Repairing Old Lawns

2. Using a spring-tined rake, scratch out all the dead material (old leaves and decaying material) and remove to the compost heap. You may need to mow the lawn again to remove any prostrate leaves brought up by the raking.

3. Fill in any depressions in the lawn surface with top-dressing (bulky sand/soil mixture) and firm. (See JTOP Dressings)

4. Sow the seed accurately over the whole lawn (not just bare patches) to obtain an even sward texture.

5. Just cover the seed with top-dressing.. A layer no more than ¼” (6mm) deep. Or use a seed protection granule.

6. Firm the topdressing into good contact with the seed ( a roller is ideal).

7. Irrigate the whole lawn using a fine spray to avoid disturbing the topdressing and/or seed.

8. Keep off the lawn, keep the surface moist and wait for the seed to germinate and establish (about 2-3 weeks in good growing conditions)

9. Once the newly seeded grass plants have achieved a leaf length of 1″ (25mm) roll the lawn to anchor the new roots into the soil. You will find that the original lawn grasses have grown on to around 2″ in height.

10. Set the mower at a height of cut that enables you to remove only 25% of blade length (say ½” (12.5mm)).

11. Mow frequently adjusting the height of cut downwards by ½” each time until leaf blade length is around ¾” to 1″ long. Retain this mower setting throughout the season.

12. If the lawn has not been fed with nutrient before the operations were carried out, feed the lawn with a light feed at this stage. (See JF3)