First timer here. Thought I would scarify my garden as it felt like it was just a big area of moss. I took up so much thatch and moss during scarification before aerating and laying feed and seed. Worried that I have completely ruined it. Have been watering morning and night. Any advice or do I just need to be patient?
by Primary_Bee_1424
26 Comments
I think patience is the key. Then one day, you will look and it will have a cover of green.
I’ve not done anything so serious but taking up moss and adding weed and feed has left patches which can look pretty poor for a while. They always come back. As does the moss!
Grass seed, water, patience & persistence.
It’s normal for it to look like that after you scarify!
Water and feed give it 4-6 weeks should recover. Do this process 2x per year and should fine less scalped grass, a level garden makes it less extreme.
Should you be scarifying in this weather? It’s very dry. That’s going to need a lot of water.
Always looks horrific just after you’ve done it. Give it a few weeks, plenty of water, maybe some seed and it’ll look great again.
I’ve just done mine and it looks terrible, I’ve not enjoyed being outside today. But it’s worth it once it grows in again.
Patience grasshopper!
That’s what it’s supposed to look like. Will be fine, give it a few weeks
Sounds like you’ve carried out the right steps! Remember “it’s going to look worse before it looks better” and especially if it was moss heavy taking it all away will look bare, but if you’re adding top soil + seed then it will have the space to recover now.
Just remember it’s about keeping the seeds consistently *moist*, not drenched for 10 minutes, every day for the first couple weeks. The seed is only sitting in the top layer of the soil. Also it’s not just about day time temps, night temps need to be above 7 for quicker growth, less and it will just take longer, so being in Scotland I’d hazard you’ve got lower evenings temps.
We just did the same and my partner was freeking out after a week of nothing, it took like 13 days for any signs of life as it was a cold period, and it didn’t get going until about 20 days in once we had warmer weather last week
Finally to add, I bought myself an electric scarifier this year for the first time and have been doing my family lawns. Probably going to post up before/after in a few weeks, for the ones that we top soiled and reseeded it looked like we’d ruined them but after a few weeks they’re both coming back strong!
No, you’ve done well.. it’ll get better soon…
I thought scarifying was taking the dead grass out and leaving the green stuff, not the other way around 😝 , actually, that looks a bit harsher than normal, but it should be OK, only problem I can see is the drought conditions we are experiencing
I used to do that to bowls, cricket and golf. The look of horror from the members was priceless 😂
No it’s not ruined at all. Seed it and cover with compost then water each night. It’ll take about 7-10 days to see anything but be patient.
https://preview.redd.it/pbizp7cholze1.jpeg?width=439&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0b04d1047170f0586c9e9bcb5ace6ce500978ecd
13th May last year.
Not ruined, it just wasn’t a grass lawn in the first place. So you’ve removed the moss and most weeds, time to put seeds down and water it 3 times a day for the next month!
Looks like you’ve done a thoroughly decent job of ripping out the crap! Two things needed now… patience and water
I just did mine with a wire rake , couldn’t justify cost or shed space for an electric one . I filled a full Wheelie bin with moss and a very low hard cut . Can still see some moss. Some areas were just moss , but was a bit worried about going too hard . Have over seeded and will give it a few blasts of water a day and a nematode treatment , had a few leather jackets come up in the thatch . Perhaps I didn’t go hard enough looking at your pic.
Trust the process.
I did similar and mine looks crap two weeks on. But it’s recovering. That said I didn’t seed or topdress or fertilize this year.
You’ve basically done the cut lawn short shock effect that people warn about (you havent but thats the beat comparison). So it’ll look bad but in a few weeks it’ll recover as the grass recovers.
Recently learnt that ryegrass and fescue lawns like we have dont need it as much as others. So you should be good a couple year till it needs another unless you plan to reseed at the same time.
Just remember that it needs more water (if you’ve done a seed lawn then it’s that mid point when you start easing off watering. Reason being is you’ve exposed the soil and it’ll dry out faster. Especially as we have unnaturally good weather right now.
—–
Tldr. It’ll look crap for 6 weeks or so. If you have seed or fertilised then it’ll be faster.
Trust the process.
I’m sure it will grow back with a bit of water and time. Grass is a survivor.
In the long term you could embrace the moss and let nature get its own balance of grass vs moss. I leave moss in my lawn as it’s found in the shadier areas where it obviously grows better than grass. In the sunny bits moss doesn’t survive so that’s 100% grass. I also don’t collect grass cuttings when I mow and leave cut grass on the lawn to rot down and help keep the soil a bit fertilised. Enjoy it whatever you decide to do. 👊
That’ll come back lovely however… your halfway there just scatter some seed and compost over it for a truly outstanding lawn
Looks like you did a good job. Dw it’ll recover.
The only thing wrong was didn’t check the weather. Will cost you to water now.
Looks good for a scarify
You’ll be fine. It will always look like a mess after doing all that. Keep it well watered and give it a couple of weeks!
Water it! Will be fine 🙂
What did you use to scarify?