Advice on 'meadow' lawn please

Hi,

We have recently moved into an old farmhouse with a rear lawn that was apparently an old paddock. The grass is ROUGH, presumably mostly meadow grass. It greens fairly well but goes really yellow when mowed.

At the moment there are not too many weeds, only a few dandelions and thistles. There is a lot of thatch and moss in the lawn, too!

I want to improve it as much as possible. I was thinking of hiring a scarifier to rip the thatch out and thin the grass, then roll it as it's a bit lumpy, then interseed with a fine lawn seed. Does this sound the right thing to do or any other thoughts?

The soil here is very good, we are on pure silt, so I think anything will grow well (everything else does)!

Thanks

Andy

Hi pond

Could you clarify what your ultimate goal is for this land? Do you specifically want to create a lawned garden, or are you willing to consider alternatives?

Be aware that, if it was formerly a paddock, it may be classed as "agricultural" land. In which case, you would probably need to apply to your local Planning Authority for "change of use" permission to turn it into a "domestic" garden.

It is not a paddock, it is a garden. It WAS a paddock years ago, hence the grass.

I want to get the best lawn I can without lifting the whole lot and turfing or re-seeding it (1/3rd acre of lawn so not a small or cheap job).

Fair enough.

I'm afraid I don't know enough about lawns to give you definitive advice (although I could advise you on how to turn it into a wildflower meadow), but I suspect that just sowing lawn seed into an existing sward of pasture grass (different species to lawn grass) would give you inconsistent results at best. Deturfing and reseeding may be your best option.

If nobody else here can give you better advice, try posting the question on a gardening forum. Here are some I know of:
http://gardenerscorner.co.uk/forum/
http://www.gardensmonthly.co.uk/forums/
http://www.gardenersclick.com/gardeningquestions/latest

Sorry I can't be of more help, best of luck.
Geometer

PS. Just an afterthought: an alternative to machine-stripping the turf might be to put a couple of pigs on to it for the winter - they'll strip it of grass and weeds, turn over and fertilise the soil, and you might get a side of bacon as rent. Any smallholders in your area?

I don't reckon your plan would work, especially at this time of year. I always find its better to scarify in the Spring, after having applied moss killer.

Best thing to get rid of bumps is to sieve top dressing into hollows, let grass grow through, then repeat until hollow is level with surrounding grass. Bumps are best eradicated by cutting open turf, removing soil then relaying the turf to the level. Takes time and patience.

If you re seed with fine grass, it will probably be swamped and out grown by the more vigerous growing ryegrasses which will make up the area just now. Only way to create a fine grass lawn would be to start from scratch, but this would take a season or so to properly level site, allow for settlement, eradicate weeds, and allow lawn to establish. Big risk to fine grass lawns is rye grass seeds being blown on on the wind and infiltrating your nice new lawn.