Creeping buttercups..

RubyLeaf

The bleeders have spread across half of our small lawn, and pulling each one up seems to be a never ending battle. Plus if I miss part of it it could still come back right? What should I do? I've heard people say to dig affected parts of the lawn up, but doing this before Spring will result in an ugly patchy lawn.

Even if I am to do that do I just buy grass seed? Help ^_^;

Dovefromabove

I agree with Verdun - if you 've got just a few then digging them out indvidually is possible, but if you've got a real infestation then a lawn weedkiller will do the job for you and save your knees and back (and patience)   

If you use one that also contains a fertiliser for the grass you may well find that you don't need to re-seed because the grass you have will spread sideways and re-colonise the bare spots.   Keep it regularly mowed (not too short) to encourage the grass to put out side shoots. 

Clarington

Ruby, I'd be leaving the lawn (and buttercups) alone until Spring when the grass is growing again (I'm amazed your lawn isn't under water right now) and using a good lawn fertiliser / weed killer mix on it. I used a generic brand from Homebase last year on my then garden which was more weeds than lawn and found that the weeds all died within a week (cue lots of different coloured patches and some areas that were completely bare but as I said I had more weeds than grass so it was quite the extreme example!) The grass came back lush and green not long after quickly filling in the gaps. It did look tatty for a couple of weeks but no worse than if you were to have to cut chunks out and I just cut it as normal.

All I had to do was mix it in the watering can, sprinkle liberally, and stand back.

RubyLeaf

Thanks for the advice people! Never thought to use a weedkiller. I will definatly follow your advice

Clarington can you link me this product if possible? I would like to check if its okay to use with pets (I have 2 cats).

Speaking of the rain, my lawn may not be a pool but its certainly boggy :S I do hope we get an early spring with this very wet winter.

artjak

Ruby, remember when using weed and feed NOT to put the first few mowings on your compost heap, or in the Council green bin. Just bag it up and put in the household rubbish.

CharleyD

I've ordered Verdone Extra to get rid of the weed in our lawn if that's any help?  It has excellent reviews on Amazon and appears to be reasonably priced.

Clarington

The brand I used was Evergreen Complete Soluble Lawn Feeder and Weed Killer (you can buy it from pretty much anywhere). I don't know about pets though (I didn't think to look) you might need to keep them off the lawn until it dries?

RubyLeaf

Thanks Clarington, I'll keep an eye out ^_^

NuttyNutkin

We have decided not to aim for a pristine lawn and, instead, to go for a wildlife friendly sward. We just mow in the growing season at least once a week on the highest setting, so there is cover for frogs, beetles etc. We let the wild flowers grow too, for nectar-loving insects to feed from, so the "lawn" looks very pretty with buttercups, daisies, even violets, like a Medieval flowery mead. One plant I do control, though, is dandelion. I just pull off the buds and flowers to stop them spreading. Our "lawn" isn't like a bowling green but we get much satisfaction knowing that we are helping to maintain the natural balance, and love watching all the birds, beasts and butterflies that visit us.