1st timer lawn help required

Hi guys, 1st post here so hello

Basically we have just moved house and I have decided first things first let's sort the lawn out as it's full with weeds/moss! This is the first time we have had a lawn so I'm a little nervous about going ahead and doing what's necessary so wanted to clarify what I intend to do in the next few days and get any extra info I can from you guys

All i have done so far is applied verdone weedkiller to the lawn yesterday but realise I should have also used some moss killer too which I will buy and apply tomorrow.

My plan of action is to:

1) Scarify the lawn - I have only bought a rake but as the lawn isn't massive I don't mind just getting stuck in unless I really should just get a machine to do the hard work? I know best time for this is March/April but hoping I can't do too much damage a month after this? Should I feed the lawn before scarifying, how long if so should I leave before scarifying?

2) Aerate the lawn - I have only bought a solid spikey roller to aerate the lawn as I was planning to buy a hollow tine aerator later on so will just make do for now as it'll speed up the process.

3) Apply a soil/sand mixture using a stiff brush.

4) Apply grass seed to the lawn using a Drop spreader then water.

I am hoping to get mostly everything done on Sunday so 4 days after applying weedkiller, is all of this too early to do and can I do all the above in one day?

Sorry if they are silly questions but as I'm new to all this I want to make sure I get through it as easy and pain free as I can! If I should do do anything different or in a different order please let me know Cheers :thumb:

 

Not sure what part of the country you are in, (filling in your Location will help,. thanks ) but down here in the S.E. its been very dry - our lawns are just starting to turn yellow from lack of water (and its only May Cripes!).

I would be nervous about scarifying or seeding as we move into the dry weather. Even if you water the lawn well you can't recreate the seed-germinating and plant-recovery conditions of Spring.

Notwithstanding that you want to try to get it looking nice for the Summer I would leave the over-seeding until the Autumn, and maybe go a bit gentle on the scarifying - if you put some "lawn sand" down to kill the moss, and then rake that out, that should be enough for now.

Depending how much Moss / Weed you have that may leave the lawn rather bald? If so then I think you run the risk that weed seeds will take up home on the bare patches, so I guess you will have to over-seeded.

The patches I over-seeded 6 weeks ago have barely done anything, even though they have been watered (but not frequently enough, obviously) because of the dry here ...

I'll be interested to see what others think though :thumb:

 

Sorry about that, I'm in the midlands which has had a bit of rain but still relatively dry like you say! That's the main problem really as I reckon killing weeds/moss and scarifying will leave hardly any grass! I tried the rake out on a small part of the grass for curiosity's sake and it brought up everything basically (was quite aggressive with it) so that's why I thought I'd have no choice but to overseed now or I'd just have a mud lawn!

Do you think perhaps I should just leave the whole thing until autumn (or even next year) then? Be a shame as it would be nice to have even just an ok lawn for the summer, we are only renting so that adds an extra nervous factor to leaving a patchy lawn for too many weeks after!

Thanks for your reply :thumb:

 

Its a two edged sword.

Leave it until the Autumn, you can then do a much better job. But your lawn will be full of weeds this year.

The Verdone will kill the weeds (hopefully)! Some fertilizer will then help the grass fill the gaps (fertilizer a couple of weeks before selective weed killer would be better, timing-wise)

I think I'd leave it that rather than trying to do the moss too. The moss will cover the earth that would otherwise be bare ...

But I may be being over cautious. My gardening project is large, and I take the long term view on everything - particularly to avoid any repeat working!

Presumably for you if you had to repeat the work in the Autumn that wouldn't be too big a deal.

 

Makes sense, repeating the whole process in autumn wouldn't bother me at all My main concern was worrying that I'd have nothing but mud for months but I do worry to extremes!

I'm thinking I may have a good go at just doing the back lawn so I can see how it goes before attempting the front. Only problem then I guess is if I did do the front it'd be even later to start work! But then again I can start the front in the autumn and at least I could have a better back garden for the time being.

 

I doubt you'll have mud - almost bound to be dry during the summer. It will just look a bit bald / lacking in grass.

I am doubtful that sowing grass seed this time of year is worth it (germination may be poor, grass won't establish well, Grass seed is not "dirt cheap") ... I would leave that until the Autumn.

The more rubbish you remove from the lawn the more bare it will become. Other than that it won't hurt. The more soil shows the more that will turn to mud when it rains though :( Should dry out quickly during the summer though :thumb:

Hope your landlord will appreciate you converting scrub into lawn!