Renovate the lawn or start again?

We have just moved into this house which was obviously the home previously of a long line of non gardeners. The lawn is very unkempt. Much of it is couch grass, so if you grab a handful and pull you clear a whole patch! We strimmed it and cut it high a couple of weeks ago but it seemed to look worse. Its very wet and its obviously not the time to do owt. I bought some weed and feed but feel its too late so I havent applied it.

I would like to think we could renovate it as I dont know if I can afford the turf to start again. To seed it might be difficult if it takes too long because of two small children which would need to be kept off it. It also has a hump I want to straighten out sometime, but Im not in any particular hurry.

Photos on my garden blog ...

http://peachesgarden.blogspot.com/2006/10/moving-in-blank-canvas-september-2006.html

What would you do?

As you have already said there are three ways:

1. re-turf

2. fight the weeds with chemicals

3. Strip and Re-seed

If you can't afforf to returf then I would do a mixture of 2 and 3. Throw autumn weed and feed on it and try and get a couple of doses in through the next few weeks (obviously stop when the box says so). On bare parts try and get some seed down now before the frosts get in and really rake it in with some good soil. Once spring comes use spring weed / feed and more grass seed. Oh and get a fork out and start shoving some holes all over the grass, this will aid with drainage and help air get to the grass roots.

Getting a good lawn is a slow process and you are not going to see real results until late next summer. In some ways if you want the kids to be able to use it then for weeds it might be just better just mowing it every week without fail when the grass starts growing next spring. The grass will respond and the weeds will be cut down and start to receed.

As for the hump - might be a good area to start the re-seeding - take it out and reseed - and keep the kids off with a small fence if you can erect on even if its a bit of tape and some garden canes.

The other way - is to rip up half and reseed and allow the kids on the other half - then do the other half.

Good luck!

Thanks for that. Another friend said she got some grass seed with micro clover in it and found it very green and hardwearing for children. I love clover on grass so I am thinking of looking for some for spring.

Is it really worth starting now? I will if it is.

I had the weed and feed in hand today (it says April to September on label) then decided not to. I have been thinking of aerating it as I was messing about with a cane today whilst planting some bulbs and made some holes. When you make the holes do you fill them with sand or peat or just leave them?

I noticed my neighbour put some lawn seed down on a bare patch a few weeks ago but I cant see any grass. Mind you I dont think she watered it.

It's worth looking for 'Autumn' weed and feed now - most good garden centres should have it - however worth reading the packet before you buy as they do have the dates when you can apply it and of course with all the rain at the moment you won't have a good window of opportunity for it to react on the weeds before it gets washed off or burns the grass. Check weather then buy

Sand will help if you have lots of moss so if you want to stick some in, otherwise just stick the garden fork in all over and see how that goes. Grass seed is cheap, so it's worth trying it now, your neighbour might have stuck some old stuff down which might have not worked. Otherwise you can always leave it til the spring.

Check on the price of turf for a smallish garden it shouldn't be that steep. I have a draconian approach to bad lawns - whack a petrol rotovator over it, flatten and turf! Though to be honest the lawn doesn't look that bad - I've certainly seen much worse!

We've done both

and that garden was the same size as yours

first go round was weed killer then grass seed - probably best option if it's as lumpy as you've portrayed. Second go round was after we'd moved the flags about, and we knew somebody in the trade, so we had turf.

Now is probably a good time of year for throwing grass seed down as the kids won't want to be out there much, but it's still warm for this time of year. O wait for spring - early spring at that

What is the interval between weed and feed and grass seed as I have just chucked some weed and feed down.

This doesnt come up on my original link to the blog, but it shows the lawn:

http://peachesgarden.blogspot.com/2006/10/lawn-is-disgrace.html

This is the smallest garden we've ever had (I think, although I did spend 6 months in a flat), probably a good thing because Im getting a bit long in the tooth now. Theres a lot of work to be done though. Just put a few more bulbs in. I love bulbs.