Weed n' Feed

[Minimammoth]

Just put this on my loosely termed 'lawn'. Then realised that the majority of this green area is: plantain, moss, daisy,clover, dandelion, etc. anybody know what happens next. Will I be left with a wasteland and unable to reseed for ages.

I don't know I'm afraid, but as our "lawn" is also mostly weeds, I'd be very interested to know the answer! :)

We wait with baited breath Mrs Mango. It's raining now so the process begins.

Don't panic if it goes horribly black for a while. Once all the dead stuff is gone it'll look a bit bad but should grow back ok.
I was advised to give it a good rake through or even better hire/borrow a scarifier . It gets all thread crap out +looks a bit bald but it does the trick you might not need to reseed. However I'm no gardener so better advice will come along I'm sure !

No difference to be seen at the moment. Only bare patches of molehills.

Progress report. The moss has indeed gone black, the other weeds just look droopy. The molehills are massive.

Oh well at least it's coming up to 'seed' time. You can reseed in September (or earlier if it keeps on raining).

At what point so you reseed as opposed to letting existing grass spread ? ( if indeed it over does!)

I have a back garden lawn with horrendous weeds, must give it some W+F

You reseed amongst the existing grass. If it's just a few patches then you do those by sprinkling the seed mixed with a bit of soil/compost. If the patches are large then you need to rake and apply a sandy loam mixture for the seeds to root into.

Water in well although it's bound to rain

The moles are v. active at the mo in my garden. I have reseeded before on mole hill patches, so thanks for the tips Cutted. Any advice on mole deterrent. Have tried sonic thingy.

Lawn is looking very long and lush. Is it ok to cut it? No change in the weed situation at the moment apart from the moss.

Ah moles what a pain. One place I worked, we used to put mothballs down the tunnels to deter them. It worked quite well but we were in the middle of farmland and they had plenty of places to lurk before coming back again.

Yes do cut the lawn now (if you get a dry half hour to do it!) Try raking after you have cut as well, it makes the lawn look messy but in the long run is good for aeration and removal of the moss. Use a spring tined rake, not a straight barred one.

Thanks for the tip CuttedUp. With these moles there is no way this lawn is ever going to be flat. It's got more bumps than a BMX track. We are next to a field, so if I could shoo 'em that way we might have a chance.

Rain stopping me from cutting. Plantain is looking very pale especially near the base, leaves look wilted and twisty. Other weeds not looking much different yet. It does say it might take, 4-6 weeks on the box. Still hopeful.

Quick update. Grass cut. Weeds looking unhappy pale and a bit twisty, grass did look green and lush, before I cut it.

Sounds good. All this rain will help.

Well the grass is looking well. The weeds are certainly retarded in a noticeable way. But not in a decimated wasteland way. I have a triangle section which was not treated ( ran out of stuff) and there is a big difference daisies flowering gayly etc. Wait to reseed mole hill patches do you think?

I would start reseeding molehill patches now, then if the seed doesn't take you can reseed next month.

Cuttedup, thank you for your advice. I will do the bald bits. Are you a professional gardener, you sound very clued up?

Yup I am. Professional gardener for 12 years and a garden designer as well.

Doffs cap. Wonders off to the garden shed to make list of gardening challenges. How about my tree peony, 3 yrs old never flowered. Feed? Time? What do you reckon Prof?

Tree peonies like being planted not too deeply in the sunshine. So check if it is a south facing spot, move it if not. Make sure the stem is not buried below ground.
You could try feeding too.

I have raked the grass and some of the weeds and moss have been combed out. Mole patches seeded. Grass is growing madly but so is everything else.
I scraped soil away from tree peony's stem, put on compost only to find its full of red ants. Blasted 'em.

Next prob. Alkanet. Any ideas. I have pulled it up, dug the roots, used round up. And still it comes back. The brute.

Weed n feed update. The lawn has been cut a couple of times now and is looking v.sad. More blackened patches, which I assume are areas of moss that have been hiding under the grass. I keep raking it and have re sown the mole hill areas, they are growing now. Anyone know if I can re seen the black bits?
Daisy and dandelion still in evidence but plantain has bit the dust.

Well apart from the bald patches the weeds have definitely diminished. So my verdict is thumbs up. Will reseed soon.