Removing daisies from grass and tree roots v near surface

[gingeroots]

I've recently been spending a lot of time removing the hundreds of daisies from my grass ( I can't call it a lawn !` ) .

I've been doing this by hand ,the ground is damp and they come up fairly easily with their roots and not too much disturbance to the grass around .
But ....would I have been better to apply a weedkiller ? Thinking I will ,inevitably ,have left some roots behind and I guess they'll regenerate .

And tree roots ! While on my daisy removing mission I have found roots running horizontally just under the surface .We have an old apple tree in the garden ,but I think these roots are from a cherry plum tree growing in our neighbours plot .

I've removed a couple of lengths -they're 1 to 2" thick - but now I'm worried that this was an error .Will the root ,where I've broken it off ,sprout and try and grow a new tree ? Should I have left well enough alone ???

[Hippoinahat]

I have to say that removing daisies from a lawn sounds like one of those tasks that will destroy your sanity! Why on earth bother? I love daisies, I think they add to the beauty of grass (plus how can you make daisy chains otherwise?!), I'd just go for regular mowing.
I don't think the tree roots will shoot, I think if they were going to shoot, they'd do it from the base of the trunk.

[gingeroots]

My grass is very poor ,lots of moss and very thin .There are more daisies than grass in several areas so I suppose I thought it might help the grass to reestablish itself .

But it's typical of me to make work for myself while simultaneously making things worse rather than better .

[BuddyC4t]

My oh uses an aftercut product after mowing the lawn as we get loads of daisies, dandelions and moss in our grass. It now looks very green and lush.

[gingeroots]

Thanks Buddy - is he mowing and using stuff now ? I was thinking I might wait a bit until the ground warmed up ? I'm in London ,heavy clay ,still seems cold and soggy

Was thinking of trying to reseed some of the patches but not sure of timing .

[BuddyC4t]

He's only cut it once since its warmed up a bit as he left it over winter. he didn't put anything on it this time as it was the first cut for a while so left the cuttings down. I'm in Essex and also have soil with a lot of clay but our lawn in in sun most of the day so I think that helps with being able to mow it a bit earlier in the year.

[BuddyC4t]

We've found the best way to grow grass is put seed down put a load of compost over it and keep it watered. Like a home made patch Magic really :)

[gingeroots]

put seed down put a load of compost over it and keep it watered. Like a home made patch Magic

you don't know how happy you've made me Buddy ,something simple and doable !

I get nervous ,over research and end up feeling overwhelmed and give up .

[BuddyC4t]

Glad my oh and his lawn obsession have helped someone haha

[Hippoinahat]

Ah, I can sympathise with the patchy, mossy thing. Do you have a franchise nearby like green thumb?
Our old front lawn used to be mostly clover and buttercup, green thumb come round 3 times a year and treat the lawn with whatever it needs. We did have to put up with it being quite brown when the weeds died off and before the grass grew but it looked good in the end. We used to pay £15 a visit, but that does depend on how large your garden is of course. And you could do it yourself but we were too busy lazy

[SmellySourdough]

why would you want to do that?
they are pretty and bees like them.
I would just rake the lawn and seed some grass seeds tbh.

[shovetheholly]

I am another daisy-lover. I know it's not 'correct' but I do love flowers in a lawn be it daisies or clover. Sadly, I can't get the bloody things to grow where I am . I'm too shaded!

You can rake out moss and reseed the bare patches over the next few weeks. Everyone (including me) is moaning about the state of their lawn after our exceptionally wet winter, but with a little bit of maintenance it will come back. Things should get drier over the next few weeks and grass will have started growing in the sun and mild weather already. Mowing gently and regularly once things are underway works wonders.

Oh, and don't worry about tree roots - it's generally not really worth doing unless they are causing a problem (i.e. a very visible ridge, or suckers). When I double dug over my whole garden after moving in a few years back, it was amazing how many shallow tree roots I encountered. I only chopped out stuff that was in the way of planting/landscaping. If you have sucker issues, however, that's different and you might need to get involved below ground.

[gingeroots]

I like daisies too! But honestly I have whole patches where there are just daisies and no grass .

There is no way that I will have got rid of them all .