How to bring life back into my grass

[essieestherson]

I am a useless gardener. My grass is in a bit of a state (I have attached a picture) and I was just looking for some advice on how to revive it for the summer.

I was planning on buying some good quality grass seed, sprinkling it everywhere and watering daily.. would that do the job or is the process a lot more complicated?

That would do the job. You could ask what cultivar it is and how its rated. Oversowing seed rates are usually around 15-20g/m2. It may be slightly less for P.R., I'm not sure ,as I mostly use fescue mixes.

Right - I've gone for this mix

Dwarf perennial rye grass
Rhizomatous tall fescue
Tall fescue

because it's sold as

"Contains rhizomatous tall fescue (RTF) for excellent drought tolerance
RTF grasses root up to 1.5 metres deep into moist sub-soils
Also perfect for dry areas, repairs under trees or to reduce watering demand"

I've got v patchy grass ,the soil is clay but not too heavy ,lots of surface weeds like daisies ,overshadowed in some areas by trees ,tree roots close to surface in some areas ,rubble 2 ' down in other areas .
I have moss ( of course ) even in the bits that bake in the sun .

I'm hoping this stuff will get it's roots down and that the ryegrass will germinate quickly and provide cover while it does .

And pigs might fly

Seriously would love opinions ,even if they're pointing out the error of my ways .

Rtf is very drought tolerant, tall fescue should be fine as long as you don't cut too low. Sounds good to me. If it's raining as much with you as it is here, I'd stay indoors

Thanks onesmallstep . We have a rotary lawnmower ,ineffecient I'd say .No danger of cutting the grass too short .

I am trying not to walk on the grass in this wet weather ( less rain here in SE London than forecast ) and the work I did the other day was conducted mainly from an area of hardstanding .

If the mower has a range of heights, move it up a notch to allow the seedlings to establish. With the temperature difference between York and London, the ryegrass will germinate really quickly. Fescue will take a bit longer than rye. Check your mower is sharp before cutting the grass when it's dry in a few weeks. Good luck.

I am however talking nonsense - it's a small Flymo "hover" mower .

I'm guessing this might cut quite high ,but plastic blades are not sharp .Will it be bad and pull the new shoots up by their roots ?

Well ,I'm determined to give my grass the best chance it can have and I'm not convinced that our little old Flymo fits into that plan .

So in a rush of blood to the head I've ordered a Bosch Rotak
www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0099LETKS/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?psc=1&tag=mumsnetforum-21&ie=UTF8

So it'll be lentil bakes and noodles for us for the next few weeks
( what with the expensive grass seed and all )

Blimey peredito, you don't muck about do you. When you say SE London, we're not talking Wimbledon are we? Cos I think you need a bigger mower for centre court😁
The hover would probably sell on Gumtree or similar. Just so you can put some stock on the noodles

Don't be too impressed Onesmallstep - the lengths I'll go to to avoid housework !

Centre court

My lawn at the moment is of the sub-aqua variety, so housework has suddenly become a more attractive prospect. From previous experience, the new found enthusiasm for pledge won't last long.😁

Oh god, too much talk of lawns I have so much else to do before getting onto that, but thanks for the advice. I will follow it when I get to that bit of the plan...