2023 Lawn Thread

Author
Discussion

dhutch

Original Poster:

12,418 posts

184 months

Tuesday 31st January
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Condi said:
Are we having a 2023 lawn thread?
Why not, February tomorrow!

gfreeman

1,622 posts

237 months

Tuesday 31st January
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Let’s start 2023 with a new toy!
My old Husky got destroyed in a nasty garage fire. All dealers said although the Husky was old it was a very decent bit of kit - today’s offerings are cheese in comparison - unless you have a very large budget.
John Deere was my first wish but stock is limited and on very long back order for what I could afford, Husqvarna are not what they used to be but a few places recommended the newish Stihl offering.
I have a decent robot but have removed part of the guide wire due to a large garden project and I need a decent tow vehicle for little jobs round the garden and will soon have a large area that will need topsoil and seed in a couple of months.
So hello Stihl!

Some Gump

12,313 posts

173 months

Tuesday 31st January
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Ooh, this thread! Bookmarked so I now when to scarify and add copious seeds that will achieve very little but let me say "i tried" =)

dhutch

Original Poster:

12,418 posts

184 months

Tuesday 31st January
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I always look forward to spring, but since getting into a bit of lawncare I enjoy cutting the grass even more so. Roll on warmer weather.

Stedman

7,074 posts

179 months

Wednesday 1st February
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In smile

Hereward

3,566 posts

217 months

Friday 3rd February
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Not a proper lawn but first cut of the year for me. Really didn't expect to be mowing in early February.

Perfect mild conditions in Surrey this week with a little bit of sun and a persistent breeze so the grass and top soil is dry.

Quick check of fluids and tyre pressures and the old girl started on the second turn of the key. I bought it for just over £2k about 10 years ago (it was mis-priced and I was lucky to snap it up). The 1990's commercial stuff is really well made with a Yanmar 22hp diesel engine.


PinkFatBunny

776 posts

168 months

Saturday 4th February
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when can you start cutting your lawn???

Dr Mike Oxgreen

3,931 posts

152 months

Saturday 4th February
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PinkFatBunny said:
when can you start cutting your lawn???
You can cut your lawn at any time of year. If you have a rotary mower it can be beneficial to use it to suck up dead leaves at any time over the winter.

Just avoid times when it’s frosty, or when the ground is so soft that the mower wheels will damage it.

Set your mower to a higher cut during autumn and winter so the grass has more leaf area to catch as much of the light as possible. And allow it to go a bit longer during the hottest part of the summer.

I mowed my lawn a couple of days ago just to take the tops off and even it up a bit.

RichB

49,086 posts

271 months

Saturday 4th February
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First cut since a few weeks before Xmas today. I'm reasonably happy, mainly because I seem to be getting on top of the fusarium which in previous winters has blighted the lawn. There's still a few patches but nowhere near as bad. I put that down to good autumn feed in Sept, a winter feed in Nov and another application of iron sulphate in December. I planted 100 snowdrops in the mossy area under the acer tree. There's really no point in trying to grow grass underneath and the acer is quite simply stunning once in leaf so it takes precedence over the grass. Hopefully the snowdrops will multiply and provide a nice winter display and once the tree is in leaf you won't see the moss.



dhutch

Original Poster:

12,418 posts

184 months

Saturday 4th February
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Looks lovely, and I completely agree that trying to grow good grass under trees is futile, and cutting down good trees for grass is maddness.

RichB

49,086 posts

271 months

Saturday 4th February
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dhutch said:
Looks lovely, and I completely agree that trying to grow good grass under trees is futile, and cutting down good trees for grass is madness.
Yep, this is the tree in summer


Edited by RichB on Saturday 4th February 18:41

Mr.Grooler

1,155 posts

212 months

Saturday 4th February
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That looks lovely

Caddyshack

7,750 posts

193 months

Saturday 4th February
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Great looking house too.

Chicken Chaser

7,236 posts

211 months

Saturday 4th February
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RichB astard! Looks lovely, house and garden. Well done sir

dhutch

Original Poster:

12,418 posts

184 months

Saturday 4th February
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After some advice.

The right hand side of our lawn is laid on old veg/fruit plot levelled into the lawn. Freshly seeded 2 years ago with Lawnsmiths Staygreen.

The rest of our our lawn is likely 100yo, and on very thin soil with sandstone bedrock within 6-10inches of the surface. I have scarfied top dressed and reseeded it heavily, and hollow tined it heavily twice, but is still doesn't look as a good.

If feed the lawn it all goes green together, but the old bit never grows as fast or as well, suffers in summer, etc. and as per the photos goes yellow between feeds.

What can I do, given I don't really want to feed it four times a year every year, due to the time, cost, poor green credentials.

A) Top dress more heavily to bulk up the soil. With what?
B) Suck it up and hope with time the new bit becomes less fertile!
C) Rip the whole old section up and relay in the hope that helps?


RichB

49,086 posts

271 months

Saturday 4th February
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dhutch said:
After some advice.
If you've only got 6"-10" of soil on sandstone then it's fair to assume you have good drainage and not much moisture retention. I am on very sandy, acidic soil on a slight incline and our soil will not retain any fertility, it just washes straight away with the rain!
If you overseed generously each spring then the seed you cast will, after a while, match the two areas together. But... yes you will have to feed, feed, feed and feed. I'd suggest three times a year, spring, summer and winter feeds plus iron sulphate a couple of times a year. eek

8-P

2,721 posts

247 months

Sunday 5th February
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My lawn looks terrible. Never came back from late scarification so the moss moved in.

On a brighter note and because I can’t find the garden thread these have started to surface.


jhiker

98 posts

97 months

Sunday 5th February
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Has anyone tried this lot…?
https://thelawnpack.co.uk/

Dr Murdoch

3,256 posts

122 months

Sunday 5th February
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Gave mine a trim yesterday (South East) just to neaten it.

Shame during the winter I appear to have walked through some nuclear waste and then straight on to the lawn!


rfsteel

683 posts

157 months

Sunday 5th February
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Spent 3hrs this weekend with the rake collecting the oak leaves that have fallen over winter, doesn't even look like I've scratched the surface even though I must have filled over 60 wheelbarrow loads and dumped them on the compost heap.





Broke out the leaf vacuum today to see if that was any more efficient, and found I still need to rake them into piles before sucking them up.





Apart from doing a perfect job shredding the leaves, the vacuum did my back in after about 30mins.

Lots of moss and bare patches to deal with once the spring comes, fun times ahead. Though one bonus is the next door neighbour is having an new extension and garage rebuilt currently, and it planning to remove the hedges separating our gardens and replacing it with a brick wall of some description, which should cut down my yearly week of hedge cutting down by 3 days or so.

Just wish I could get one of these down the side of the house and the lawn was firm enough to stop it from sinking hehe



Edited by rfsteel on Sunday 5th February 19:04