restore old tired lawn/paddock

[hedgesparrow]

i have about 1/2 acre which we kept the horse and ponie on with the other paddocks. now there gone to rest want to get it back to a lawn again.

now its compacted. but under the surface it is full of stones. tried once before breaking the surface up and it brought up loads of stones.

now i have left it alone until it started to get some growth but not good loads of weeds. so i cut it last weekend with walk behind and picked up all that was cut.

i then went over with ride on pulling a spiker to spike the ground.

any good idears to get the grass back. if it comes to it then in autumn will get a cultivator with a stone burier and redo. just want to try and get the grass to spread so it looks green not a pale colour at moment.

have a do in 3 weeks on it so want it to look better than it is now.

thought of weed and feed but due to it being like it is though i may waste my money doing it. any suggestions apreciated

[Lyncombe-climber]

Just mulch it.

[hedgesparrow]

nothing to mulch. its so short due to years of being grazed. i know start again but thats a good years work. need a quick job to make it look a bit greener.

[eagleye]

astro turf

[Eddy_t]

High nitrate feed, miracle grow is excellent stuff, 36-6-6! Also reseed with non ryegrass seed

 

Also apply a growth retardant to thicken it up, like primo

 

 

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[hedgesparrow]

thank you for info will try and get some nitrate and some non rye grass mixture.

will get some photos now and after see how it goes

[jennie]

we've used suregrow on our paddocks after the hard winter, with a bit of rain and sunshine the grass soon starts growing and it looks a lot lot greener in a week. you just spread in on top and leave it. you should only need a sack, it's only like £12 i think, you can get it cheaper if you look online. i highly reccommend it for quick new growth. hope this helps.

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

get a wildflower seed selection they love tough barren land and will restore the soil over a few years while contributing much needed wildflower habitat

[headgroundsman]

Do a ph test as just throwing nitrogen at it will be a waste of time if the ph is way out. Other than that try ferrous sulphate and nitrogen based fert and spray for the weeds( probably easiest if you know a farmer that is already spraying grassland. Then mow as often as you have time and leave it as long as you can live with. Try to never cut more than 1/3 of the length and mulch so the grass clippings feed back.

[hedgesparrow]

will try and get some surgrow and see if it will green up. my goal is in the Autumn to spray it off so kill the lot. then cultivate. then go over with stone burier. and then put a good grass seed mix with wildflowers. and leave it to get going. then in spring should be growing and can give it a cut with mulching mower. and then try and look after it. have restored other parts and starting to look good now. as for mulching it is so bad with stones at present i am not putting my mulching mower on it just kills the blades. keep clearing the stones but still keep coming back. hence use a old walk behind that can get its blade knackered as only a tenner for a new one. plus it keeps me fit for a afternoon walking behind it

Edited May 29, 2013 by hedgesparrow