help needed with my lawn please

[White Gardens]

It's just too bad the original excavating company could of pulled the good top-soil off to the side and then graded out the lawn, then returning the good soil to the area so you could have a good lawn.

[mdavenport]

Here are some technical specs of what is in an equiv branded product:-


Product Features
Triple action, feeds lawns, kills weeds, kills moss
Visibly greener lawns in 7 days
With seaweed extracts
For use on lawns only, use from April to September
Contains MCPA, mecoprop-P and ferrous sulphate.
Feeds lawns, kills weeds, kills moss and drought resistant
New Watersmart Formula helps the lawn to resist heat, drought and other stresses
N+ Formula boosts greening power
Visibly greener lawns within seven days

Contains MCPA, mecoprop-P and ferrous sulphate
NPK 14-2-4

So if the soil is lacking whatever it is that it needs, is this resolvable with chemicals to repopulate the current soil?

Thanks
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[Smallaxe]

So essentially a weed n feed product with no time release, the way it looks. Rebuilding the soil likely the big thing... Do you know what kind of soil you are dealing with and how are you irrigating?

If you can get compost, that will be your best first step and start using time release N products...

[mdavenport]

Originally Posted by Smallaxe

So essentially a weed n feed product with no time release, the way it looks. Rebuilding the soil likely the big thing... Do you know what kind of soil you are dealing with and how are you irrigating?

If you can get compost, that will be your best first step and start using time release N products...

The only watering its really getting is rain water. Quite a lot in the UK at the minute. But during dry times I use sprinklers..

So with the compost, its this just spread over the lawn and re-rolled?

Can you recommend any good slow time release N products available in the UK? And would these work alone without applying compost?

[ChiTownAmateur]

The correct advice you were given previously is to get a soil test. Nobody here will argue that point.

Applying fertilizer appeared to green up the lawn and now that the fert has dissolved it is fading again. There are 3 main components in the fertilizer, and many more important components in the soil that it is being applied to.

By testing your soil, you will know once and for all exactly what the problem is, and believe me the folks here will give you great advice to solve your problem long-term.

To get a soil test done, simply do this.

Google: <your city> soil test

You will see many options. Get it done and then bring back the results and post here, you'll be very happy with the help these gents provide.

If you don't do the test, you are spending A LOT of time and effort treating symptoms, instead of treating the underlying cause.

Comparison: If there is a leak in the faucet at home, you can put a bucket under it and bail it from now until forever. If you discover the source of the leak, you can cure the problem which, in the end, will be a lot less work.

[mdavenport]

Thanks for the advice.

Could I get one of these and do the test:-

http://www.wilkinsonplus.com/garden-...8yf6EGjA%3D%3D

Or should I get it professionally done?
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[Smallaxe]

Those home test kits are unreliable at best. I couldn't even get pH reading to say anything other than 7.0 so paying one time fee for test would make more sense.

Th real issue in soil is perculation and retention... I would guess you hve a sandy barren soil with very little OM therefore no good Cation Exchange sites for you nutrients to bind to...

Mulch mowing alone can help build up OM, but it could take years... So compost will work a little more quickly so do both if possible... Organic ferts are naturally time release in a sense that they require microbial activity to break down into nutrients, which means, water... Here we have Milorganite and such things as that, which are relatively cheap...

IMO soil tests for NPK is in of itself a 'symptom'... the soil's ability to 'retain' the necessary nutrient must be addressed b4 it makes any difference what is added. Otherwise it's all wasted anyways...

[kirk1701]

Originally Posted by White Gardens

It's just too bad the original excavating company could of pulled the good top-soil off to the side and then graded out the lawn, then returning the good soil to the area so you could have a good lawn.

Now thats what should have been done, bet good money the excavating company turned around and dumped the soil in someone elses yard landscaping it and charged them for the soil

Besides, I'm looking at the left side of the pic, seeing a hill there makes me wonder how much further that goes and if this guy just became the bottom land where all the water drains to? Which was why it was built up to start with

[mdavenport]

Anyone had an experience with these people:-

http://www.greenthumb.co.uk/

Just wondering if it will be worth getting them round to test and suggest?
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[Aaronnc]

Wow. I mean really wow. It looks to me like you have some Iron Chlorosis going on. (Where topsoil has been removed, exposing lime enriched subsoil.

Like everyone else has said, definitely get a soil test. I think I read your somewhere in the UK, so you can get the DIY kits like:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nortene-Easy...ref=pd_cp_lp_2

http://www.amazon.co.uk/SOIL-TEST-KI...8762378&sr=1-4

But like others have mentioned, these are sketchy at best. Here in the U.S, we have local Agriculture/Co-op Extension offices, that will test our soils for us. I would recommend looking up the UK equivalent in your area. Here are some companies that you could contact for services in the UK:

http://www.angliansoil.co.uk/cms/index.php

http://www.lancrop.com/index/lchome.aspx

http://www.hillcourtfarm.co.uk/

Also, check with local universities to see what services they may offer.

Depending on how the soil comes back, I would just aerate/topdress the whole lawn with some good topsoil/loam/compost and throw down some elemental sulfur. (Ferrous sulfate if you want an instant change.) Maybe even reseed with a hydro-seeder.