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Done yesterday. A dry morning with a breeze, so got the old Honda petrol mower out. Quick haircut, but still very wet underfoot. More moss than lawn. Dimensions are 120ft x 30ft, undulates like the Pennines, and I really need to sort that moss. Is it too late to use Autumn Feed as recommended by an elderly neighbour? I cannot be bothered forking the lawn for hours, literally, so any recommendations to cure the moss please? I don't have a scarifier, whatever that is, and I hate gardening. I did consider digging it all up, or at least rotavating, and reseeding/relaying next Spring, but that seems a bit OTT. And way too expensive.
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Moss is green, innit?
Good enough for my grandkids kicking a ball about/cycling, etc.
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Absolutely - Lawns must be real and green. Actual grass is a "nice to have".
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Yup, moss and grass is fine by me. I don't play bowls on the damn thing.
Last edited by: Zero on Fri 8 Nov 13 at 22:58
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The only way to remove moss is by raking. The only way to stop moss growing is to improve drainage and avoid shading.
Rake the lawn with a spring tine rake ( incredibly hard work if the lawn is large) or use an electric lawn scarifier. Don,t do this now though, wait until April or May. Then apply a ferrous sulphate based moss killer evenly over the entire lawn. To improve the drainage spike the lawn with a fork (more hard work) and brush in a dressing of course san or grit. After the moss has blackened and died apply a general lawn fertiliser. The grass should then out compete the moss.
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Aaaaargh!
Haven't had a properly dry day for 3 weeks. Plus there are a couple of hundred rotting apples lying in the grass... a waste too because they are said to be excellent (don't eat them myself).
Perhaps by the time it stops raining I will feel fit enough to start the damn mower and follow it up and down for an hour or two and empty about 2 tons of wet grass and apple pulp in an awkward place and alla dat crap...
Cousin-in-law has already velveted the other lawns for the final time, cruising up and down on his ride-on with a smug grin on his face, mofo...
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>>Then apply a ferrous sulphate based moss killer
or " Lawn sand" is probably the cheapest by the sack.
I had a cheap electric lawn rake but it cooked its motor.
I have a scarifier " cassette" that replaces the cutting cylinder in my mower but I have yet to be brave enough to try it. Now that my old apple tree is horizontal I will try the scarifier in the spring.
Be prepared after lawn sand that you will extract a VAST amount of black moss for disposal.
apps.rhs.org.uk/AdviceSearch/profile.aspx?PID=422
www.diy.com/search/lawn%20sand/Verve-Lawn-Sand-100m2-12738603
Google lawn sand for more info
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Moss killer in winter makes space for more moss to grow as grass only grows in spring.
Wait till March.
I have in the past cut grass in mid December.
Could not cut front lawns till I removed 50kgs approx of acorns first.. - clog up mower and spit out the side- eye protection needed even when cleared.
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Too wet here to cut our postage size back lawn. Long & shaggy :-(
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After a couple of decades looking after many acres of grass in our previous life we came to the conclusion, in line with many experts, that moss will only grow when you cut the grass too short.
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>>Moss is green, innit?
Mine is a sickly greenish yellow. I once raked it out inch-by-inch (and the lawn it is a big one), using a sort of claw. This must have stimulated it splendidly as it was back the following season, thicker than ever.
I once had a Wolf lawn rake with deathly sharp teeth, looking like a small manual lawnmower and worked by a back and forth movement. It was very hard labour to use and had no lasting effect.
On another occasion I hired a petrol-engined scarifier. It worked like a Flymo rotoscythe. It left the lawn completely bare but grass and moss were back the following season.
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Hopefully the cut last weekend will be last but if it stays warm enough for growth then I'll be doing it again in a week - rain etc permitting.
Over last few cuts I've raised the blade height to avoid issues of scalping and moss growth. Only way moss is controlled is by application of feed/weed in the spring.
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Not a hope of getting any more mowing in here. The ground is sopping, and the grass is already far too long to dry out on anything but a long hot day. Unless it turns cold the grass will go on growing, so there's nothing for it but to wait until next year, strim it, and start again.
It's been the driest year since I've been here (28 years), with the well dried up all summer, and now the wettest autumn for years, streams and roads awash.
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Chickens scratch the moss out. They do tend to leave the odd hole or bare patch, and the other obvious signs that they've been there, so not really suitable if you want a bowling green.
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Definitely right, I've seen loads of gardeners out cutting their fronts lawns way too short for this time of year, next time I walked past the grass had gone from lush green to yellow.
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I've given up on a last cut here - wettest season for years in this part of France and it's tipping down again at this very moment. Got a lot of grass here too. Luckily I cut it down as tight as I could about five weeks ago.
I have been known to do a cut in early December but it looks like it'll be March at the moment.
Moss is green makes sense to me too.
We have booked the tree surgeon for some major work later this month but it looks as though that will have to be postponed - the leaves have barely started changing colour, let alone falling.
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Did mine last weekend, and it will want doing again soon by the looks of it, unless we start getting a few cold spells.
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First ping of season for the frost warning on the car this evening.
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We have light well drained soil - the blooming earthworms love leaving their mini mole-hills on top of the grass.
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Here in Austria we've had a pretty good autumn, and up to a couple of weeks ago it was around 25°. We had three dry days and the last cut was done on 22nd October, just before our most recent UK visit. Our "lawn" used to be part of the adjoining meadow until the house was built in th 70s, and hasn't really been looked after (it was used as a family holiday home for 30 years). It's pleasant enough, not much moss as it's quite open, but plenty of wild thyme which has the benefits of being pleasantly green with attractive flowers. It'll be covered in white stuff for 4 months of the year so it doesn't get cut too short.......
Last edited by: Mike H on Sat 9 Nov 13 at 21:08
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Our 1/2 acre has become a carefully cultivated meadow as per the planning covenant....needs a cut
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I'm scheduled to move house over the weekend of 30 Nov / 1 Dec. The (quite substantial - it's an end terrace house with a side garden) lawn at the new place is at least 5" long, it will be all I can do to not cut it before the spring. Would the panel recommend a quick trim immediately upon moving in?
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>> Would the panel recommend a quick trim immediately upon
>> moving in?
>>
I'd be asking the current owners, if the house is occupied, to cut it asap. Once the weather gets interminably damp, it'll never dry and be very difficult to cut. If it's not occupied, perhaps ask their permission to cut it now?
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>>We have light well drained soil - the blooming earthworms love leaving their mini mole-hills on top of the grass<<
That's how it comes to be well-drained isn't it? Nature doing it for you.
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It's sandy, light stuff here - eats soil conditioner and compost, but getting better after 2.5 yrs. of expense & effort.
I am not into green stuff, but I do cut the grass!
Last edited by: Roger on Sun 10 Nov 13 at 12:08
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Grass should be left quite long for the winter, we cut ours about two weeks ago and that will be it now until next season. All our machinery has been winterised, fuel drained etc. If you cut it now then it will be more exposed to hard frosts.
We never use any chemicals on our land apart from one area where some idiot plated Japanese knotweed years ago, we have to poison it every year to keep it under control otherwise it will bring down walls and buildings. Fortunately we have some powerful stuff not available to the general public, the products you get in the garden centres is not strong enough.
We have developed meadow lawn areas, the more species of grass the better, I have encouraged this particularly near the pond and stream. Our ‘lawn’ is full of moss, buttercups, daisies and wildflowers, it is natural and encourages wildlife, we even deliberately encourage nettles in one area to attract butterflies. If I am out in the garden and need a pee then I go on the nettles as it encourages their growth.
If you want to get rid of moss (why?) then you need to deal with the cause which is too much shade and/or poor drainage. Now you may not be able to do much about the shade but you can certainly improve its drainage using the well known methods. Pouring chemicals on the lawn is a waste of time and money as the moss will usually come back.
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Whilst I made what will be the last cut of the grass last week, I can't change the mower oil and put it to bed until after the first frosts have caused the Wisteria to drop its leaves. The mower is the best way to collect up dead leaves.
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Well, I managed to trim our little lawn yesterday. (16/11/13).
A sweeping away the myriad worm-casts attempt, with a besom, was (a) hard work and (b) largely ineffective!
Still, with the mower at its second longest setting I managed a couple of grass boxes full: seen from a distance the lawn looks better, but I just hope the grass can push its way through the many little mud patches!
Spring will tell.
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The winds and a few dry days have dried the grass enough to be mowable. We managed to cut it all yesterday, on the highest height setting anyway.
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been dry for 4 days so mine got cut yesterday too
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I have to pick 7 large sacks of leaves off the grass before I can see the front lawn. The back is worse: about 20 sacks worth. Given frosts are coming - and more leaf-fall, I won't bother.
Last edited by: madf on Sun 17 Nov 13 at 11:27
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Just done mine.
Was imming and amming as to whether to bother or not... but as I haven't been able to get near it for over 3 weeks due to the rain..and..some of you lot have been mad enough to do it mid Nov..off I went.
It was the right decision, didn't churn it up too much and some of it was getting a bit long.
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I was going to do mine today, but then I thought sod it and went mountain biking instead.
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Mine could do with one more. Been around 9 degrees all day today but never really stopped 'damping' - will still be growing. It's also covered in leaves from next door's walnut tree which the mower would 'vac' up.
Even when the sun does shine the NE facing back is mostly in shade all day now. Forecast is for cold etc next week.
Unless there's a dry breezy spell in early December, when I'll have chance to do it on a weekday, it'll be left until Spring now.
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>> I have to pick 7 large sacks of leaves off the grass before I can
>> see the front lawn. The back is worse: about 20 sacks worth. Given frosts are
>> coming - and more leaf-fall, I won't bother.
I don't bother to pick the leaves off, I have an electric rotary mower that sucks up the leaves and mulches them and cuts the grass at the same time.
My three big silver birch trees, and my pear tree have still not shed all the leaves - lot more to come yet, so I will doing one more after leaf fall is completed.
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"I don't bother to pick the leaves off, I have (a petrol) rotary mower that sucks up the leaves and mulches them and cuts the grass at the same time.
My three big silver birch trees..... have still not shed all the leaves "
and in my case a few big cherries which need a good frost to get rid of the leaves. Hope it stays dry so I can do the lawn soon.
It all makes for good compost for next year - gets those little red worms working away.
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I'm still meaning to do it, if the weather holds off and I can stir my stumps. It'll get rid of the leaves too. The apples have been picked up.
Don't much fancy doing it, but it's an obligation although not absolute...
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A few years ago I bought one of those push-along dispensers to use with some proprietry lawn feed / weed / moss killer. and managed to get to the end of the lawn in one trip (just pushing in a straight line once down the garden) having used most of a bag of the stuff. Worked out that it would cost hundreds to do the lot like this and so I started the 'hand-scattering' approach. Ended up with odd shapes in the lawn of healthy and not healthy patches where my scattering was clearly not consistent.
I got one of those franchisees round who look at and treat your lawn and to use them worked out at less than a 1/4 of the price of buying the fertiliser / weed / moss killer. There are a number of companies out there (and I have switched before)
They did a great job, came back FOC to re-treat a small patch where the stuff had not done it's job, and they will quote you for a full scarification / hollow tine aeration too.
Doesn't cost anything for them to come and give a quote and they will give free advice about the best time to do what.
I was surprised that it was as reasonable as it turned out to be, and actually saved me money, plus a lot of hard work! Might be worth giving a try LL?
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Can you name the good lawn company please, SFD? I use one named after a coloured non-fingery digit, and they've browned me off somewhat (geddit?) with their poor customer service.
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We use the one with the coloured non-fingery digit and have found them to be OK.
They are a franchise operation, so I guess it depends more than usual on your local outfit.
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Nah, it's the head office I have trouble with. And the local reps come to think of it. All a bit meh.
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Sorry for the delay Alanovic. Yup, Green digit is who we use and we find them OK. Previously used Lawnmaster I think, but moved to this company a couple of years ago and have found them fine, but of course every franchisee is different.
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>> Yup, Green digit is who we use and we find them OK. Previously used Lawnmaster I think, but moved to this company a couple of years ago and have found them fine,
In the unfailingly horrible Sopranos, there's an episode in which some junior mob move in on a lawn-cutting and hedge-trimming franchise by telling the innocent legal gardeners to get lost. When they protest they get an immediate savage and dangerous kicking.
Such fun, capitalism in the raw.
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There is no need to worry about leaving the grass long at this time of year. It will have more protection from frosts and next spring the grass will be stronger and crowd out the moss. Lawns aee an obsession in the UK, it's one of the few aspects of gardening where nature will win whatever you do unless you dump more and more chemicals on it
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Double posted somehow, sorry.
Last edited by: MJW1994 on Sun 24 Nov 13 at 19:25
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Going to be dry for most of the week, so it will get a final hoover mow at the end of the week to get the last leaf fall off.
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>> Going to be dry for most of the week, so it will get a final
>> hoover mow at the end of the week to get the last leaf fall
>> off.
Exactly my thinking. Unfortunately the last of the leaves are still on trees - need either wind or frost to shift them.
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"Exactly my thinking. Unfortunately the last of the leaves are still on trees - need either wind or frost to shift them."
Ditto. The Wisteria is determined to hang on to its leaves this year!
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Or leave the grass as it is and rake the leaves, the raking will do the grass good. Or leave the leafs for the insects to feed on and the decomposed material will feed the grass that otherwise needs chemicals adding.....
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"and rake the leaves"
Unfortunately, the dog is apt to hide her faeces (leaf-coloured) and there is only one thing worse than mowing a well-camouflaged one up - and that's putting the rake across it :-(
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I think I would rather have the mess on the rake than splattered underneath the mower but each to their own. As long as you don't use a strimmer near dog crap though, I could tell an unpleasant tale about that although I am sure you can work out what happened.....
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>> Going to be dry for most of the week, so it will get a final
>> hoover mow at the end of the week to get the last leaf fall off.
>>
I missed the last dry window. The grass was fairly dry today so I gave it a once over rather than risk later in the week ( SWMBO new plan or other unexpected events)
With my roller mower I did get some wheel spin and of course the slightly damp grass does not fly so well.
My grass seems to grow all winter without a break. This cut will reduce a little of the spring aggro.
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-3c overnight last week. Grass stopped growing..
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>> -3c overnight last week. Grass stopped growing..
Never mind, to be expected I suppose. Guess you can always do mushrooms instead.
;-)
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No grass here in my Arcadian mansion. Still got Geraniums and Begonias flowering outside, though.
Ted
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>>Still got Geraniums and Begonias flowering <<
So are mine but they're tucked up nice and cosy in the greenhouse with the heater on a thermostat!
We got diverted from the last cut of the year by car hunting so I hope it is dry enough for this weekend to scatter the molehills.
Pat
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>> >>Still got Geraniums and Begonias flowering <<
>>
>> So are mine but they're
>>
in the open porch where they have been for years.
After a poor year for my clematis, one of the ones in a pot has decided to bloom which is a surprise this late in the year.
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"-3c overnight last week. Grass stopped growing.."
Grass apparently needs 6c + to grow.
Though mine seems to grow all winter! Still to do my final cut - and all the leaves to pick up but it never dries out this time of year. Better get the rake out, it will either keep me fit or kill me.
;-(
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I got into a bit of bother today. Early this morning I went and raked all the leaves out back into neat piles intending to bag them later.
Anyway, my wife must have noticed this and feeling helpful, she unbeknown to me while I started answering emails went out to gather them up into the garden bin.
This would have been absolutely fine and remained unmentioned had she firstly, bothered to wear gloves, and secondly if I had previously bothered to clear the lawn of dog poo before I raked it in with the leaves...
Tum Ti Tum...
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She is not the only one ITS then....
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Just don't use a strimmer near dog mess. No girl has kissed me since.
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I did feel inclined to discourage her from baking today.
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Grass has stopped growing in my garden now but I have four large birch trees in my rear garden and my neighbour has a large oak tree busily shedding leaves as well.......
Last Sunday spent a couple of hours raking leaves off the lawn, sweeping leaves off the patio (which entails moving 30 or so large pots )and generally pruning and tidying and filling up the green bin....
Looked out this morning and the lawn appears reasonably dry but is again yellow with leaves so I might give it a run over with the Flymo this afternoon just to hoover up the leaves ....... but there are still many more to fall .......
Last edited by: helicopter on Fri 29 Nov 13 at 08:17
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My elderly neighbour mowed his (extensive) grass on Wednesday, to my surprise. He says the north-east wind - which we have had for a fortnight now - is good for drying out wet grass! He must have been right.
Mind you, he has a 16hp diesel 4WD Yanmar tractor with 3-point hydraulics and a mower that works off the power take-off. I'm hoping he'll leave it to me.
The huge piles of leaves that I would normally have burned by now are still too damp to do anything with, unfortunately. It's a weird season. We were due to have had the tree surgeons by now to do some major reducing work on a very large lime and a chestnut, as well as felling some smaller stuff, but the leaves are still on, some of them still green even.
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I just keep picking up leaves.. our oak at the front still has loads on as do the three in the fields.
(If I leave the leaves, it's bad for my back to pick up more than ~7 bags in a day. So far my cumulative total is 38. My record in a year is 52.. We have a recently enlarged compost heap for them : 2x3 x2 meters high... it's over half full. Takes about a year and a ha;lf to rot down - turkey crap helps)
Last edited by: madf on Fri 29 Nov 13 at 11:59
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>>turkey crap helps
Well, one would have to imagine there are a good number of turkeys majorly crapping themselves round about now...
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Not for us they ain't. A nice Aberdeen Angus bovine, however, might be!
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OTH - how many of you can remember when chicken was an expensive treat?
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>> how many of you can remember when chicken was an expensive treat?
I can. Never much of a treat to me however. Do you remember powdered eggs Roger? Only good for cakes and not much good for that.
I liked cod liver oil though. Keep meaning to get some. I have a friend who insists it lubricates his joints.
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Not only do I remember powdered egg, I also recall eating in a "British Restaurant" and the untrammelled joy (for a while) when sweets came off the ration.
We had cod-liver oil and malt extract forced down our necks by a grim matron at school, too.
"Have you moved your bowels today?" also resonates from those days of yore! CASCARA :-O
The Head Master's wife was very fond of opening all the windows in the dorm - promptly shut after she disappeared!
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My Grandad went to boarding school and told once told me they had to tick next to their name each morning after they had performed. Cold showers too. For part of my education I was at boarding school but fortunately things had changed for the better!
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>> cod-liver oil and malt extract
That sticky syrupy stuff was delicious, everyone liked it. What I didn't mind was the oil on its own which most people hated. I used to bite the capsules.
As for bowel motions, our much-loved dormitory matron when I was 8-10, Goanese I think (anyway she was a Catholic), used to inspect our efforts (earth closets for two of the three years) and exclaim things like 'Ayo! That is like a rat's motion...' I think the usual dose was liquid paraffin, or perhaps syrup of figs. The actual Matron was a frightful Scottish virago. Terrifying, harsh woman.
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>> OTH - how many of you can remember when chicken was an expensive treat?
And beef was cheap?
Anyone remember that orange juice that used to come from the clinics and later from the milkman with a foil top?
Last edited by: bathtub tom on Fri 29 Nov 13 at 23:28
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Peeing on the leaves helps too. I will give our leaves a good soaking on the way back from the pub.
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I wouldn't add nitrogen of any description to the leaf bin. Decay of leaves into leave mold is different from compost - it's basically a fungal process and the only thing you need to add to the leaves is water - they won't rot if dry.
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The apple leaves rot quickly but the copper beech takes months. I might burn them this year.
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Last cut just done. Not much rain here recently so it actually looks OK, not too muddy.
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Same here, looks much better too.
Pat
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Just done mine. half a wheely bin of leaves hoovered up, Still some on the trees, they are hanging on a long time this year, fantastic colours round here tho.
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Another leaf picking session: 42 bags to date..
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And the mowing thread resurfaces again……….
On Monday afternoon, I was congratulating myself for timing a last (higher than usual) cut/hoovering up the leaves/change of oil while the mower's hot; surely the few leaves remaining on the trees over the fence and on my Wisteria would drop vertically down and be easy to clear.
No such luck; it's been blowing a hooley since this morning and the lawn is once again covered with leaves!
STOP PRESS……. wind now much stronger than the 'hurricane' at the end of October and the leaves have largely disappeared again from the lawn; I wonder where they've gone to now - next door, with any luck!
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"I wonder where they've gone to now - next door, with any luck!"
Theyr'e all in my front porch.
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>> "I wonder where they've gone to now - next door, with any luck!"
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>> Theyr'e all in my front porch.
Its ok, tonights high tide will wash them away.
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"Its ok, tonights high tide will wash them away."
'Struth - I hope not in Bury St Edmunds; hopefully, I'll be safe here for at least a hundred years!
Mind you, when I was surveying power-lines, I spoke to a farmer near Loddon, Norfolk - about 12 miles from the east coast, and he was telling me that his farm was 9ft below sea-level.
Mmm, Norwich is a bit iffy as well ;-(
Last edited by: Haywain on Thu 5 Dec 13 at 17:13
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Final mow of the year - bathtub tom
