The age old question

aerate:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=nPVD_w66yPg&feature=fvwp

scarify:


overseed:

 

When a lawn faces north or east it tends to suffer during the winter months and becomes patchy, it nevers really gets the chance to dry out either. First I suggest you spike the areas that are patchy and re-seed. Cut it regularly as this promotes side shoots ( similar to the re-growth on a pruned plant) and will make it thicken up, even during the winter months if possible, but on a slightly higher adjustment on the mower.

Grass on a lawn that doesn't get much sun tends to be quite lush, therefore I think feeding it will make the situation worse as it promotes growth and doesn't get the chance to fill out.

My son-in-law has the same problem with his lawn and cutting regularly has made a difference.

 

thanks sheal , everyone is assuming that it dont get much sun , as stated above it isnt shaded , it gets a good amount of sun , but i will try and re seed again and keep it well cut , thanks all

Blade

 

wow , just been out to do some aerating with a fork , its hard going ! cant even get the fork right in like the video ?

 

That's probably your problem then! Get a machine in (early Autumn might be better) and aerate the whole lawn. Removing the cores [from the lawn] and brushing sharp sand into the hollows would improve the drainage a lot.

 

cheers kirsten , when you say a machine do you mean one of those things that look like a old lwan mower with spikes on or a motorised machine ? what about those boots you can get with spikes on ?

 

That's what Kirsten means. Look for local hollow tine aerator hire. You'll often come across two different sizes, a manual plugger with depth adjuster which although isn't self propelled will take itself along at a nice pace once the tines are engaged and a larger self propelled model. Doing a quick Google shows some expensive charges for both. Look to pay no more than £40 per day for the smaller one and £60 for the larger one (you should need no more than a couple of hours though so get half day reduction if you can). Your lawn should be fine with the smaller one.

Autumn's a great time to do it but you can do it all year round. It's a pity you don't know more about the quality of topsoil used. 10 tonnes of topsoil and two years later and you can't get a fork in I'd be tempted to find out what was down there.

 

It prob wont help but this is the earth below the top soil , all i know is that it was a decent quality soil from a good supplier i remember that much , i persevered with the fork and it gets easy in some areas and hard in others , there does seem like a lot of stones though ! gonna get me a motorized one

 

how many square meters is the lawn?

 

approx 20 x 10 200 m2

 

is size important ?

 

once you have aerated and scarified, you will need 0.6 cubic meters of lawn dressing when you overseed ....

that is calculating a lawn size of 200 sq meters, and with a depth of 3mm of the dressing

most places sell in 0,5 cubic meters or 1 cubic meter bags .... so, 0,5 will be sufficient

 

Is it best to do the whole lawn ? , do i mix the seed with the topsoil is the seed from the diy shops ok

Many thanks

 

Spread the soil over the bumpy lawn, use a ladder to get it level - rope around the rungs at each end, tow the ladder north-south and east-west and it will spread out the soil. Stick some blocks on the ladder if it skates over the top!

If you only need to do smaller areas use the back of a rake.

Tread it down (but only when it is dry). Get the level right again. Rake gently to loosen just the top 1/2" or so - a spring-tine / springbok rake is best. Sow the seed and rake again, gently, to mix the seed into the top 1/2". Practice on a measured area using a tarpaulin or similar, and then tip the grass off the tarpaulin into a plastic cup and weight it (or weight enough for 1 sq.m. and practice spreading that on a 1 sq.m area - you can put string across the area to make 1 sq.m. squares). Its best to use a seed-sower though, to get a consistent spread of seed, and do half east-west and the other half north-south. You may have to make several passes (depending on how quickly the seed comes out of the hopper). Again, practice on a measured area on a tarpaulin.

Don't mix the seed with the soil, most of it will be buried too deep to then germinate and get its head above ground!

 

Thanks Kristen , the lawn is pretty level already so ill just put a fine layer of topsoil down 1st as Dim says then add the seed then rake in and water , i,m guessing ill have to cut the lawn quite severe 1st as i wont be able to cut it again until the new grass has establised itself , any tips on what seed , i think the turf was ryegrass , idealy something that will establish quick , i am soldering on with the aeriating with the fork but trying to get sand in the holes is a nightmare !

Thanks again

Blade