Lawn advice

[Poseidon]

Righto folks,

Moved house last december and left a house behind with a decent lawn. The new house has a very patchy weedy lawn and I need some advice on the best way to tackle it and getting it to look cared for.

As it's a rented house I don't want to invest too much into it (digging up/re-turfing etc), but I do want to get it into something to be less ashamed of.

In the shed I found a half empty box of wilko brand weed and feed and another half empty box of some very cheap looking grass seed, so it would seem that the previous tenant (a single mum) may have tried a very lacklustre attempt at getting the grass into condition.

The problems as I see them:

Very thin and patchy grass i.e bald spots everywhere
Very very hard ground underneath... this would suggest to me that water will struggle to circulate through
Random "burnt" patches. penny to a quid it's from very concentrated weed and feed in a tiny spot.
North East facing so only the very bottom of the garden gets sunlight directly on it, and even then it's for a couple of hours a day tops, although this may improve as the sun gets higher in the sky.
We have a dog. I've never noticed any balding patches in previous gardens from his pee and his poop is scooped near enough daily.

So, anybody out there have some top tips on how to get this sorry looking lawn into shape? I don't mind putting in a bit of manual labour, but keep in mind that costs need to be kept to a minimum as I despise investing money in a house I do not own.

I've attached pictures to give those who know what their looking at an idea of the state of play.

Many thanks

Poseidon

https://i701.photobucket.com/albums/ww11/drewie3000/DSCF6332.jpg

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https://i701.photobucket.com/albums/ww11/drewie3000/DSCF6330.jpg

https://i701.photobucket.com/albums/ww11/drewie3000/DSCF6329.jpg

https://i701.photobucket.com/albums/ww11/drewie3000/DSCF6328.jpg

https://i701.photobucket.com/albums/ww11/drewie3000/DSCF6327.jpg
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1977 Honda CG125
2002 Ducati Monster S4 (currently restoring)

[Howling TerrorOutOfOffice]

I am too ashamed to show you what's left of my lawn after 3 bitches pissing on it and the neverending winter we had.
So every year it's the same..until 1 or 2 die I kill them I either manage to scav some offcuts of turf and digout n replace, or use a fork and stab my garden.... alot, rake out the dead grass that truth be told grows through tarmac..takes over gutters..can withstand a rock festival, yet one of my bitches piss on it and it dead..forever.

..Hmmm...Sow your Rye-grass mix...Guard it, water it....care for it, be gentle with it's first cut..Then release it back to the nazis that will kill it before your next BBQ.
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[Handsome]

You need an airator(sp) ( pokes random small holes in the earth ), some half decent grass seeds to mix with the stuff you have, and some liquid lawn feed...

Pull and twist out the weeds if you can be arsed, otherwise get some decent weed killer...

I layed new turf at the start of last year, took well with the lawn feed over it, watered it twice daily ( not around noon though, say first thing and last thing ) and just stay on top of it...

Worked on mine, although I now have to do it all again as the Rotty has managed to cause bald spot from rolling around on it and it's compacted down a lot now...
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[oldpink]

first problem you have is the dog piss
its worse that weedkiller and will burn and eventually kill all grass in the area the dog pisses on
my dog killed off a garden that size of all grass in a matter of two years

you may want to consider putting an inch or two of good top soil over the existing lawn and re seed the full lot
if the ground is as bad as you say it will be difficult for the grass seed to take root
in very hard dry soil before the birds eat it
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[Ste]

Concrete it, problem solved.

[oldpink]

to add to what I posted an ad at the btm of this page led me to this site
https://www.yellowgrass.com/ it seems you can buy dog biscuits that stop this problem
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I have become comfortably numb

Theory & hazard 24-may 2016, CBT 8th June 2016, MOD 1 2nd Aug 2016 Mod 2 2nd-Nov 2016 - Current bike CBR 600 RR

[oldpink]

[Poseidon]

To be fair, the dog normally pisses around the edges, and the patches/burns were there when we moved in, there's even one out front and the dog never goes out the front!... And at our previous houses he's never left a mark.

Will aeration be enough to undensify the ground? Also, is rye the best grass seed? Bearing in mind it the lawn has to cope with a dog, a family and little/no sunlight? I've seen fescue popping up as a shady seed on google.

Ideally I don't want to have to start over with fresh topsoil and a full re-seed. As it's only a small lawn, I don't mind really putting my back into it!


Cheers for the replies so far though folks! (especially pat... you always make me giggle like a school girl)
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1977 Honda CG125
2002 Ducati Monster S4 (currently restoring)

[Howling TerrorOutOfOffice]

[Handsome]

Some dogs/cats/people are allergic to Rye Grass so be warned...

To be honest I started again from scratch as the ground was uneven, I raked the soil over to remove stones and the like, let it settle for a week the just raked over it again lightly to rough the top over then layed my turf, when I reseeded it after a few months due to the dog causing patches I aerated it then sowed some more grass seed over it ( three types but can't remember the names now ) then lawn feeded it, it worked so I dare say the aeration helped as our soil has a lot of clay in it...
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[Poseidon]

Adam, by raking it over did you just take a rake to the existing lawn?
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1977 Honda CG125
2002 Ducati Monster S4 (currently restoring)

[Poseidon]

And pat, you've been warned before about sniffing people's juices! Pack it in!
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1977 Honda CG125
2002 Ducati Monster S4 (currently restoring)

[Handsome]

No, I started right from scratch...Took a hoe to it and removed all the grass/weeds and raked it over, around a 40x18 patch of grass...

When I did a bit of maintenance on it I got on my hands and knees and went mad stabbing the ground to open it up, with a small handheld rake to aerate it ( the size you use in raised beds ) before I re-seeded it, then fed it...

When I eventually got off the floor as my knees had locked I realised I should have used the tub of small nails I had along with two bits of wood and a spare broom stale to knock up an aerator, thus saving my knees and me walking round for two days like I'd shit myself and put bricks in my boots...
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Previous Bikes...Honda NSR 125 RR...Kawasaki Zephyr 550...Suzuki SV 1000 S...Yamaha FZ8...Current Bike...Suzuki GSX-R 750...

[chris-red]

[Old Git Racing]

Are there any holes in it about the size of a 5p? looks like you might have leatherback infestation, its the larvae of the crane fly that eats the grass from below. You can get some stuff to dissolve in water to treat it from a garden centre.
Give it a good stabbing all over with a garden fork and get a lawn repair kit with seed and fertiliser in. Get some weedkiller spray and do each weed individually. repair all the blank bits and keep it well watered, every day if it doesn't rain.
After about 3 months give it a dose of weed and feed either disolveable granules or spray.
Should look better then.
Alternatively give 'Greenthumb' a ring and they come and do it for you, suprisingly cheap when you factor in all the different stuff you buy to do it yourself, hope this helps.

OGR
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[Howling TerrorOutOfOffice]

Ta..will give it a go. I won't research it as i really don't care if my lawn turns purple and they die.
____________________
Diabolical homemade music Bandcamp and Soundcloud
Singer songwriter, Artist and allround good bloke Listen to Andrew Susan Johnston here
The Harry Turner Project

[Steve H]

Dunno how they do it but these work just in case you do think that the dog might be a factor in the future...

https://www.buydogrocks.co.uk/graphics/Dog%20Rocks%20400.jpg
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[oldpink]

[The Artist]

[Harold_Shand]

I'd be tempted to kill all the grass you have. Hire a rotivator, turn the soil over, add top soil and re seed it.

Unless it's a fairly new house and the base of your garden is rubble with a few inches of soil on top? In that case don't bother with the rotivator.

I would dig a border on the left hand side, like you have on the right, don't plant anything in them, just keep them for the dogs piss. I'd buy some pea shingle and dump it all over the paved area at the back but right the way across, better to put down that plastic sheeting first. It will look better, also looks like an access point at the back, burglars don't like pea shingle because it makes a racket when you walk on it. Just put a bit of timber across that area to seperate it from the lawn.

Paint your fences, jobs a good un at a price you can afford

Wish I had your garden, mines poxy but would love to do a job like that.
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Harold_Shand's theory might be the best explanation.

[t121anf]

been trying to sort mine out in the last year or so.

i aired it buy using a fork, applied a fertiliser, and then grass seed without ryegrass

(might have feed and weeded it first thinking on)

still got patches missing but getting better.

really want to just pave over it but i worry it will attract the local kids to play on it even more

[Poseidon]

[N cee thirty]

sommat about it on the one show now
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[Kwaks]

Call Green Thumb

will sort it out cheaper than you can, they do nine for 14 quid a quarter
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[WildGoose]

I'm pretty sure it's only bitches that piss the alien acid.

Boy dogs don't kill the grass with their piss, so if yours is a boy that isn't the cause.

I think you are going to struggle with a lawn that size if you walk on it and have dogs on it etc. I've got 3 times that and still can't get all of it to last through the year.

My advice would be to get some of that orange fencing and road pins to protect a small section at a time while you re-seed it and let it establish.
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