Salvageable Lawn?

Hi all,

I had my entire lawn relayed several months ago and was told not to cut it during November/December. The problem that has arisen from this is that the grass is obviously long and during the winter has 'flopped' over and in parts has become very matted and patchy (though I don't think it is dead, despite the appearance!)

I was curious if anyone has any suggestions on how I can salvage it? Should I just cut it right back now and see how it fairs when it is dry? I'd be very annoyed if I had to re-turf again! :(

I've added some pictures to explain myself a little better

Thanks for the help!

 

Hello and welcome.

It looks perfectly salvageable to me. When its nice and dry, using a mower with good sharp blades (ie one that cuts rather than tears), I'd be tempted to give it a light hair cut. Not a scalping. If your mower has adjustable cutting height, then I'd say cut it on the highest setting. If your mower doesn't have adjustable cutting height, I wouldn't bother for now, as the last thing you want to do is scalp it.

I would also try to keep off the lawn while the ground is wet, as you'll just make it look worse if you pack it down.

There are people on here with far greater knowledge than me, so I'd wait to see what others say on the subject too.

 

I would not mow it now .... wait till mid march or the 1st week of april ... then only mow the top 1/3

then, 2 days after mowing, add some lawn fertilizer such as:
Scotts: Sierraform GT:

water in well, then resume mowing as normal after a week or two (and water daily) ... but make sure that your lawnmower blades are sharp, and don't use a flymo (remove the clippings)

 

The trouble is, given the length of the grass as it is now, by mid march there will be a lot of dead grass at the base, and then after mowing it will look awful.

If we were having an ordinary winter, I'd agree with you, but this isn't ordinary. Winter hasn't arrived yet really, which is probably why the grass is as long as it is (normally no point mowing in nov/dec because the grass stops growing then anyway, except it didn't because last nov/dec were the third warmest on record).

I might be wrong, but I don't think standard advice about timing really works for this winter, and its best to follow gut instinct to some degree.

 

suppose that you could mow lawn now, but I would not ... I'd wait till early spring .... saying that, I'm still learning

 

That's why I said, and I must stress, "when its nice and dry". That probably isn't just now. It depends on local conditions. I have a freshly dug over patch of ground, dug just a few weeks ago. Every day or so I test it with the hoe to see if it crumbles or squishes. Its still squishing at the moment, so to my mind, that means the ground is still a bit wet for lawn work. When my freshly dug patch crumbles, I'll give my lawn its first light hair cut of the year.

If the weather continues as it is, it wont be mid march when work starts, I reckon unless winter arrives, it might be as soon as the back end of this month.

 

Thank you what would be the reasoning behind NOT cutting it now? Won't the grass that's flopped over and gone clumpy get worse...or?

 

according to several sites on google, new turf can be mowed during winter

best check again with the guy who laid the turf

Teal Turf, Turf Aftercare

 

Good evening Lewis and welcome to the site. Clueless has it spot on, on a warm, dry day give the lawn a light trim. It will do no harm, don`t cut if a frost is forecast for that night though.

 

I would go for high cut with box on , rotary mower only at this time of year, sound advice from clueless, be careful as grass not actively growing if mean temperature under 7*C so could easily do more harm than good if you are too agressive.