Sparse soggy Lawn!!

Hi All, im new to this forum & I hope someone can give me some help?

Here is my problem:

I Live in South wales & my lawn grows quite quickly but it seems to be not very dense & is very soggy & muddy. There are no weeds really but I would love a dense tightly mown lawn.

This is What I have ordered recently to tackle the problem, am I doing the right thing:
1. a rotary lawn aerator to ait in drainage.
2. 1kg of damp & shady area lawn seed.
3. Leatherjacket killer (nematodes)

Here are my questions:
1. how often should i spike the lawn & will it really make a difference?
2. is it too late to sow the lawn seed to try & bulk out the lawn a bit?
3. is it too late to treat the leatherjackets?
4. what else can I do?

Regards
r2oo :confused:

[ 06. November 2006, 10:49 PM: Message edited by: r2oo ]

 

Aerating will help with compaction, as will brushing in lawn sand. However it may be more helpful from the description, to try and sort out the drainage.

 

I don't think drainage is a problem. It's just that we've had a lot of damp weather recently!

If it were to be a problem then how would I sort out drainage?

 

to test for drainage i always dig in my border fork, it should go in quite deep and quite easily if the ground is wet

 

How big is the grass area, r200? If it's not too big, you can do the boring, but hard-work option of digging in your brder fork as LG says, working your way up and down the grass, so you have masses of holes, then brush in either a proprietary top-dressing, your own mix of it, or just sharp sand.

If it's a big area, a scarifier will do the job pretty well. If it's a massive area, I'd call in someone like Green Thumb.... They have heavier duty machinery for taking out plugs of grass/soil, and sorting out major problems.
http://www.greenthumb.co.uk/

 

Here's a pic of my garden, taken about a month ago. We only moved in in July this year so I've not really had time to put my mark on it yet!:




Whaddya think?

 

That looks fine - much better than mine especially at this time of year, well done. With that dropped patio - drainage should not be a problem. The grass looks very good for late autumn- and does not look compacted - which would show up a moss starts to flourish, and grass not so.

Its small enough to go over with a garden fork to aerate and then brush in some sharp sand as advised or top dress. But before you do that I'd go over it with a sprung rake, to remove the thatch. I this on mine, which a on clay, every autumn. After scrarifying it I start at the side furthest from the house and then work side to side - sticking the fork in, give it a little lever/wiggle, take it out, move along 6 inches and then repeat. Rows coming backwards towards the house means you don't stand on the bit you've just loosened. Top dress or use sharp sand, which you should brush in.

Keep off it as much as you can during the winter, when its at its wettest. Then give it a weed and fed come spring.

 

Ok thanks Fran, is it worth me sowing some seed this time of year or should i wait until Spring?

 

I'd wait until spring now, r200. It'll take well in the growing season - you'll have to protect the seeds from birds, though
HAve a look at this link
http://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profiles1000/autumn_lawn.asp

 

You could have a look in here r200, there is also a picture of my lawn (click on the thumbnail)

http://tinyurl.com/vr84a

 

Thanks TG, lovely garden bt the way.

I managed to get it mown yesterday. I then ran the rotary aerator over it. Hopefully that'll do it some good.

 

dendrobium, I think i will leave the sowing until Spring. What is the best way to store my grass seed until then?

 

dry ambient temp

 

and out of the way of mice! :D

 

dont brush lawn sand into the lawn ,this contains chemical to kill moss and weeds and will burn the grass if applied as a top dressing,,use sharp sand