Scutch grass in our garden

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Optimistic

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Hi all, We planted our garden in fresh lawn seed last year. We sprayed the lawn to kill all weeds etc at least twice before planting over a period of time.
After all of that there are tufts/patches of scutch grass now scattered around the garden and looking pretty healthy :)
Is there anything we can do to kill the scutch grass and if so what? Or is it my lot to enjoy scutch!! Does it always come into a garden over time? My concern is that it will take over the garden completely in a short period of time.
Thanks for any help and advice given.
Optimisitc
 
Roundup will kill scutch grass over a few weeks. It will also kill anything else thats growing!
If you have scutch grass growing through a nice schrub, you can also deal with that. Wear dispoable gloves and put some diluted Roundup on a disposable sponge and stroke the grass etc. A few weeks later it will be dead.
Ask me another!
Liamog.
 
Optimistic, your best bet would be to dig out the patches of scutch by the roots and then reseed the individual patches. This is easy enough to do if its only small patches, but perhaps more of an issue if there are really wide areas involved? Otherwise, use a lawnraker/scarifier and take it out that way...
 
Thanks for the replies.
1. Why would it not be a good idea to spray roundup on the scutch?
2. WHat is a scarifir? Where could I get same/lawn raker?
Digging out the scutch is probably not an option. A little to much there. WOuld it be a good idea to spray roundup on the scutch and then re seed later? Or would the lawn seed thicken in?

Thanks for the advice so far. It is really appreciated.
If I can successfully get rid of the scutch, is it inevitable that it will return?

Thanks all.
 
1. Roundup will kill off anything you spray for months afterwards and you won't be able to re-seed until you've cleared it off.
2. A scarifier is the same thing as a lawn raker - basically a motorised rake that takes up all of the moss and clover and any dead material from the ground and allowing light and moisture to penetrate the soil, leaving the grass free to grow. Its a good idea to do it a couple of times a year. You can buy cheap ones in Woodies/B&Q for €60-€70, or your local hire place could rent you one for a half-day.

Lawn seed sown directly onto the scutch won't be able to take at all and will just be a waste. Better to dig out the patches and re-seed that way, but I understand the hesitation if there's too much. The lawnraker is probably the best way to go. It'll strip out all of the stuff you don't want. The grass will look a bit bare for a couple of weeks but will come back looking much better in the end, especially if you over-seed it with lawnseed.

Good luck with it!
 
Thanks for this. I had thought that grass seed would take again if scattered onto the bare ground.
SO best option would seem to be to lawn rake/scarifier the affected areas and then scatter lawn seed on those areas again. Does the scarifier take out the grass as well as the scutch?

Sorry about all the questions. Thanks for all the advice offered.

Simple Simon said:
1. Roundup will kill off anything you spray for months afterwards and you won't be able to re-seed until you've cleared it off.
2. A scarifier is the same thing as a lawn raker - basically a motorised rake that takes up all of the moss and clover and any dead material from the ground and allowing light and moisture to penetrate the soil, leaving the grass free to grow. Its a good idea to do it a couple of times a year. You can buy cheap ones in Woodies/B&Q for €60-€70, or your local hire place could rent you one for a half-day.

Lawn seed sown directly onto the scutch won't be able to take at all and will just be a waste. Better to dig out the patches and re-seed that way, but I understand the hesitation if there's too much. The lawnraker is probably the best way to go. It'll strip out all of the stuff you don't want. The grass will look a bit bare for a couple of weeks but will come back looking much better in the end, especially if you over-seed it with lawnseed.

Good luck with it!
Click to expand...
 
The lawn raker won't take out the "good" grass at all, but because scutch is spread out, with wider roots etc., it should take out most of it. Your lawn will look a bit bare for a while but a good dose of lawn seed over the whole area, especially the bare patches should then see you right!
 
Scutch Grass

Hi

Just reading the post regarding scutch grass. We have just got a house where the grass in the back garden has not been cut for over a year .... We're told its covered in scutch grass and we were advise to use round up, wait 4 weeks and spread the lawn seed - just reading these posts, it seems that we should do the opposite - Optimistic can you tell me how you got on with your grass in the end ??
 
Hi,Just saw this. The scutch is still there. Scarified it, now looking at spraying it, but probably doing it in areas in the lawn as will have to do most of it again. I am beginning to wonder if there is any solution for scutch, especially in the countryside. If, I do anything with it this year, it will probably spray off the affected areas, probably not all at once as we will have no green areas and I am hoping for sunshine this year. Horrible stuff :)

Just reading the post regarding scutch grass. We have just got a house where the grass in the back garden has not been cut for over a year .... We're told its covered in scutch grass and we were advise to use round up, wait 4 weeks and spread the lawn seed - just reading these posts, it seems that we should do the opposite - Optimistic can you tell me how you got on with your grass in the end ??[/QUOTE]
 
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