Patch magic / Lawn help!

[NewShoes]

Hi everyone,
First time poster and also very new gardener- please be kind!
I am just trying to get on top of the lawn in the garden for the first time (we moved last year and I’ve just had a baby, so this is the first time I’m really tackling it..!)
I have patchy bits on the lawn where an old trampoline sat, as well as bare bits around the borders (some are next to trees and fairly shady for most of the day).
I tried some ‘Patch Magic’ a couple of weeks ago and followed all the instructions (I think…), watering assiduously every day. The best I have is a few wispy strands on one of the bare bits, but most has just failed to get going altogether. Was it just too dry/ hot for it to take?
Any advice much welcomed - thank you!

Can you post a picture? Did you loosen the soil and water first? Grass is really robust and will grow back but might need help and does take time.

Ah okay thanks! I did rake and water the soil, though maybe I should have loosened it further? Here’s a photo- when I look closely there are a few blades coming up, though I suppose I expected more from the promises made by the bottle!

I used patch thing last year after billypup dug up sections of the lawn looking for ants. It all came back beautifully over winter. It’s just too dry at the moment. Keep watering and maybe reseed and you might be ok. But you may just have to accept that for this year your lawn will look like the dark side of the moon.

I think it's too dry and possible more than just a patch. I would water regularly but put fork holes randomly around so the water can reach further down the soil and then just wait and see. You could loosen soil and try reseeding with grass seed but you've possible missed the window if patch size anything to go buy. You could put grass turf on top and that should take but again a lot of watering required.

The surface needs to be properly prepped, which means a good tilth to sow into. It also needs to not dry completely out, and not be too wet. It needs no ants to carry off the seeds, and for nobody to walk on it, no cats or dogs to dig in it. And after all that it needs more than 2 weeks.

Okay thanks so much everyone. I’ll try putting some fork holes in, watering a bit more and keeping my fingers crossed. Maybe if I re-seed in Autumn that might be a better strategy?