How to grow a lawn? HELP!

[primarywoodle]

Hi there

Total garden novice! Weve just brought our first house and inherited an incredibly overgrown forest where the grass was thigh height!. Have spent the last month cutting back etc and finally mowed the lawn last week but its in terrible condition and weve got a good metre border of soil around the edge where the plants had grown over so its looking very bare.

Is it best to dig it up and lay turf? Is this a simple job?

Or is it best to use grass seed on the existing lawn and up to where we want the new edge to be?

Any advice very welcome and appreciated!

I'm not at all a lawn expert, but I think there's a variety of approaches depending on factors such as:

1. how bad is the lawn currently - how much is actually grass (or other plants which you may not mind in it eg clover). If it's mostly just looking rough because it got too long and its 'stubbly' with bare patches, it may be salvageable. Is it more or less level and not stony?
2. what is the intended use - kids playing on it or are you after a perfect striped sward? or something a bit wildflower meadowy?
3. budget

And personally, depending on the size of lawn/borders and what you want to do with the garden, I'd consider widening the borders rather than regenerating the lawn edges.

Id put new lawn down of your going to be there a few years! Level it out first so its even xx

What do you mean 'terrible condition'?

Boggy, muddy, weedy, uneven, stoney?

Any photos? This rain should do it some good.

Continued mowing - start with medium height blades once over then lower the blade for a closer cut - should encourage the grass to spread.

I saw a method on Gardeners' World where they cut a decent sized square from the edge of the lawn and flipped it around so that the dense grass was on the outer edge giving it definition. The patchy section is easier to fill in when it's not at the edge. The method should be on YouTube.

If you do this continue to water in well for a good while afterwards.

You may want to consider proper edging for the lawn if it's level with the flowerbeds. It will give the lawn definition and make mowing easier. You can also seed up to the border effectively.

Wilko is good for lawn seed - you weigh your own from the barrel.

If you've patches which need filling, one way to get seeds off a good start is to water well then peg some clear polythene sheet over it - mini greenhouse which keeps the moisture in.

I'm guilty of applying weed, feed and mosskiller (Wilko do a good budget version or the likes of Evergreen 4in1 are often on offer). Best to apply it before heavy rain so it soaks it all in and doesn't burn the surface of the grass.
Apply sparingly - I weigh out the quantity recommended per sq metre (it's not a lot, 35g or so) as a visual aid then try and stick to that as I sprinkle it across the lawn
Applying too generously and/or not enough watering in will make your lawn go black

It's a bit contentious as the chemicals are probably bad for wildlife. I apply mine once or twice a year MAX in the spring and/or autumn.

It helps me keep on top of lawn weeds and moss. I don't use weedkiller anywhere else in the garden.

Here's a video of Alan Titchmarsh repairing holes and lawn edges. If you don't have a significant drop between lawn and flowerbed I'd recommend a physical boundary. I don't currently have this and it's hard to stop the lawn merging into the flowerbed/attracting weeds at the edges

I quite enjoy bringing a lawn back to its best but if you're not that way inclined/ short on time/ it's too far gone you could look into turfing if budget is no issue. Mind you I've seen plenty of turf woes on here. Seems you have to water it in very well for an extended period which could be an issue if we have another hot summer.

I'd simply over seed it and keep it wet. Grass is quite invasive. So just throw a load of seed down and in a few weeks it will be lawned over.

If you're overseeding an existing lawn use 15-25 g/m2. Make sure the seed is in good contact with soil, on the surface is much less effective. Use a dwarf perennial ryegrass for good wear tolerance, year round colour and best chance of establishment. Once it is 50mm tall, cut with a sharp rotary mower. Cut only a third of the height at any time.

Sorry thought i had replied with pictures a few days ago but it didnt post! Will be back latet and rrwrite but thankyou for the responses so far :)

Lawn is about 3mx2m but would like it to be about 4mx3m (around it is just dirt).

Condition of the lawn is crap but its not marshy or boggy (even with this rain!) - just scraggly and patchy where overgrown plants blocked it from the sun for years! This is the main issue is how to grow on the patches.

Think i will go with the seed advice and just chuck a load down and see how i get on.. thankyou very much for the suggestions!

Sounds good You'll have better success if you scratch up the surface with a rake etc or lay some compost/topsoil to help the seed take. Netting the area will keep birds off.

I don't have much technical lawn knowledge but we had overgrown boarders that had killed off a good meter of grass on our lawn. Once the boarders were cleared the grass was all yellow and patchy and half dead. We didn't have the time or money to returf so we just put some seed down not expecting much but within a year it had grown back and you can't even tell where the bad patches were now.