I have let my garden go to ruin !!

[mikieo]

Help !

I have destroyed what was once a nice lawn mainly due to laziness and the thought that "I'd mow it next week" - well next week turned into next year and then another year !! - I've just ended up with sun stroke after spending the whole weekend strimming and mowing ! and it looks a mess ! the grass is yellow and full of mossy stuff and even tho the grass is short the whole surface is bouncy ! oh woe is me ! I'm thinking of stripping the whole lawn and re seeding or getting more turf on top - or is this a drastic reaction ? can I salvage my once green striped lawn ??

Mike

 

[breezer]

you can but it depends on what you want to do, new turf is obviously quicker, (costs more too) there is a product "as seen on tv" that kills all moss and brings back the grass green, you sprinkle it on and ...........wait, i do not have grass so i do not know how good it is (or isn't)

 

[Scoby_Beasley]

Keep cutting it, 2 or three times a week to get it down, buy a lawn rake (or hire an electric one) and get yourself a nice tanned back. Then sprinkle lawn sand approx 2oz a sq yard, that'll take care of the moss. If you keep cutting, the weeds will give up, the grass was yellow because the bits you now see hadn't seen daylight for 2 years !!
Oh, and don't be a lazy boy again
I once made a bowling green out of a neglected lawn by just keeping on top of it, a 3 hr mowing job becomes 20 mins if you keep going.

 

[mikieo]

Thanks for the advice, it's my own fault so I'm not going to take the easy route out - it's hard work and sun burn for me... is it called a scarifier ? or something like that ? to do the raking.

plus what to do with the small mountain of grass clippings I've amounted, and there really is a lot !!!

cheers mike

 

[Tin Gill]

For the grass cuttings...

You can get a compost bin (looks like a green plastic Dalek but without the head!!!!) from your local council for about £20 or buy one from a diy store. Put this somewhere inconspicuous in your garden and put any grass cuttings in there.

The amazing thing is that I've been using the same bin for the last two years and have an 80ft garden and I still haven't filled it up - it's a little bit larger than a regular bin but everything you put in there gets so well compacted/composted - very useful...

Oh and obviously after a few years, you'll have some really good compost!

 

[mikieo]

(looks like a green plastic Dalek but without the head!!!!)

Sounds just like my ex-wife ! but thats another story...

Thanks for the green advice - I'll certainly get one sorted - I suppose I can bung all garden waste in there ??

Mike

 

[Scoby_Beasley]

Correct mikieo, it is called a scarifier, but don't buy a plastic one, get the metal instead.

 

[Tin Gill]

....I suppose I can bung all garden waste in there ?? ....

Pretty much although I wouldn't put 'woody stuff' like branches, twigs etc in there as they take forever to decompose and so fill up your bin a lot quicker...

 

[mikieo]

just veggie type waste huh ? I suppose if I threw in my sunday roast remains i'd mess up the whole eco system and encourage a stinking pile of pulp ?

thanks all.....

 

[breezer]

believe it or not shreded newspaper is good to, but not all at once, in layers it works fine (so i am told)

 

[mikieo]

well I'm picking my green bin from the council this week (£10) not a bad price - I will let you know how it works - thankyou everyone for your comments