new lawn or can i patch it up?

[goodinacrisis]

Hi All,

Any advice on dealing with my lawn. It's not a huge space, about 19ft by 7ft, but is very patchy and not very flat. I don't mind the bumps, but would like to fill in all the patches if possible!

Should I just cut my losses and get someone to completely redo it with new turf?

Should I get patches of turf to fill in the multiple gaps?

Should I fill in the gaps with seed? I tried this (without much prep or skill) the year before last, and nothing really worked at all.

Thanks all!

It depends on how much time you want to dedicate to it. I got a dandelion remover ( - stuck on an audiobook and tackled a square metre at a time and then threw on some grass seed and the grass is looking amazing - it did take a long time and some square metres were mostly weed. Have been out this year pulling out more weeds - not so many and mainly around the edges. Replacing a lawn is quite expensive and even then - you'll have to be careful that it doesn't revert back to a weedy haven - as was the case in our last garden.😭

We've had loads of success with grass seed.
I started by grabbing all the half bags of compost left behind by the previous owners, and raked that to make it fairly flat.
Then grass seed, and a light sprinkle of the last of the compost, and watered.
The patch (where there had been a trampoline) is currently indistinguishable from the rest of the lawn.
Think we did it in autumn tho....

Similar issue here (in our case it's dog piss damage though) - I am trying microclover seed as a lawn alternative after wasting £££ on returfing.

I thought now was the best time. I got told to not do it in winter, so whichever way, either now or early autumn.

I don't know why it's so patchy (and seems to be getting lumpier) as there are no kids running around and no dogs. I've just cut it for the first time in a while and it's so patchy everywhere! I think it's 50/50 grass and dirt.

Not many weeds though... just lots of bald patches!

I would use grass seed. You can mix the seed with a bit of compost and spread it down where you want. Pat it down with the back of a rake so it's in good contact with the soil then keep it watered and don't mow it for about six weeks to give it chance to grow (otherwise you'll just rip the grass seedlings out of the earth with the lawnmower.)

The trouble with keeping the bumps is that they tend to get scalped by the lawnmower, and you end up with bare, dry patches. New seed doesn't do all that well.

My suggestion would be to remove the humps and use them to fill in the dents. That should then give you a flatter surface.