Lawn help please

I couldn't get the link when I found it yesterday so thanks Moocow.

We have decided turfing is too big a job, we would have to dig out all the existing and rake it etc.

I've been out and bought netting, couldn't find any suitable spiky things and then remembered all the long metal skewers sitting in a kitchen drawer ready for the barbecues we never have. They will be great. Tomorrow I will mix seed with top soil, tread it all in and then cover with the netting held down with the skewers. I just might even decorate it all with strips of tinfoil because it can be quite windy here. I am optimistic that I can outwit the pigeons!

If you plan on selling this year turf is by far the best answer. Instant results. Just make sure you inspect the quality of the turf before purchase and water religiously.

I surprised myself gillybob even though it's similar to putting in the smiley face!

Oh thank you moocow I couldn’t work out his to do it .

Hope this link to gillybob old posting re lawn problems works *nonnie it generated lots of helpful discussion www.gransnet.com/forums/gardening/1236675-My-poor-lawn

Oh I managed to open it earlier Nonnie what a shame . I got some really good advice as I recall .

I have found your thread Gilly but it won't open. Thanks anyway.

Tomorrow I'm off to the cheap shop which sells all sorts of things I don't normally want to see if they have some sort of netting and/or pegs/spikes I can put in the garden and I have a whole roll of unused turkey foil which I can cut up and stick on whatever I buy. I think the estate agents may be amused when they come to quote but I will take it all up before the photos are taken.

I started a thread on this very subject last year Nonnie might be worth looking back. I recall some excellent advice .

Not sure how to link it but the thread was called My Poor Lawn and it was last year sometime in the gardening forum .

Maybe cover with astroturf Nonnie

When my garden was re-turfed it transformed the garden and made more difference than anything else could. If you want it to look good for selling, I would recommend it.

Thanks for all the advice. I'm a bit reluctant to use turf because we did that in previous homes and found so many weeds it seemed like harder work than if I had just tried to improve the lawn.

I think I'll wait until the lawn needs mowing which will be an indication that it is warmer. Then I'll seed it again and put some spikes and stick in the lawn with tinfoil as someone suggested to try to persuade the dratted pigeons to go away.

Can you buy some cheap green netting and spread over it, lifting it up on canes?

Be careful, though, I did this with my strawberries and a blackbird got underneath somehow, even though it was pinned down, and I had to go and rescue her.

Otherwise would it be too expensive to turf it - you may be more likely to get your asking price if if looks smart?

I had the same problem last year after trying to get rid of moss and grass seed didn’t seem to be growing ( and it was later in year, so warm). I thought there might be something wrong with seed, so planted a bit in compost in a shallow tray. It came up quite quickly so I took clumps and scattered them in bare patches. It was a bit like turf.

It seemed to work, so I planted more seed- used the trays meat often comes in. The seed germinated much more quickly in the trays, kept in a warmish place.

Of course the moss came back! I was happy to have anything green, but the moss had got so thick it made mowing difficult. There’s a new product, Mo-Bacter, which I might try. It has bacteria which are supposed to digest moss and it doesn’t go black.

Sorry about that, Nonnie. Hadn't realised.

Oh Nonnie.

If only I could DJ unfortunately we are not allowed to see them.

Get your grandkids to pick the worms out, Nonnie. They'll love being told they can do that by a grownup.

I always used bought compost ☹️.
After reseeding I put strings of cooking foil bows, zigzagging across the seeded bits. It did look pretty! Also was a deterrent to the birds and squirrels.
But whatever I did the moss always came back.

The moss is not a problem now, its all gone. Its the gaps it has left and the damage from the drains being replaced which is the problem.

Thanks J52 we have lots of compost in our bin so I could mix that in but it is full of worms, wouldn't that attract birds?

Nyger seed grows quickly enough and looks green very quickly. Goldfinches like it. I put it on the patches that appear under the beech hedge where nothing else will grow.

You’re right Notagran, but we have the problem that J52 posted, lots of trees around our perimeter, so eventually I think even turf would go mossy. But it’s Green..... unless we get a hot summer and then, like everyone else’s it’s brown.

The quickest way to get a new lawn is to have it returfed .

I don't worry about the state of the lawn as long as OH mows it. If it looks green it's grass.

Moss is very difficult to eradicate because the conditions that cause it are the problem. Often they are overhanging trees. In our last garden we just learnt to live with it.
Monty Don suggests growing the grass seed in pots, indoors or in the greenhouse. When it’s established, patch the bare bits. Another suggestion, I’ve heard is to mix the seed with compost before spreading.this apparently deters the birds.

Thanks everyone. Midgey I'll do that, hope the weather warms up soon so I can get on with it.