Clay soil, lawn full of moss and weeds, is now a good time for a feed and weed treatment?

[mipmop]

I have bought some Aftercut all in one lawn treatment. I'd appreciate some advice about how and when to use it.

The instructions say not to use if rain is forecast, but also to water in if there's no rain. How soon after treatment should there be rain, of how long after treatment should there be no rain?

Also I have a toddler who enjoys the garden so I'd like to time the treatment properly do the new grass gets growing as soon as possible. I anticipate that large patches of moss / clover / dandelions will die and I could end up with a muddy area for a while (tis clay and waterlogged, hence the moss, which I am prepared to rake out). Should I treat now, or wait until the end of the summer (the instructions suggest spring and end of summer)?

I think you need to do it now-ish. The formulation for summer/autumn weed and feed is slightly different, because it has less fertiliser in it, so that it doesn't promote so much growth going into winter.

I have just dosed my lawn with spring/summer weed and feed but, disappointingly, there's no sign of the moss and weeds dying off yet. I was so careful not to overdo that I suspect I didn't use enough.

Just noticed that your stuff seems to be something you can use at either end of the season. Even so, I would use it now before the problems get any worse. Have you tried aerating your lawn? Mine badly needs doing, as I have similar compaction/waterlogging problems.

I am going to do mine again this week as that will hopefully even it up as I have some lush green bits and some not so, it looks a bit checker board. I think it may be wise to put it on in the am as long as you don't expect it to rain before the afternoon. If it hasn't rained by the next day water it in, unfortunately that means two days of finding other stuff to do and having the right weather and timing it after a cut! That's my plan anyway.

Thanks for all your advice.

I've aerated the lawn with a garden fork, I hoped to avoid buying or hiring a scarifier. I'll tray the fork again. I'll use the aftercut treatment according to when rain is next forecast.

I would be thinking about applying coarse grit. If you do it a couple of days after the lawn has been cut, the blades will stick up through it like a bristly chin, rather than flopping over and being covered. You can spread it around with a stiff broom. It will discourage future moss as the surface will be drier.

If you have any fine (sieved) compost you can mix that into the top-dressing as well, though it will rot away or be taken by the worms very quickly. Grit added every few months will improve the surface texture. It will brush into your tining holes as well, which will improve drainage and prevent them closing up. If you have a bald goal-mouth or under toys, apply plenty of grit and mix lawn-seed into it.

I prefer to use moss-killer and weed-killer separately, rather than all-in-ones. The feed is seldom needed on a heavy soil.

Thanks PigletJohn. I didn't know you ventured across to gardening too! I'll look into getting some coarse grit. Since I have the all-in-one treatment I'll use it, but will try a specific moss killer next time.

This is my "lawn".
There are grassy areas, but for the most part it's clover with a few sq m of this mossy, springy stuff with the yellow flower (that you can see in the picture). I hope that getting rid of the mossy stuff helps drainage.

The mossy, springy stuff has a tiny yellow flower. There are also yellow buttercups in the photo!

Close-up of the sparse grass in amongst the other stuff.

very little grass to be seen there.

It will be interesting to see if grass starts to come through once the competing weeds are killed.

Is the surface wet? Or does it flood in winter?

How deep is the sward (i.e. if you had just mown it, how high would the grass and weeds be)?

Is it too big and hard for you to dig? If you have any flower beds, can you show us what the soil is like?

p.s.

the stuff with a yellow flower is not moss. However it looks very low-growing. Most plants, except grass, will not thrive if repeatedly mown off short to the ground, so there are only a small number of lawn weeds that can withstand it. Your lawn seems to have such weeds. It's not one I get, AFAIR.

Photo 1-
Small border near house. About 2m long. Drainage ok. (Petunias eaten by slugs. Dianthus just in.)

Photo 2. Large border at back fence. The lawn slopes downward from the house to this border, maybe 10-20cm drop over 10-12m. Soil looks ok after 3 weeks without rain. (Toddler has thrown sand on it, but if turned over it's wet just under the surface.) Here a fork can act as a spade, it's usually really waterlogged.

If you are like me you will need to have more than one go at it. I have missed some areas's and it is very patchy with dark green and light green as a result.

Photo 1
Weed that I mistook for moss, with clover beside it for scale. The weed with the yellow flower is the type to grow horizontally and cover the ground. I have a good few sq m of this stuff, and more clover.

Photo 2
Showing real moss (?) and dandelions. Found near the bottom of the garden where drainage is worst and the area tends to be waterlogged. I have a few small patches of this moss.

(Note - I asked a passing gardener who tends to the shared landscaping about French drains, he had a look, "oh yes... I'll come back and measure up". Haven't seen him since!

I'm answering PigletJohn's questions in parts as I'm on my phone.

Is the surface wet? Or does it flood in winter?
I moved here in the spring. Rain takes days to disappear. After rain, say next day or so, standing on the lawn causes water to rise up around my shoes.

How deep is the sward (i.e. if you had just mown it, how high would the grass and weeds be)?
When mowing I use the middle position which I believe is 4-5cm (bosch rotak 34). This chops the heads off the dandelions, buttercups and clover, but the weed with the tiny yellow flower probably remains intact.

Is it too big and hard for you to dig? If you have any flower beds, can you show us what the soil is like?
Photos above of the soil , which looks ok now but before the recent heatwave the soil at the large border at the back fence always looked muddy. This is where I can use a fork in place of a spade! The soil in the small border near the house tends to drain ok. A fork would act like a fork here.

TiredCassandrasbed
Maybe I should hope for your result, if the moss and weed treatment works first time for me, half my lawn may be bald! Did you try reseeding it afterward, or just use an all-in-one product like I bought?

I used too much in some area's and there is nothing at all, other area's I applied the correct amount and the grass is coming through. I have some seed, I will put it down in the autumn. I don't want the bother of new grass in the dry cutting season.

The low-growing weed may be "black medic"
www.lawnweeds.co.uk/black-medic.html

Or "lesser trefoil"
www.lawnweeds.co.uk/lesser-trefoil.html

Surprisingly, both like good drainage. Unsurprisingly, they like lawns that haven't been maintained well.
Aftercut, rake and lawnmower on lowest setting it is!