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For the researching visitor there's a wealth of landscaping ideas, garden design ideas, lawn advice tips and advice about garden maintenance.

Hi all, the snow has just cleared from my back garden (and I use the term 'garden' loosely) and I am just faced with nearly more mud than grass.

I am looking for some advice from people who know about lawn care, as I would like to eventually move into lawn care myself, (although I want my spraying licenses first) and if I can't fix my own lawn, it doesn't look too good :) So I am trying to learn as much as I can about grass, and it's care.

Basically, it's a small sloping grassed garden, that gets heavy family use all summer (gets full sun for half the day), and then doesn't get full sun all winter, but is not in shade. It also has 2 medium sized cherry trees, which doesn't help, although they dont create much shade, as they are at the bottom..

I want to sort it out this year, as I'm fighting a loosing battle with it at the moment, so I am putting a ban on using the garden for a while until I can get it sorted.

I want to over seed it (not re-turf) after I have sorted out the compaction and added a proper path on the most used part, so I wanted some advice on seed, and any fertilizer I can use to get really strong deep rooted grass that will take plenty of punishment, and will be ok with shade-ish light in winter.

I have bought some 'self repairing' seed which is a mix of ryegrass (fiesta 4 and greenway), smooth stalked meadow grass (yvette) and creeping red frescue (mystic), but I was wondering if there was some other type of grass I can mix in with it to make it really tough. I don't mind it being ugly grass, as long as it's strong and covered.

Any advice apreciated.

Graham

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  • PRO
    Put some pictures up distance and close ups no way to tell without seeing it(even photos will help to some degree
  • PRO Supplier

    Ryegrasses are very tough - known for hardiness in shade and sun, low cost, and resilience to heavy use, recovering quickly from damage. It requires heavy mowing though (once or twice a week). It would also be soft so would be a nice lawn :)

    Hope the renovation goes well! 

  • PRO Supplier

    Hi Graham,

    A photo would be good, but here are a few pointers to help you on your way....

    -a fertiliser high in phosphate  (the P in NPK) is perfect for root establishment, do not apply  too much N (Nitrogen) if you are seeding until it has all rooted properly - a slow release fert is perfect as the N is slowly drip fed to the roots while the P & K are usually available immediately. Incorporate into soil once you have prepped it before seeding. A standard fert is then suitable to 'top up' as the grass gets under way later in the season.

    - grass seed. Depending on the slope of your sloping garden - slender and strong creeping red fescues will be useful. They have rhizomes for roots which will stabilise the slope and not wash away during extreme weather and form a very dense sward. But: Strong crf is slower to establish than rye and prefers an alkaline soil. both are drought/ shade tolerant. Rye will establish quickly and recover from wear pretty well. Smooth stalked meadow grass will only germinate with higher temps but will be  a good kids lawn when established.

    There are seeds and seed mixes to suit all occasions - if you really want a proper starting point, do your prep then get a soil test done then go from there. I have a short summary of different seed types, very general, but may be useful to you and we can do one off, bespoke mixes at no extra cost - message or call and we will help you as best we can.

    Richard@ Progreen

    Order line: 0800 032 6262

    All other calls: 01778 394052

    Alternatively you can email us at info@progreen.co.uk

  • PRO

    Hi Graham

    I started my working life on a golf course as an assistant to the greenkeeper so I was lucky to learn a lot about turf and its care early on.

    Lawn care can be a very profitable addition to any garden maintenance business but it's important that you can offer the right advice and deliver the right care.

    Around 1998 I enrolled on a City & Guilds green keeping course at Sparsholt College. 

    I already had Phase 1 foundation module from my previous amenity horticulture course so I only had to do the Phase 2 & Phase 3 parts.

    Whilst a great deal of the course was only revisiting areas of knowledge I already had, I did benefit greatly from the extra learning experience - not least grass identification (although I think I'd struggle a little with that nowadays.

    One day a week from September to end of May might seem to high a price to pay but the extra knowledge and qualification can mean that you'll, potentially, increase your earning capacity considerably.

    Whilst we are on the subject, I would highly recommend to anyone involved in turf/lawn care takes a day out to come to the Progreen.LJN Practical Pesticides roadshow next week.

    These events are free to attend (sponsored by Progreen & LJN) but will be packed with practical information to take away and put to practical use.

  • Thanks for the advice, I'll go grab some photos in a moment. Everything is frozen at the moment though.

    Cheers Phil, I was thinking of taking a course on the subject, as it's a part of my 5 year plan. I'm currently doing the RHS Principles of Hort to give me more of a general knowledge about plants, but I think lawn care and grounds maintenance is where I am most comfortable. I just like grass for some strange reason :)

    I was researching courses, and they are mostly things like NVQ 2 sports turf management, and similar sounding things, would this be the way to go?

    • PRO

      "I was researching courses, and they are mostly things like NVQ 2 sports turf management, and similar sounding things, would this be the way to go?"

      IMO a very good grounding, yes.

  • Here is my shame...

    There isn't much to work with, but it's well used in summer, which has gradually destroyed it, and the dog has put the finishing touches to the destruction over the winter, chasing birds and such. It's my fault really, I have been too busy looking after other peoples gardens, and clearing an large allotment I have got, and I ended up neglecting my own garden.

    Maybe I should just cover it in play bark :)

    3314731944?profile=original3314729409?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024Here is probably the main culprit...

    Close up

    3314728099?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024

    • PRO
      Does the far end near the shed get really boggy?
      • Not really boggy, but takes a bit longer to dry out than the rest. I will be removing the shed, and building an new one spanning the whole bottom of the garden, so I'm not too fussy about that area, I was just using it to compost waste.

        I would like to just dig it over and start again, but it would take most of the summer to be usable, and I don't want to have to ban the kids from it when the weather is nice.

        I will be extending the path down to the shed anyway, which should help the wear and tear from me going back and forth, and stop the dog from going on it with a gate I think.

        • PRO
          Here's what I would do.
          If you're going to build a new shed across the bottom I would put a French drain in front of it, I think you may be surprised at the difference it would make.
          Then move everything else of it including slabs and rotovate it level it and seed it. Do it soon (not the seeds leave them a few weeks until it's a bit warmer last week in March first week of February) and the garden will be useable within a few weeks(3 probably if you time it right)
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