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Our lawn is a bit of a mess with bald patches and the bottom of the garden is more moss than grass (which I don't actually mind as at least it looks green!). Does anyone have any tips for improving the lawn? There's a lot of weeds growing in it, in particular dandilions which are a right pain in the garden as they appear everywhere and I'm sure they are all the same plant! I pull them out when I find them, but they soon return any tips for getting rid of at least some of them? The garden slopes downhill so water tends to drain off pretty quickly at the top part. I've seen a seed supplier that offers packets of lawn flower seeds, http://www.bostonseeds.com/advice/2/Wildflowers/72/Wildflower-Mixtures-BSFL-Flowering-Lawn/, and I'm tempted to give it a go and see how it works and if it will give a better short "grass" area than the actual grass itself but of course once the seeds are sown it won't be easy to get rid of them lol. Though I'll be trying to get individual packets of seeds, already have clover growing over the top corner of the lawn so don't need to plant more of that lol
(And just in case anyone is thinking is there any actual lawn on my lawn with the moss at the bottom and clover at the top and dandilions, yes there is an actual grassy bit!)
Millie & Fly the Border Collies
Unknown said: yeah kat just like mine, this year i,m not going to mow the bottom 10m its got a lot of dandelions in it so i,m giving it over to the wildlife alan
yeah kat just like mine, this year i,m not going to mow the bottom 10m its got a lot of dandelions in it so i,m giving it over to the wildlife
alan
That's a good plan, surrender to the dandilions roar!
KatTai said: That's a good plan, surrender to the dandilions roar!
I must admit, doggie, I'm leaving my mossy bit, about a third, maybe a quarter of the garden, I like it (it has a certain Zen quality and can all those Japanese gardeners be wrong?) and the blackbirds and thrushes love turning it over looking for insects, worms and other goodies:-))
Unknown said: hi kezsmum i think its also softer to walk on than grass alan
hi kezsmum
i think its also softer to walk on than grass
And more bouncy, my dog can jump twice as high on the moss than on the grass (NOT a good thing, she can already jump to above my head height!)
Hi Kat,
I don't know how big your lawn is, but if you can keep an area short and well mown, wagtails, blackies and thrushes will love foraging in it.
"The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom" - Wlliam Blake
It's only a small lawn area, took a chunk of it away when creating the border lol But there should be room for a short patch :-)
Hi Kat. You try and keep everyone/thing happy by having short grass and long grass. We don't cut our area of long grass until about August and then we leave it to grow up again. As Kez'smum says, that encourages lots of insects and butterflies. We have cowslips, and primroses growing there, which take over from the daffs, which we are still waiting to see.
And then we have a short grass bit for birds that want to eat things that live under the grass. And not so much for me to mow either which is great!!
December 21st is a great day - the sun starts to come back to us and spring is in the air!
Hi Kat
or you could so what we did with a very poor lawn - remove it and replace with bark chips - a few feature plants plus borders either side - well just a thought but at least i dont have to mow the lawn any longer
Nick
Thank you
Growing old is inevitable - Growing up is optional !
My Photos http://www.flickr.com/photos/clan_ranald/
Oh yes Kat - leave the dandelions. I cultivate mine. They are such pretty flowers, the seeds are eaten by birds, and my tortoises eat the leaves.
Cheers, Linda.
See my photos on Flickr
Unknown said: And if money is an object and you really want to get rid of some of the moss, you can do it yourself with a good metal grass rake. And it is a good work out too!
And if money is an object and you really want to get rid of some of the moss, you can do it yourself with a good metal grass rake. And it is a good work out too!
Tell me about it, I used one last year, got up tons of dead grass and moss but did my lower rib cage hurt. For days after felt like Mike Tyson had given me a good going over. Never again lol. I will stick with my daisies, dandylions and moss :-)
Chris S.
A very old Shropshire Lad.
Oh no, the pro-dandilion brigade has arrived! lol Maybe I should get myself a tortoise...is that a good enough reason for getting one you think? Dandilion control officer tortoise hehehe
I'll be digging out the big big one in the middle of the lawn, it has yucky brown leaves anyway for some reason. Smaller ones may be left alone though (though not in my rockery).
I've already got an area planned for longer grass as a proper wildlife garden bit, it is where the greenhouse was and has pretty bad ground there so its the best option for that area :-)