How do I repair my lawn ? (Photo inside)

iMax

Nine months into dog ownership & my beautiful lawn is destroyed, I'm currently looking at building a dog run to keep him off at least half of it, however, he has been peeing & dumping all over it, digging occasionally & worst of all, tearing round it at high speed so that there is now a mud track about three feet wide the entire way around the garden. To be fair to the mutt, the snow & frost & subsequent water logging didn't help things.

When I have him penned off, I need to start getting the garden back to it's previous glory.

The spots where it's dead, am I better off re-soiling these ? Would it be a better option to get turf over the entire amount or rotovate it ?

87pio

dig it all up , put top-soil, rake it level , lay a turf on it that will cost you few hundred quid, but the results will be amazing !

iMax

Was kinda afraid it would be something like that. May have to hold off as the funds aren't there right now

mossym

okay then, dig it all up , put top-soil, rake it level , buy a bag of grass seed for half nothing and you'll get the same result for less

hucklebuck

iMax wrote: »

Nine months into dog ownership & my beautiful lawn is destroyed, I'm currently looking at building a dog run to keep him off at least half of it, however, he has been peeing & dumping all over it, digging occasionally & worst of all, tearing round it at high speed so that there is now a mud track about three feet wide the entire way around the garden. To be fair to the mutt, the snow & frost & subsequent water logging didn't help things.

When I have him penned off, I need to start getting the garden back to it's previous glory.

The spots where it's dead, am I better off re-soiling these ? Would it be a better option to get turf over the entire amount or rotovate it ?

How often and how far do you walk the dog? If he is doing this amount of running and digging it could be that he is not being exercised enough. More walks could save you the cost of the run and/or new lawn.

iMax

He gets between 3.5-4.5km a day hucklebuck.

The digging isn't too bad & is pretty much stopped (for now at least), it's the dead grass that's the problem.

Gonna build him a run in the next couple of weeks & then probably re-turf the lawn.

hucklebuck

iMax wrote: »

He gets between 3.5-4.5km a day hucklebuck.

The digging isn't too bad & is pretty much stopped (for now at least), it's the dead grass that's the problem.

Gonna build him a run in the next couple of weeks & then probably re-turf the lawn.

That's decent walking alright, I noticed if our pooch gets her usual 5km walk she sleeps all day but she starts digging if we give her a lazy 2km walk (leave out her long walk).

I killed the moss and weeds, scarified the lawn leaving lots of bald spots, I fertilised the garden and seeded the bald spots last Saturday and given the week we have had and that I watered it Friday and Saturday there is no sign of green.

Any ideas anyone?

cram1971

I am in eactly the same situation and have redone the grass twice, I have ordered some RTF grass seed and plan on top dressing and over seeding.

RTF is a self repairing grass and has deep root structure. I had to order the seed from the UK should have it tomorrow.

hucklebuck

cram1971 wrote: »

I am in eactly the same situation and have redone the grass twice, I have ordered some RTF grass seed and plan on top dressing and over seeding.

RTF is a self repairing grass and has deep root structure. I had to order the seed from the UK should have it tomorrow.

I bought the seed from a hardware which normally grows great, were you using the boxed rubbish atlantic/ woodies sell?

cram1971

hucklebuck wrote: »

I bought the seed from a hardware which normally grows great, were you using the boxed rubbish atlantic/ woodies sell?

I don't understand what you mean.

The last time I re turfed the garden I got fairway turf from a friend of the family who builds golf courses I don't know the blend of seeds etc

This is a little bit of info on the RTF grass

http://www.aboutrtf.com/aboutrtf.html

amira

hucklebuck wrote: »

I bought the seed from a hardware which normally grows great, were you using the boxed rubbish atlantic/ woodies sell?

i bought a box of repair lawn in Aldi.. spread it in the baldy patches in my garden.. you think that stuff is not good?
I'm an absolute beginner with gardenning.. bought a house in the winter and never had a garden before.. winter was ok.. no maintenance, but spring has come and OMG!! i have a forest for a garden!! bought a lawnmower yesterday, first mowing done! but there's a few baldy patches and i bought a boxed aldi repair stuff.. is that going to work? read on the box that i had to rake the spots and scarify.. which btw, i dont know what it means.. then once seed and fertiliser spread, rake again and top with soil.. i didnt have soil so just raked and then asked for watering.. i dont even have a hose/sprinkler yet.. so.. was lucky enough that it rained last nite.. so.. should i be doing something else? Feeding? i dont have any equipment so the seed i manually spread.. like in the old times..
Also, noticed that the places were the grass was longer now i have yellowy grass.. will that recover by itself?
Sorry.. so many questions.. but i just dont have a clue!! i need help!

BugBlaster

dont try to cut more than one third of the height at one time( give the lawna few days to recover) , then you will not get the yellow patches. Little and often works best. It should recover.

hucklebuck

cram1971 wrote: »

I don't understand what you mean.

Grass seed doesn't last forever, after a while it won't germinate or very little will. Hardware stores get about 10 deliveries of seed a year so it has a far better chance of germinating than a box of fertiliser coated seed that has been on a shelf in Woodies or Atlantic since last summer.

Oh the seed has started to germinate but my stupid pooch has dug two holes in the garden:mad: I might have to cd protect my garden :cool:

hucklebuck

amira wrote: »

i bought a box of repair lawn in Aldi.. spread it in the baldy patches in my garden.. you think that stuff is not good?
I'm an absolute beginner with gardenning.. bought a house in the winter and never had a garden before.. winter was ok.. no maintenance, but spring has come and OMG!! i have a forest for a garden!! bought a lawnmower yesterday, first mowing done! but there's a few baldy patches and i bought a boxed aldi repair stuff.. is that going to work? read on the box that i had to rake the spots and scarify.. which btw, i dont know what it means.. then once seed and fertiliser spread, rake again and top with soil.. i didnt have soil so just raked and then asked for watering.. i dont even have a hose/sprinkler yet.. so.. was lucky enough that it rained last nite.. so.. should i be doing something else? Feeding? i dont have any equipment so the seed i manually spread.. like in the old times..
Also, noticed that the places were the grass was longer now i have yellowy grass.. will that recover by itself?
Sorry.. so many questions.. but i just dont have a clue!! i need help!

The seed you bought might be ok but there is a chance it may not germinate. You have done right with raking, seeding and fertilising, covering the seed with soil is bad advice as it needs water, heat and sun to germinate.

One thing you need to be sure of is that the grass is making solid contact with the soil by walking on it (if you haven't done it already). Make sure the soil is damp but not soaking and if you are watering make sure you use a light spray as you could risk washing the seed away. If you have not applied fertiliser then do it immediately, your grass sounds like it badly needs some nutrients, there may be some in your lawn repair kit but it would be no harm to apply fertiliser to the areas where there is grass.

When the new grass comes in let it grow to at least 3 inches and only then should you cut it at the highest setting on your lawnmower to leave the grass long, this helps thicken the immature grass so it can survive. Cut the grass the next two cuts at this height and then you can go back to your normal grass length.

I would recommend reapplying some fertiliser in about a month (I use evergreen) it will give you a smashing deep green lawn.

By the way I would not recommend using the lawnmower until most of your seed has germinated and grown to 3 inches or longer.

Scarifying is basically raking the lawn with a machine called a scarifier, normally you kill the moss and weeks and then scarify to take all the dead moss weeds and grass, it leaves the garden looking bare and you can then seed the bald patches.


Hope this helps

amira

wow.. it did help!! thanks a lot for all the advice!!! Is much appreciated

hucklebuck

amira wrote: »

wow.. it did help!! thanks a lot for all the advice!!! Is much appreciated

No bother Amira.:)

Did the lawn repair seed work for you?

amira

hucklebuck wrote: »

No bother Amira.:)

Did the lawn repair seed work for you?

well, if i was supposed to see results already.. (only been a week) then.. NO.. haven't seen a single bit of new grass..

hucklebuck

amira wrote: »

well, if i was supposed to see results already.. (only been a week) then.. NO.. haven't seen a single bit of new grass..

Thanks, if it's any consolation the seed I bought in the hardware was put down last Saturday fortnight and only about 10% has turned to grass so far:mad: I ended up breaking and cutting the grass as it was growing wild!!

I might go to NAD in Rush/Lusk or Drummonds in Clonee, they should have proper grass seed.

amira

hucklebuck wrote: »

Thanks, if it's any consolation the seed I bought in the hardware was put down last Saturday fortnight and only about 10% has turned to grass so far:mad: I ended up breaking and cutting the grass as it was growing wild!!

I might go to NAD in Rush/Lusk or Drummonds in Clonee, they should have proper grass seed.

yeah,, i was thinking of giving it another week, wait and see..
if not i thought of getting the miracle grow? has anybody tried it?
Also.. thinking of asking my neighbour.. noticed a patch in his garden where he had like a raised planter thing, he took it out 2 weeks ago, and now the whole patch area is green.. how did he managed?? i dont know.. also noticed he's grass doesn't grow as fast as mine..
may be a case of 'the grass always looks greener... ' :rolleyes:

hucklebuck

amira wrote: »

yeah,, i was thinking of giving it another week, wait and see..
if not i thought of getting the miracle grow? has anybody tried it?
Also.. thinking of asking my neighbour.. noticed a patch in his garden where he had like a raised planter thing, he took it out 2 weeks ago, and now the whole patch area is green.. how did he managed?? i dont know.. also noticed he's grass doesn't grow as fast as mine..
may be a case of 'the grass always looks greener... ' :rolleyes:

I haven't tried the miracle grow repair but for me the same theory applies, it could be over a year on the shelf.

Your neighbour might have bought sod which is a good option for somewhere bare you want grass for, no harm in asking him

Gruver

I have been having similar issues with my back garden. Our dog (which is very well exercised by the way) has a tendency to tear up the top of the turf. I have noticed that when the damaged areas do eventually recover there are more weeds than grass. I can't blame the dog for everything as I haven't looked after the grass well over the past couple of years. Returfing is an option but I'd like to at least try to fix the problem. I'm hoping to give it a good go this summer and try to tackle the weeds. Can anyone recommend a good combination weed killer/fertilizer and also can anyone recommend a good inexpensive lawn seed that is available in a large 5k bag?

amira

hucklebuck wrote: »

I haven't tried the miracle grow repair but for me the same theory applies, it could be over a year on the shelf.

Your neighbour might have bought sod which is a good option for somewhere bare you want grass for, no harm in asking him

i might ask him.. i just hope he wont think i'm nosey.. coz we're talking about his back garden here, which i happen to see through my bedroom window.. :rolleyes:

hucklebuck

cram1971 wrote: »

I am in eactly the same situation and have redone the grass twice, I have ordered some RTF grass seed and plan on top dressing and over seeding.

RTF is a self repairing grass and has deep root structure. I had to order the seed from the UK should have it tomorrow.

Hey Cram,

How is the rtf going for you?

hucklebuck

amira wrote: »

well, if i was supposed to see results already.. (only been a week) then.. NO.. haven't seen a single bit of new grass..

Any joy yet did you talk to your neighbour?

I spent so long hand weeding my back garden that I trapped a nerve in my knee, I spend €120 on Patch Magic which I put down 2 weeks ago and have been watering the ground everyday the coir was light brown which given the weather has been nearly everyday (I do it in the early morning or late evening so it does not evaporate). So far there might be 10 blades but as you can see from my picture a lot of patch magic was used.

Raging now, twice I have sewn seed on well fertilised soil and kept it well watered and hugely disappointing results given the weather we have had.

This is my before picture of the garden, I just took a spade to the side and front edges of the grass as there was loads of crab grass, so I filled it with enriched top soil, fertiliser and grass seed.


I have noticed the following in my garden, does anyone know it it is the seed of normal grass or crab grass?

Thanks

cram1971

hucklebuck wrote: »

Hey Cram,

How is the rtf going for you?

Received the seed but due to a new addition to the family I haven't had a chance to use it yet!

hucklebuck

cram1971 wrote: »

Received the seed but due to a new addition to the family I haven't had a chance to use it yet!

Congratulations, hope all is going well for you