Bradk, if you post again you can give us some more info about your garden cos the "headline" ran out of space mid-word!
If you have young children, getting rid of the pond seems a sensible plan. If it has a flexible liner you can pierce it with a garden fork to drain away the water gradually - check it's not full of fish or frogs first though! Then you might be able to turn it into a sandpit, temporarily anyway, though the surround would need some attention to make it more child-friendly.
You can re-seed the bare areas of your lawn from now until about May, or in Autumn. If you do it in mid summer you have to water it a lot, but now there should be enough moisture in the soil (and plenty of rain, probably) to help it grow. I'd use a seed mix for hard-wearing lawns. If the existing area is flat you probably wouldn't need to do a lot of preparation other than just loosening the top half inch with a rake; if you wanted a high-quality lawn it would be a good idea to kill off remaining grass and start from scratch, but if you're going to have children playing on it for a few years you'll be ok with "grass" rather than "lawn", I reckon. There's plenty of info about seeding a lawn on the Web.
Others may disagree...
Since 2019 I've lived in east Clare, in the west of Ireland.
I notice that the grass in very shaded in the picture - does it receive the sun at all? If not, you will struggle cultivating a lawn but you can buy a grass mix for shady areas.
I'm sure you will find some good tips on here. Good luck.
I am not an expert and have only ever done patch-repairs and topping-up of existing grass. It sounds like your soil should be dug over and organic matter added before you can even sow seeds. I'm sure there are plenty of guides on the internet to help you.
bradk
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Bradk, if you post again you can give us some more info about your garden cos the "headline" ran out of space mid-word!
If you have young children, getting rid of the pond seems a sensible plan. If it has a flexible liner you can pierce it with a garden fork to drain away the water gradually - check it's not full of fish or frogs first though! Then you might be able to turn it into a sandpit, temporarily anyway, though the surround would need some attention to make it more child-friendly.
You can re-seed the bare areas of your lawn from now until about May, or in Autumn. If you do it in mid summer you have to water it a lot, but now there should be enough moisture in the soil (and plenty of rain, probably) to help it grow. I'd use a seed mix for hard-wearing lawns. If the existing area is flat you probably wouldn't need to do a lot of preparation other than just loosening the top half inch with a rake; if you wanted a high-quality lawn it would be a good idea to kill off remaining grass and start from scratch, but if you're going to have children playing on it for a few years you'll be ok with "grass" rather than "lawn", I reckon. There's plenty of info about seeding a lawn on the Web.
Others may disagree...
Thanks for the advice! I'm going to try that. I'll also look up seeding a lawn on here too ??
I notice that the grass in very shaded in the picture - does it receive the sun at all? If not, you will struggle cultivating a lawn but you can buy a grass mix for shady areas.
I'm sure you will find some good tips on here. Good luck.
It is very shady, and only about half the garden recieves any sunlight. I will definitely look for some grass that's suitable for a shady garden.
The ground is also very hard and dry, would you suggest I aerate it too? To the grass a fighting chance?
Cheers,
Brad
I am not an expert and have only ever done patch-repairs and topping-up of existing grass. It sounds like your soil should be dug over and organic matter added before you can even sow seeds. I'm sure there are plenty of guides on the internet to help you.