We have a large lawn/small paddock about 30x20m. Historically it's clearly been mown and nothing else for years, so while it looked nice from a distance it was very slow growing (we only had to mow a handful of times a year) and a lot of moss.
We've now started using it for up to 20 toddlers in a playgroup, running around and predictably in the winter months it's taken a pounding.
From this:
To this:
On the plus side I think they might have killed all the moss, a lot of that green wasn't grass before.
The second photo was on a wet grey day last week so this is as bad as it looks - not great.
Simply rotating which areas we use doesn't really help as even in summer it doesn't grow back quickly. We've been reluctantly looking into reinforcement mesh products but again they need a lawn that will actually grow and bind in.
The soil is pretty decent though with a slight tendency to clay so in very wet weather it doesn't drain perfectly.
I would love any advice from anyone who has any experience in this sort of area.
Re-seeding is the easy option which hasn't worked before - because we weren't strict to keep people off long enough and watering is problematic.
I considered returfing but don't know what sort of prep is needed for that with the existing lawn. We have some budget but not unlimited and some options will clearly get pricey fast.
We only close completely for 1 week at a time 3 times a year - no school summer holiday to have a proper break. We are trying to use it less but there's only so much we can do as being outside is our USP - there are woods to explore but we can't do that all day every day!
We've now started using it for up to 20 toddlers in a playgroup, running around and predictably in the winter months it's taken a pounding.
From this:
To this:
On the plus side I think they might have killed all the moss, a lot of that green wasn't grass before.
The second photo was on a wet grey day last week so this is as bad as it looks - not great.
Simply rotating which areas we use doesn't really help as even in summer it doesn't grow back quickly. We've been reluctantly looking into reinforcement mesh products but again they need a lawn that will actually grow and bind in.
The soil is pretty decent though with a slight tendency to clay so in very wet weather it doesn't drain perfectly.
I would love any advice from anyone who has any experience in this sort of area.
Re-seeding is the easy option which hasn't worked before - because we weren't strict to keep people off long enough and watering is problematic.
I considered returfing but don't know what sort of prep is needed for that with the existing lawn. We have some budget but not unlimited and some options will clearly get pricey fast.
We only close completely for 1 week at a time 3 times a year - no school summer holiday to have a proper break. We are trying to use it less but there's only so much we can do as being outside is our USP - there are woods to explore but we can't do that all day every day!