Repairing patches

Hi,

I have two dogs who pee on the grass - no surprises there. In the past, I have raked out the dead stuff, and filled the gaps with compost & lawnseed and it's filled up fine. But I did that earlier, in May I think. This year, I have been less observant, so now it is July. Question is this: Can I still go ahead and fill in my 15 or so dead patches now (provided that I water the re-sown areas), or do I need to wait until later in the year?

If I wait, how long should I wait for, August, September or October?

I am planning to fence off the sections which have been reseeded so that the dogs leave it alone until the grass is relatively established. Is the advice to renovate lawns in the spring or autumn based on the fact that water is scarce right now, or on the idea that it is too hot for the lawn to germinate properly?

 

Hi Rosie
I would buy 1 or 2 rolls of turf from the garden centre and chop out the dead patches with a lawn edger or spade,replace with the new turf,water well ,job done almost instantly.:thumb:

 

Yeah Roders, its what i do, at £2 50 a roll its cheap and quicker, If some of the patches are small RM just rake out the dead grass and the grass should grow over

 

I agree with buy-a-roll, alternatively you could prophylactically grow "squares" in seed tray, ready to transplant for patches of lawn that become "damaged" :thumb:

 

Ooooh, I hadn't thought about buying rolls. Great idea, guys! I had thought that the rolls were perhaps not such good quality lawn? But I suppose I can always get them from Notcutts, rather than my local B&Q (theirs always look like they are in terrible nick). Before I pop a slice of lawn into the gap, what do I have to do to prepare the soil in the exposed bit? Rake it over or dig it over or just sprinkle some top soil on top of the compacted subsoil ot what? Also, how long does it take for the new bit to root into the ground (i.e. how long do I have to keep the dogs off it?)

Barney will be very sad to see me undoing all his hard work, I am sure!

 

Ill tell you what i do RM cut the old stuff out, take a bit of the old compost out (it could be contaminated still) add new compost then tred it in firmly, you may have to add more compost, then patch with the new grass and keep watered for a week or so, Easy Peasy hehe..Works for me every time..

 

"But I suppose I can always get them from Notcutts, rather than my local B&Q (theirs always look like they are in terrible nick)"

The issues will be both quality of the turf, and how long it has been lying around.

Many garden centres sell turf from Rolawn which, whilst expensive, is a high-quality turf brand name.