Helped with Damaged Lawn

Discussion in 'Lawns' started by Sootylfc, Nov 4, 2015.

  1. Sootylfc

    Sootylfc Apprentice Gardener

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    This was my lawn at the end of the summer. (Picture 1)

    For 2 weeks I had the Mrs
    Parents move in with me, along with a dog!!!!!!

    This is what my grass now looks like (picture 2)

    Looking at the best options to get it back to how it was.

    Shall I use a scarifier and get the dead grass up or leave the work till late March / April?

    Any advise would be much appreciated.
     

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  2. Liz the pot

    Liz the pot Total Gardener

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    Round here it's now to late to scarify as the temps have dropped but most of all the ground is now far to wet.
    You can't get the lawn back to how it was now, if the dog is a permanent resident you will struggle if it's heavy handed and if you did attempt to scarifying now you would end up with an even poorer lawn if the dogs out and about as the wear will be much greater showing more damage on a lawn that's been sacrificed late.
    quite a bit of damaged turf showing on your photo, maybe there's another issue too.
     
  3. Mowerman

    Mowerman Gardener

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    @Sootylfc

    Akitas are expert lawn destroyers (I have one who when she was younger, used to dig the grass up, as it appears in your 2nd pic). She always used to pee in the same spots which was both a blessing and a curse.

    Dog urine (not just females will cause yellow patches if it's not washed away in dry weather, which isn't exactly practical). In spring, give the yellow patches a good spraying with a hosepipe to dilute the urea that is retained in the soil, then rake away the dead grass and re-seed with a blend similar to your existing grass. I.e. if it's a hard-wearing lawn, use that type of seed. A bit of topsoil may help level out with patchy areas, but only buy the screened stuff and from a reputable supplier.

    We had ours re-turfed last year and the urine left yellow patches all over, even months after being laid. This year, it was much better as I believe the grass had become a lot more established. But then again, it was a pretty poor summer here and rained a lot so this may debunk my theory.

    There will always be yellow patches when you own a dog and they're easy enough to patch up.

    You can buy grass that germinates in the winter but it is perennial ryegrass and rather thick stuff that's really meant for football pitches or very heavily-used lawns.
     
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