Lawn Problems

Hi all, that time of the year again, when the lawns start needing attention. My back lawn is rectangular, and at a guess 45ftx25ft. Anyway, because of the relatively wet winter, and 3 dogs constantly running and digging it up, it is gone very patchy, and needs attention asap! There is one big patch in the middle, that is patchy enough, but will probably come right when the weather improves. Then there are a few sections where there is no grass at all, and the soil is all compacted. And finally, to make matters worse, the youngest dog has taken to digging random holes in the lawn. I think I have her corrected on this, so hopefully that's the end of it. Anyway, any advice on how to get the perfect lawn back. I cut it last week, just the bare bit, and left the shreddings off on it.
The holes that the dog made, do I just fill with topsoil and re-seed, and then roll? The big patchy area in the middle, I was thinking of mixing sand, seed and fertiliser. Dunno what to do with the compacted areas. I'm kinda clueless, but want to get it sorted asap, so any advice appreciated.

garbanzo

....pulls up a seat. Cheers OP. Yep, this thread is made for me as well as I have a similar situation going on in my back garden so I'm looking forward to following the magic of boards.ie

Northumbria

I wouldn't bother patching it up, it'll never look very good. Dig it up and start again.
Don't throw the soil away with the turf though, always hit it against something to get all the soil out.

1. Dig up the lawn
2. Level it out and rake it so that its flat. If you want to make any slopes or hills or anything its upto you.
3. Put grass seed down and water well. Don;t drown it or wash away the seed
4. Gently rake a bit of soil over the grass seed. It doesn't have to be buried, just partially covered to keep birds away
5. Water daily if dry and wait a few days for the new lawn to appear.
6. Keep watering if needed until it is established. Fertilise with liquid grass fertiliser if neccesary.
7. Once it is established give it its first cut with the lawn mower, but don't cut it too short in the first few years. Cutting grass very short is bad for it anyway but is worse for young grass.

Keep the dogs off it whilst its in progress. Perhaps buy a bag of bark or something and leave little area in the corner with some bark down for a digging spot.
If your dogs go to dig up the grass stop them and make them know it is wrong somehow and keep doing so until they get the message.


Last year I replanted half an acre. It'd been overgrazed with chickens who'd eaten everything and "burnt" the grass with their droppings. It was totally bare earth whilst they were on it.
Once they'd gone it became a weed-infested mess, so I dug it all by spade and pulled out all the weeds by hand (don;t bother with chemicals, you're wasting your time).
The grass seed established very quickly because of all the nitrogen-rich manure the chickens had left in the soil, it was very lush indeed and established completely in two weeks.
Wildflowers are gradually colonising it and moss will too if you don't make it so that water will run off.

I think it is still a bit early yet, try the end of march for replanting the lawn.