Yellowing lawn
crazyflower
Posts: 69
Advice wanted please! I sowed a small front lawn at the end of last summer, it has grown well but it is now going very yellow all over, it's not far off being all totally bright yellow! We are in February. Should I give it some feed?
I had stripped an old lawn off and lay down a load of compost that you get in bags from the garden centre, and sowed the lawn seed on top of this, with a bit of soil mixed in. I didn't give it any extra feed at the time of sowing and we have had a lot of rain since then. It would look good except for the yellowing, I know it is winter and it may recover but I would like it to look better if possible, the only thing I can think of is to give it a bit of feed but would this do it any harm?
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Given the foul weather, perhaps it's waterlogged? Don't apply any feed as this could just encourage soft growth which would only be damaged by the next frost.
I'd leave it along until the weather warms up and , if it's waterlogged, avoid walking on it as much as possible. Lawns are very resilient, be patient.
Thanks Hostafan1, I'll leave it as it is and give it some feed at the start of spring, it has grown very well in the 4 months from seed, so I want it to do well. I'll have to tell my sister about this forum as this is my first time on it today, we are both plantaholics and will enjoy the photos and information.
crazyf, could it be that the local dogs are using it as a loo? though that would tend to make it patchy yellow.
No artjak, the dogs use the pavement as a loo! Its not in patches. Perhaps it has had too much rain and not enough feed was in the ground when sown, i'll have to wait till spring to give it some feed now, shame I was so pleased with how it looked after having a terrible lawn at front of my house.
I'd fork it and brush some sharp sand into it, the compost was it potting compost?
If it was there is your problem, potting compost holds on to water so improve the drainage.
Yes, I put down a lot of multipurpose compost after I lifted the old turf off, with a bit of topsoil mixed in and then sowed the lawn seed. I'll fork it and brush sharp sand into it soon then, thanks. I want it to look good and last a few years, now i've got rid of the old neglected lawn, especially after all my hard work
I never thought about potting compost being water holding. Explains why mine is keeping it's squelch!
Good tip.
ours is waterlogged and half completely bare, east fcing gets hardly any sun nov-march and we wrecked it with daily paddling pool use last summer,then fig tree dropped enormous quantity ans size leaves on bare bit, forked it and brushed sand in in november, wonder should we do it again before reseeding in march?
Consider that you may have Leatherjackets (daddylonglegs larvae), if there the lawn will be looking poorly by now and going into the early spring months. They can do enormous damage to the grass
You could try feeding it with a winter specific feed (i.e. low nitrogen).
When i feed during the winter I feed at three quarter strength as advised on the pack (i.e. if the pack advises feeding at 35 grammes per square metre i feed at about 20-25 grammes). I find this keeps the lawn ticking over nicely until spring.
I also feed sometimes during the winter with an iron only feed, this will help keep the green colour without promoting surge growth.