How to fix a very poor lawn

adocholiday

Hi all,

Just wondering if anyone has some advice for getting on top of my lawn quality this year. I have two lawns, one west facing one east facing, and both are in a sorry state. The west facing garden is covered in a thick layer of moss and is very compacted. The past year being so wet did a right job on it too, and it's completely water logged now.

The east facing lawn I actually laid myself about 18 months ago. I put down grass rolls at the time and most of them took but not all. I've now got a mixture of good healthy grass, yellowed weak rooted grass, and completely bare areas of soil. The soil is also very compressed and waterlogged here too.

Now we're coming into spring I really want to try to get it sorted this year, so any advice would be appreciated.

copacetic

It’s a slow yearly process of trying to sort them gradually, you’ll have to properly hollow tine aereate each spring, full with sand mix autumn spring, also probably top dress, level and reseed throughout the season. Can be hard to get the weather to do that much to a waterlogged compacted areas.

to sort it out more quickly could dig out the poor mossy lawn altogether, get a proper compost mix in instead nice and deep, level it all, top dress with sand and reseed. Or indeed rollout lawns on top. If the soil is very clay based might have to install a French drain type system to really run the water away into a collection area or flower bed.

mulbot

Had a desperate lawn, similar condition to how you explain, scarifier worked unbelievably well on it last year, weed treatment, sulphate of iron for the moss, top dressed, fertilised, and over seeded, . Lawn came up beautiful after about 6 or 7 weeks,. This year will do same but include the hollow tine treatment too.

Hippodrome Song Owl

Looking for similar advice to the OP. I'm just wondering about how best to spread the likes of weed, feed, and moss killer when the time comes. Should I get one of those hand held spreaders? Or is there a better option?

adocholiday

@copacetic and @mulbot thanks for your input sorry I completely forgot to reply. I'll give all that a go this year, going to wait until March maybe when hopefully there'll be a little bit of drying first.

Both my lawns are pretty big so for those processes you mentioned I'll probably have to hire some things out. I see it's possible to buy a scarifier blade for a lawnmower so I might invest in that, the moss is very thick in the west facing lawn. Looks like I've a few months work ahead of me!

mulbot

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121747724#Comment_121747724

Yea you'd need a machine, first time I did it was with a hand scarifier 😳😳. I'd deal with moss now though, whatever your choice may be, I use sulphate of iron for moss, find it works well.

MagicBon85

If I was to scarifying, aerate etc...

What type of sand/soil should I use to top dressing, level & overseed?

And where would I go to get it? I would only need about a tonne bag I reckon considering the size of my lawns.

copacetic

ideally you would buy a specific mix for it, can get top dressing mixes from a few places, it’ll be 50/50 or 70/30 topsoil/compost/sand. You need a fair bit of sand in mix to level well, could also do with a lute or drag net if a big area to level.

randombar

In the same boat as everyone else I'm guessing.

Two issues, very clay subsoil so garden is like a bog.

Garden that's like a bog is full of moss.

I think I'll have to put trenches + land drainage in the lawn to sort the drainage long term but i'm wondering what to do short term. Is it worth renting scarifier etc?

slystallone

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121718372#Comment_121718372

I have a clay soil here. Again like your man I'm looking to tackle it. It looks better than it is believe it or not as it is basically a swamp now. Now there is a drain the other side of that retaining wall but how much hassle would it be to connect to it or would it even be worth my while? am interested by your draining into a flower bed idea. Would it work here to put a flower bed down by the wall and drain into her?

looksee

It depends on which way the bed would face, if its permanently in shade then it would not work, but it appears it may only be partial shade. It would need very careful plant choice, not my first choice of solving the problem.

Do remember that this is not the best time to be trying to solve the issue, the land is completely sodden regardless of where you live. I have the most free-draining garden imaginable and still the grass is like a bog at the moment. Give it chance to dry out a bit, and avoid walking on it for the moment.

Are there any weep holes in the wall? That might be a good start.

slystallone

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121995880#Comment_121995880

Whats a weep hole?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121998784#Comment_121998784

Its a hole in the wall to let water drain from the garden through the wall.

I also have a normally dry lawn. Needs a jet ski rather than a lawn.mower. I would not go near mine yet with a scarfier or aerator.

Also you would amazed at the volume of material that a scarifier removes. I had 80+ bags of debris the first time I done mine. Big heavy duty bin bags. Need to know how you will depose of it. Mine went to country council recycling facility over mutuple trips.

Premier lawns on YouTube is a good resource

slystallone

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121998852#Comment_121998852

What is an A hole?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121998927#Comment_121998927

Someone who can't type on a phone😀 post edited now

GiannaRichardson

Fixing a poor lawn can feel like a challenge, but don't worry—you've got options. It’s a fantastic alternative that’s low-maintenance, hardy, and smells amazing, especially when you walk on it. Plus, it’s great for filling bare spots and grows well in most soil types if it gets plenty of sunlight.

Start by clearing out any dead grass or weeds and loosen the soil. You can sow creeping thyme seeds directly or use small plants for faster results. Water them regularly at first, but they don’t need much attention once they're established.

If grass is still your goal, you could oversee it with a resilient grass variety, but creeping thyme is a beautiful, practical choice.