Lawn misery

In 2008 I dug up front lawn - as it had gotten too messy and leveled it before spending a ludicrous amount of money to get turf laid on it. I kept it well moist but a year later there was a lot of dead grass in and the lawn got yellow. I asked the guy who laid the turf and he said to feed. Which I did and nothing changed. Than after reading some posts here I invested a weekend and hired a scarifier, went over the lawn a couple of times, don't know how much dead grass I got off it. Then during the summer the lawn thickened and imporved somewhat, but now it seems I am back at square one.
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Last year I leveled the back garden and seeded a new lawn. Well that wasn't a great success either. It took ages to take off- then it got very patchy with bits growing very well and other bits not growing at all.
Asked my farmer neighbour and he suggested to use P and K - bought 50 kgs and spread it over front and back lawn a couple of weeks ago.
The funny thing ( well actually it is not funny) is that the back lawn is stripey green and yellow.

Picture of back garden

This is the worst bit but shows what is happening.

How long would it take for the P and K to take effect ?
What else could be wrong with it ?
How to fix ? At this point in time I am happy to let a professional take over as long as it means I get a normal lawn again as it is an absolute eye sore. But after my adventure with the "professional" laying my front lawn I am a little sceptical.

a lot of lawns look a bit worn and scorched at the moment...I wouldn't be judging the look of it now as to what it might look like in 6-8 weeks.

What about throwing out some seed now and letting it germinate over the next few weeks?

Then when its growing, I use the lawn feed & weed with a spreader roller. Every year I put this stuff down at the beginning of April and by June I'm surrounded by dark green grass and having to cut it every 5-6 days to keep it short.

I'd say the stripey effect is from the way the P&K went down. Even though I use a spreader, I still get stripes. Once the stripes appear, I get the spreader out again and go over the yellow sections to even it out. BE CARFEUL....too much will burn the grass aswell so spread quick & evenly

I used a bag of P&K a few years ago and I had a jungle in my gardens. Couldn't keep the grass short. It looked great, but I was wrecked cutting it every 2-3 days

tosullivan said:

I'd say the stripey effect is from the way the P&K went down. Even though I use a spreader, I still get stripes. Once the stripes appear, I get the spreader out again and go over the yellow sections to even it out. BE CARFEUL....too much will burn the grass aswell so spread quick & evenly

I used a bag of P&K a few years ago and I had a jungle in my gardens. Couldn't keep the grass short. It looked great, but I was wrecked cutting it every 2-3 days

Click to expand...

The stripes have been there from before the P&K. But you're probably right- let's give it some time. It is just that all my neighbours who have seeded their lawn in the last year or 2 seem to already have long lush green grass- it is making me green with envy

Question?

Are you collecting your grass clippings or am I guessing that you have a mulching mower?

To get long lush growth you need to use the N part of fertiliser. Normally NP & K are used in a balanced format in lawn fertiliser. There are different ratios used at different times of the year. High N in spring and summer to give good growth, low N and higher P & K during autumn and winter to give stronger roots and to work as a general plant tonic.
I looks like you have experienced some scorching in the back garden. To me it looks like the front is a build up of thatch in the base of the grass.

Give a rough outline of how you are caring for the lawn and I may be able to help.

I collect the clippings - although last year there was precious little to collect in the back garden. I understand the Nitrogen to be responsible for long lush green grass, but I (with my neighbour) was trying to get the basics right with the feed (the not dying of grass) - but so far no sign of that.

The front garden would be mowed every week or two - depending on the weather and I would normally keep it fairly high (middle position on the mower) and as said collected a lot of dead grass last year with a scarifier. Should I be doing that more often ? (I hope not- I am still tired from last years efforts).

Thanks for any help or insight you can provide

A lot of fertiliser needs for it to rain within a day or so after spreading. I have spent lots of money trying to get rid of moss. Year after year it comes back not helped by the fact that my neighbour does nothing about the moss in his garden so we get all the spores. It has been back breaking work.
This year I am quite happy to do absolutely nothing to my lawn but just enjoy being outdoors.

Next time apply half fertiliser left to right and other half up and down that evens out the spread. Make sure that it is washed in too. If it doesn't rain within a day or so then water it in.
As with the fertilising mow your grass in both directions not necessarily each time but up down one day, left right the next time.
Maybe a light reseed on both with the same mix that the neighbours used...
Failing that go wildlife meadow... Lot less work!

It was raining about 30 seconds after me spreading out the feed and I did do it crisscross...

No need yet to start cutting and by the looks of it it will take a while ( the back garden shows very little evidence of growth)