I just raked half my lawn, how long till it looks nice again?

[Fluffycloudland77]

I only stopped because it poured down. I got half a brown bins worth of thatch & moss out.

I actually really enjoyed it!.

Depends on how healthy the grass is underneath and the weather and so forth but just a few weeks.

Ok I'll just have to wait. Just got to dry it out a bit & do the other half now.

Did you feed it, it is also a good idea to spike holes in it and fill them with fine sand, this will help improve the soil quality, and it will grow more grass less moss.

No I didn't feed it. I'm on a tight budget so I was hoping to scarify it, now weekly and let nature do the rest.

down---to---earth.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/make-you-own-liquid-fertilisers.html

www.gardenersworld.com/how-to/projects/basics/how-to-make-a-comfrey-feed/200.html

plant lots of comfrey and make your own free feed.

I also use the wormy juice and dilute it down, great stuff. Start a wormary, find someone with one and ask for a handful of worms, you don't have to buy a kit, you can rig up your own, but check gumtree and ebay, I got one for a fiver for a friend with worms.

I've got a big 330l composter on the way dh will be sooo pleased rather than a wormery. Now I'm wondering if I ought to get both.

Do I just buy comfrey seeds? There's a spot buy the drain where I could put comfrey.

As you can see I've got a blank canvas

Grow comfrey in all available corners, it is so useful to add to compost. and compost is the key to all gardening.

Have you found your local seed swap meet? I bet there is one, I never spend much on anything, I just swap, get cutting, and split plants.

If you can get both it is worth it, and you can put all your food waste in it, (apart from citrus and onions) which if you do with the compost, it take too long and you may attract rats.

that fence needs lots of heavily scented roses, jasmine, potato vine this is one of my favourite sites, plant for bees(look up bee planting) and you will benefit from having a scented garden.

Nice healthy looking grass, anyway! Don't mow it too short to start with; I always used to rake BEFORE mowing to get the grass standing up.

We have a Wolf wheeled scarifier, which gets a lot of thatch out of the lawn. Wolf tools are expensive, but well made and versatile, as everything locks onto one or two handles. I used to think they were a bit gimmicky, but have quite a collection now.

Yes, the fence does need covering; clematis are good too, and you can get ones to flower at different times; dead-head them and you may get a second flowering.

And will you make borders next to the fence?

I was going to put a border at the bottom by our fence but the other side has the washing line attached to it so I need it clear.

I was thinking of a rhododendron at the bottom to add some colour.