Tips for improving our lawn

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Durham
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About 4 year or so ago we had a landscape gardener out who put up a new fence, some paving, and re-turfed the lawn.

Last year I noticed yellow patches so I put some some grass seed and some lawn feed, I think however I may have applied too much lawn feed as it seemed to leave more dead patches of grass. I tried to care for it over last summer and things seemed to have improved loads by the end of the summer.

The main problems we have;

- The shaded side of our lawn seems to grow at a reasonable rate, but the rest of the lawn doesn't seem to grow, it always seems to remain the same height all the time.
- The none shaded areas of the lawn are more yellow/dead grass compared to the shaded areas.
- Shaded areas of the lawn, the soil always seems more damp (understandable as it's in the shade), but in this area the grass seems more bare, by that I mean you can see more soil between the grass.

I've performed the first cut of the year today, and as it's still early in the year I thought now would be a good start to looking after it ready for the summer (maybe).

Here's a picture of the lawn at the minute.
2romdjc.jpg
 
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is it mossy?

it looks like your mower might be blunt or badly adjusted. The blades should cut a slip of paper. If they bruise and mangle the grass it will be prone to fungal infection.

How much concrete, brick, cement sacks and spilt diesel did the builders leave under the turf?
 
is it mossy?

it looks like your mower might be blunt or badly adjusted. The blades should cut a slip of paper. If they bruise and mangle the grass it will be prone to fungal infection.

How much concrete, brick, cement sacks and spilt diesel did the builders leave under the turf?

It's not particularly mossy, or least I don't believe it is.
The blade was new 2-3 year ago, so maybe we could do with ordering a new one, it's just a standard black and decker cutter that uses blades like this... http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Genuine-B...908084?hash=item1c3eee97b4:g:bVoAAOxy9X5Ta1uV

From what I can remember, under the grass is mostly build up of just soil, they didn't put any rubble down to build it up as the grass area was already pretty high anyway.
 
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As John said there may be a shed load of rubbish under the turf but given that grass roots only go down about 6ins or so, I would relieve the compaction of the soil by making holes in the turf with a fork to a depth of 3 or 4ins . This will allow water and air into the soil and improve the quality of the lawn.

Mike
 
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It certainly doesn't look like moss, more a sign of lack of water/too much sun. The shaded areas are okay, so that suggest the lawn is predominantly fine. Grass needs regular cutting to stay healthy, but if the subsoil doesn't go down very far, then it also needs frequent watering, and I mean a good soaking. If you dig a hole after a rain shower, you'll find the topsoil wet, but only for an inch or so.
 
It certainly doesn't look like moss, more a sign of lack of water/too much sun. The shaded areas are okay, so that suggest the lawn is predominantly fine. Grass needs regular cutting to stay healthy, but if the subsoil doesn't go down very far, then it also needs frequent watering, and I mean a good soaking. If you dig a hole after a rain shower, you'll find the topsoil wet, but only for an inch or so.

What's the way to resolve that? spiking to improve water penetration?
 
Yes, spike the garden to death, and then water liberally. If it's not better in a few weeks, then you've got other issues, but it only looks like dried grass, and that comes back to life quite easily when watered. Too much lawn feed would just get washed through and wasted, but it wouldn't have killed the lawn, so I don't think you've done anything wrong to date.
 
If you apply dry lawn feed too thickly it will scorch grass and kill it but these would be noticable dead patches not just yellowish.

People often have a landscaper lay new turf and then a couple of years later the lawn is a bit yellow in parts and they start complaining something must be wrong.

Lawns should be fed at least twice a year and ideally aerated and scarified every 2/3. Grass is resiliant and will grow with almost no care but for a healthy green lawn you need to give it some attention.

Aerating is a good idea and will help.
 

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