Lawncare

Rookie80

Hi again. Dont suppose someone wants to help again?! Next step for me is to try and have a decent lawn. Think i have done a few things wrong but oh well. I have been cutting my lawn the last few weeks on a low setting. Shall i just carry on doing this now or increase the height. I also put down moss killer last week so am about to buy a rake today? Will the cheapest one available do the job? 

Stevedaylilly

Hi David 
What is the actual problem with your lawn. It could be you need some spring lawn maintenance to reinvigorate your lawn. 
I would hazard a guess that you have a lot of moss and that is normally due to damp areas that are in some shade. As you’ve applied a moss killer you will need a scarifying rake that are normally metal with wide flexible prongs to remove moss etc from your lawn. Based on your comment that you want a decent lawn, I’m assuming it has bare areas with no new growth. If that the case would then spike your lawn with a garden fork. This can be hard work if you have a large area of lawn so time and patience required . This will ease compression on your lawn and allow air and water in to the roots to help new growth. I would then top dress your lawn which is a combination of sharp sand and soil based compost( I use Jacks Magic as it’s very soil based and fine in grade) Brush this into the spike holes you’ve made with your scarifying rake. I would then apply a general grass seed (dependant of if your lawn is in mostly sun or shade as their are various types dependant on your lawn situation) to the whole area of your lawn and water it well in. Keep it well watered and
hopefully you’re lawn will bounce back 
But always remember most lawns at this time of the year look a bit bare and worn out so see how it recovers if you do decide to do a bit of lawn maintenance 

Rookie80

Thanks Steve. Guess i know what my next plan of action is 

sarahandmolly

Sorry for jumping on your post! That's some great advice @greenfingers steve thank you.  Good luck @David14 with your lawn 

Fairygirl

'Cutting on a low setting' . That will contribute to the problem David, as it means the grass is being scalped, and it allows other plants to thrive instead. It's best to cut often [while grass is growing well]  but only take off a small amount each time. That encourages the grass to keep thriving and spreading sideways [tillering] and it will eventually outgrow the moss.
Steve's advice is excellent too, re the compaction or shade contributing to more moss, so it's good to try all those things in future, as it will mean using fewer chemicals.
We have a shady front garden, and it always looks more moss than grass at this time of year. A bit of weed and feed sorts it, and the regular mowing. I don't often do anything else to mine. Another good tip if you have weeds/moss etc, is to feed only in early spring. That encourages everything to grow, and then any weed and feed product applied later on is more effective.
It really depends how perfect you want the grass too. The more lush you want it, the more effort you have to put in. 

Dirty Harry

I suspect cutting grass too short has to be the most common mistake people make, especially for over winter or when it's very dry in the summer.