Help - I've killed my lawn

[1forsorrow]

So I've got to my late 60s with no experience of gardening. Usually pay someone to cut the lawn and the borders are bushes.

Gardener disappeared before the first cut this year, so just before lockdown I bought myself a lawnmower and strimmer. Cut the grass a few times but realised the lawn was full of moss, I think I cut the grass too low and the moss got worse. I bought a tub of stuff to kill weeds, feed the grass and kill the moss. So the weeds died, the grass looked a bit better and the moss turned black. I tried raking it out so now about 25% of the lawn is bare as once the moss had gone there was nothing left, there is about another 10% when I haven't raked it so hard as there is grass and I was pulling the grass out so now it is a mixture of weak looking grass and some dead moss.

I've have created a disaster area.

A week ago I bought grass seed, raked over the bare bits and put down compost and grass seed but nothing much is happening.

My husband thinks I'm mad, my lawn has gone from a bit scruffy to a total disaster, DH says even if the seed takes the lawn is going to look awful as the grass will look different.

Help me please, what do I do now?

Our front grass was 70% dandelion when we hired green thumb and now we have no weeds.

I don’t know what they put down but it works. We have it scarified and aerated by then too.

We just mow it now.

@ppeatfruit that is interesting. In the front garden the shade is due to a big fence, in the back garden it is due to evergreen trees but it isn't as shaded as the front garden.

I like the idea of bluebells and lily of the valley. I've got some bluebells in the back garden so I could move some, I think it is hard to buy them, not sure where I got that from. I think I might have to start looking for somewhere to buy them.

@ppeatfruit I've got to the stage where I'm just not that interested in learning anymore tech stuff. I can email, surf the net, order on line. I just don't feel the need to do anymore. Lazy I suppose.

@Fluffycloudland77 I think my neighbour uses green thumb, if you don't mind me asking are they expensive?

Don’t mind at all. Well we pay £13.50 a month for 4 treatments plus the scarification.

You can always leave the back gate unlocked and ask for a quote from them.

It’s certainly less stressful.

@Fluffycloudland77 thanks, I'll have a think about that.

Iforsorrow With me it's fear of the security with links etc. and I don't like the thought of 'big brother' to seeing everything I post. I'm a hypocrite though because DH does all the tecchie stuff (including banking on line) He copes with all the security.I don't know what I'd do if he wasn't here! It's not lazy not wanting to spend the whole day on line. I do so much round the house and in the garden of course when I'm not on here!

Ref. shade loving plants I think that Lily of the V. and bluebells like clayey soils. (that probably retains more moisture) Mine is not acid enough , I love them too. But they refuse to grow here.

ppeatfruit my husband does all the online security stuff. I suppose I'd do it if I had to but he is disabled and can't help with any of the physical stuff so seems OK to leave him with his speciality.

The bluebells in the back garden do well so hopefully they would in the front. I'm liking the idea.

Well it is a story of two halves:

The goodnews is some of the seed has germinated, some of the old grass is making a come back. I still have bare patches but starting to fill in.
The bad news is I think the moss is back already. I'm not sure it was all killed, I think it was so thick some survived and is spreading.

My dilemma is what to do now? Do I just ignore the moss, hope the grass does well and review in a month or two? Do I treat the moss again but that won't help the new grass will it? Do I scarify it again but I worry I'll just end up pulling up the delicate new grass.

Any thought welcome. I think I'm going with leaving it for now and letting the grass get stronger and then deciding.

Ring Greenthumb. Having a lawn should not be this stressful.

I'm too embarrassed at the moment. I will have a look at them when it is half decent.

Learn to love the moss? !! It must be damp in your garden because it loves damp. Have you chosen grass seed suitable for shade? I do and there's no problem with it at all.

Don;t worry , deep breathing (use mint essential oil to breathe in!) through the nose

It is the shade from nextdoors big wall/fence in the front garden and leylandii in the back garden. I am using grass seed for a shady place but I didn't originally lay the lawn so not sure what they used.

I think I might mow it at the weekend and see how it looks.

That could be your problem then. Try not to cut very short though, because new grass needs a trim not a scalp! especially when the weather 's dry. Dh has just scalped my bit of new grass grrrrr.... hes never cut the grass before , now he's done it twice! It's the lockdown!!!! He needs the exercise but every time I suggest we go out for a walk he makes excuses

Yes I've adjusted the blades on the lawnmower. My husband thinks I'm stopping it growing, he says, "A watched pot never boils and watched grass seed doesn't grow." I could kill him some days.

Well they do say that the best time of year to plant grass seed is the spring and autumn! So he's nearly right!