape as it is in now when I first put down the 4in1. Last weekend (about one week after the 4in1) I did some considerable raking in the top right corner of the lawn, below the tree to remove the moss which is why that patch is looking a bit bare in the photo.

To distribute the 4in1, I used bamboo canes to lay out 1sqm sections. This is the first time I've done this and I must say the recommended dosage seemed very small. It felt like there wasn't enough to cover each sqm so I was tempted to add more but held off. There's a very small part of the lawn where I sneezed and accidentally sprinkled more than I should. That part seems scorched now!

After the distribution, I checked the weather forecast and realised we weren't going to have any rain so I gave the lawn a bit of a soak. After that, we've had a bit of rain but nothing much.

My initial plan after the 4in1 was to:

1. Cut the grass short.
   
2. Scarify & aerate.
   
3. Fill the holes and edges with soil.
4. Overseed.
5. Sprinkle some topsoil.
6. Water everyday or other day and use this with this which I've already bought.

On the 4in1 instructions, it does say that you shouldn't put seed down for about 8 weeks but someone said it should be fine to overseed after a couple of weeks.

My main concern was when looking down at the lawn, you can't really see much of the soil as it's covered in what looks like dead grass albeit the bare patches and edges, so I wondered if the seeds would actually germinate.

I know what you mean about the raker and had already seen Verdun's recommendation at Screwfix which is just around the corner and is now tempting too! After I posted my choice, I've seen this one which also has the aeration option at a reasonable price. There are some not so good reviews about it but I noticed they seem to be only about the 2-pin plug and switching the blades over which I'm sure won't be an issue for me. That said, I've got and used this once before which works quite well, once you've really pulled them on tight!

I'm starting to get the feeling from you that my lawn is a bit poorly and I should just leave it all for now so that it can rest and recover with a bit of TLC, such as daily watering and possibly with a bit of the Miracle-Gro lawn food now and then? Maybe all this raking and overseeding is too aggressive for it at the moment? Maybe, I'll just put some seeds down on that bare patch below the tree to give any new weeds a run for their money when they try to muscle their way in?

I will try watering it everyday for the next 5 days (if no rain is forecasted for that day) and see if it improves.

Thank you so much again.

 

Yes the 4 in 1 is very aggressive, a little too much and it scorches. You would find it easier with their drop spreader call the Evendrop. Would only take a few minutes to do and you would get a nice even coverage once you have mastered the technique.
Normally you would not feed new grass within that period you quoted but you can seed after a few weeks and get away with it.
Aeration comes in several forms, flat tine, hollow tine, solid round tine and other tines like slit or knife tines.
If your lawn is suffering compaction the solid tines will not help and can cause localised compaction around the hole left by the tine.
Hollow tines are commonly used by companies which is more beneficial. If the lawns suffers compaction you might consider a company local to do this work.
Of course you need to know if compaction is an issue first and that’s not as easy as it sounds as compaction can occur at different depths. Most companies will not test for compaction but will simply hollow tine, not a problem as it helps but of course it may not have been needed.

The dead grass coverage is a problem, sadly I’m not there to really see first hand what’s going on and what may be going on.
Normally you would scarify or aerate, seed and dress with soil working in the soil with a lute or mat but some rakes can be used on the reverse side. Only a thin layer of soil is required. This insures good seed contact with soil.
I just think at this stage it would be best to just hang fire on any mechanical work till we see what’s going on.

Let’s see how it is in 5 days time, keep watering though and don’t cut.

 

Thank you so much again.
I will keep watering it everday for now and see what happens.
Is it worth including the Miracle-Gro lawn?

 

Don’t apply any more feed. That will work for around 6 weeks and I’m hoping as you water we will see a difference as you have only just applied a feed.

 

How’s the lawn looking now?

 

Thanks for checking up!
It would seem the feed has improved the grass, especially the parts that were already relatively healthy. I think if I was to trim it again, it wouldn't look so green. It's patchy as you should see but do you think I should leave it for now until say, September?

 

It’s patchy probably due to the fertiliser not being applied at an even rate at the recommended does. Not a problem, it can be sorted.
As the lawn is nice and uniform in size and layout and if you want to apply a granular feed a drop spreader would give you the best results. If you stick with evergreen then you can use the evergreen evendrop spreader. It would take less than 5 mins to do your lawn and they give you the settings so it’s nice and easy.

I would wait another 2 to 3 weeks then apply another feed. I’m guessing it’s still got weed and moss in places so the 4 in 1 can be used again if so but remember to water it in and if dry to water daily if possible.
If however there are no weeds perhaps a different fertiliser from their range would be better.

Give the lawn a very light cut when it’s needed, aim towards the 2 inch length, no shorter so that the grass thickens up and the root system improves. Once the grass is dense then you can take it down a little lower.

Let’s see how it looks in another 2 weeks and then go from there or if you notice the darker areas start to lighten up then post away.