Lawn Feed and Weed

Shefwedfan

Looking for some advice please, I have a new lawn, in circa 12 months.

It didn't get the greatest start but looking ok now, a good few weeds coming up....I was talking to a guy and he said to use Lawn Weed and Feed

I was just going to get some 10-10-20 and scatter it around, then buy some Dicophar and spray it....

Just wondering what is recommendation? if using lawn feed and weed which is the best one?

Also when is best time of year to feed the lawn? Thanks

magicbastarder

it's an unusual time of the year to be asking - usually you wouldn't feed for another few months.

aujopimur

Avoid 10 10 20, unless you want silage, 7 6 17 is better for lawns.
It's a bit soon to feed a new lawn, wait until you have given it a few cuts.

macraignil

I prefer to have some daisies and clover to add a bit of colour to the lawn so no feed and weed in my garden. Better for bees and brightens up the lawn to make it look nicer in my opinion. I do use a trowel to remove the odd dandelion, doc leaf and nettle as these would grow into a problem with time but I would find a grass only lawn too sterile for my taste.

Hibernia Gardens

Hi Scotts Autumn is a great feed and weed for this late in the season.Little bit pricey but worth it.
Id use a spreader if possible. check the package for instructions.
Don't put to much on.
Paul.

monkeynuz

Don’t feed yet, far too late/early in the season, I used a very good product in the spring, can’t remember the name I think it was by doff? I’ll check later. It is a far more gentle product than a lot of the fertilizers and contains michorhizzal fungi to strengthen the roots of the grass and something else to inhibit moss.

It was not particularly cheap but I thought it was definitely worth it.

Lumen

monkeynuz wrote: »

michorhizzal fungi to strengthen the roots of the grass

From what I've read about mycorrhizae the addition of spores to established soil (i.e anything except desert) is of little or no use, but this appears to be a subject which inflames passions on web forums.

I have used it myself when planting but I do wonder whether it might be more enjoyable to just burn money.

The problem with mixing it with chemical treatments (other than that the chemicals may be toxic to the spores) is that if the results are good you have no idea whether it was the fungi or the chemicals.

Shefwedfan

Thanks everyone for advice

Just to clarify, I am not going to do yet but was hoping I could pick up something in the sales. The likes of agridirect had some offers on. So was just wondering what to get

I won't be doing anything till the lawn is 12 months old. As it is a new lawn the gardener did recommend after 12 months to feed it. It was brother who mentioned the feed and weed might be the job as he had done his after 12 months. So it will be around Feb before I do, will wait till the last of the frost and then feed it. My dad/brother are farmers so my guide was going to be around when they started to do the grassland

Loads of brands around but wondering what would be best

Shefwedfan

Sorry to drag this up, just wondering does anyone have experience of Aftercut 500sqm All In One Bag?

daheff

what do people think of using the chicken manure pellets for improving soil?

Or coffee grounds?



I'm in a similar position to the OP...except (thankfully) without the weeds....just yet.

Plenty of bald patches have developed in the back garden (poor rolled turf I think?)

aujopimur

I've no idea how good the chicken pellets are, but they stink when it rains.

Shefwedfan

daheff wrote: »

what do people think of using the chicken manure pellets for improving soil?

Or coffee grounds?



I'm in a similar position to the OP...except (thankfully) without the weeds....just yet.

Plenty of bald patches have developed in the back garden (poor rolled turf I think?)

I am just looking at these, from the Westland stuff I found

Therefore, for best results, the pellets should be worked into the soil (a hoe is usually ideal). During dry weather, water before sowing seeds and after planting.

Based on that I wouldn't think it would be any use for grass.

beertons

You could get a lad out to look at your lawn and see what he says. Greenfeet dot ie. You can buy the feed off him, or get him to spread it for you.

Shefwedfan

beertons wrote: »

You could get a lad out to look at your lawn and see what he says. Greenfeet dot ie. You can buy the feed off him, or get him to spread it for you.

Why would you need a company? charge 100 quid to walk around in a circle saying "big job" :P

I contacted Westland direct to see what they say

They recommend the All in One Feed and Weed but not till the garden is at least 12 months old. I asked this specific question because most companies say the same

Anyway a bag of 7 16 17 as recommended above, maybe 2 and spread it over it and see how it starts to grow....

If not then go for 10-10-20 and just make sure I have the petrol ready for the mower:D

Shefwedfan

Done the bag of 7-16-17, hopefully will help the grass....some serious yellow patchs which needed it

Squall Leonhart

Hi, going to jump in on this thread.

Moved into a house end of last summer. Only a very small front lawn, maybe 20sq m. It looks like it never got a bit of care in it's life (20ish years).

It's probably 50% thick moss, mix of weeds and some very tough grass. I'd like to clean it up a bit and wondering what chance I have of getting it into a good shape and how long it will take.

Yesterday I spread "Goulding garden care lawnfeed, weed and moss killer" (luckily exactly as instructions direct, apply when dry but preferably when rain is forecast - it rained today!). I also spread some grass seed, one claiming to be ideal for front lawns.

Presumably I'll need to rake moss out of it when it dies? Can somebody suggest to me a care plan to help get me a nice healthy grassy lawn?

Water John

A scarifier is what I used on a poor lawn. A hand one will do that size. Work up a sweat. I did mine twice. This had reddened the ground quite a bit. simply scattered some lawn seed and tamped it in with the back of a shovel.
Aldi or Lidl might have the scarifier on offer in the next few weeks, at a guess.

Squall Leonhart

Water John wrote:

A scarifier is what I used on a poor lawn. A hand one will do that size. Work up a sweat. I did mine twice. This had reddened the ground quite a bit. simply scattered some lawn seed and tamped it in with the back of a shovel. Aldi or Lidl might have the scarifier on offer in the next few weeks, at a guess.

I hadn't ever heard of a scarifier before, just watched a few YouTube videos, good to know!

In the absence of a scarifier, would a good raking be any good to remove "thatch"?

Water John

I'd say that would be, very hard work, as the rake will clog up quickly.

Squall Leonhart

A week ago I didn't know what a scarifier was. Now I've bought a manual one and done the front lawn. As mentioned in an earlier post it's only a small lawn, see attached photograph.

Now that the lawn has been scarified, it looks atrocious I knew this was to be expected. It removed half a brown wheelie bin of thatch. A few questions for those in the know;

How long before the benefit of scarifying is seen? Will it look better in a week, two? A month?

As you can see there is still quite a lot of moss and weeds in the lawn. Should I scarify again soon or leave it for months?

Do I just accept this as progress and not concern myself much further for now with improving lawn quality, or should I now be applying product? (I applied a weed feed and moss killer a week ago and spread a box of seed over the lawn.. in hindsight the seed would have probably been better to apply now!)

Water John

Goodness, you have a whole mix of things going on there. You scattered the seed, before scarifying? If so I would tamp it down now with the back of a shovel to give the seed contact with the earth. Wait until it dries a bit after tonight's rain, before doing that. Don't mow for a while and then at a high setting. Give the new grass a chance.
Wait a month and see what has happened.

Squall Leonhart

Water John wrote:

Goodness, you have a whole mix of things going on there. You scattered the seed, before scarifying? If so I would tamp it down now with the back of a shovel to give the seed contact with the earth. Wait until it dries a bit after tonight's rain, before doing that. Don't mow for a while and then at a high setting. Give the new grass a chance. Wait a month and see what has happened.

I know, it's amateur hour here

I hadn't intended on scarifying it at all, had naively thought a weed and feed and that'd be that, so spread the seed then.

Arse about face as usual!

Shefwedfan

Latest update, the garden is like one huge flower bed fo daisies and dandelions.

The gardener was is supposed to be doing another job said he would put on weed and feed but I dont see it working due to the high concentration....any ideas?

Pic attachced.....

macraignil

Shefwedfan wrote: »

Latest update, the garden is like one huge flower bed fo daisies and dandelions.

The gardener was is supposed to be doing another job said he would put on weed and feed but I dont see it working due to the high concentration....any ideas?

Pic attachced.....

I dig out dandelions with a trowel - just sliding the blade down the tap root and levering them out and then leveling the spot back down again after. I like daisy flowers and clover in the lawn to brighten it up a bit so would just leave them for feeding the bees. Unlike the dandelions the common daisy does not get very big and is kept under reasonable control by regular mowing.

Shefwedfan

macraignil wrote: »

I dig out dandelions with a trowel - just sliding the blade down the tap root and levering them out and then leveling the spot back down again after. I like daisy flowers and clover in the lawn to brighten it up a bit so would just leave them for feeding the bees. Unlike the dandelions the common daisy does not get very big and is kept under reasonable control by regular mowing.

Thanks but I have 100s of dandelions, I would be days with a trowel

Spray and kill the bastids would be nice

macraignil

Shefwedfan wrote: »

Thanks but I have 100s of dandelions, I would be days with a trowel

Spray and kill the bastids would be nice

Just mowing fairly regularly will set the dandelions back a bit anyway and stop them going to seed. Grass grows from the base of the plant and so is not set back too much by being cut by a lawn mower. Other plants often have their growing tips cut off by the mowing and are set back much more by each time you mow and over time the grass should become more dominant.

Kind of anti chemicals in the garden myself so can't give any advice on what to spray but did hear before that some herbicides were developed to target dicotyledonous plants and be less effective on the monocotyledons like grass and cereal crops. You could ask at the place they sell herbicides for a selective herbicide for the lawn.

Lumen

Shefwedfan wrote: »

Latest update, the garden is like one huge flower bed fo daisies and dandelions.

Looks great!

uberwolf

Squall Leonhart wrote: »

Can somebody suggest to me a care plan to help get me a nice healthy grassy lawn?

this is amongst my bookmarks. Can't swear to its effectiveness, but it seems to make sense http://www.lawn-craft.co.uk/