I'm wondering if anyone can help with ideas for my lawn. It can be summed up in two words - a disaster! Its mostly a patch of moss and mud, with the odd struggling patches of grass, (but no weeds!). I think the causes of the problems are due to two factors:
(1) Poor drainage - the soil is clay
(2) Not enough daylight. My next door neighbour is rather obsessive about privacy and has allowed her conifer trees at the end of her garden (which backs onto another neighbour's garden who she doesnt get on with) to grow huge. This means that for about six months of the year my back garden doesnt get any sun. (My flower borders are mostly ok as I grow things that enjoy shade, and save my sun lovers for my patio!)
I've tried very hard over the last ten years to improve the drainage, spiking the lawn each year and adding sand, very fine grit and compost. The lawn has been fed each spring and autumn with the appropriate food for the time of year. It's cut regularly and I've also tried the "aftercut" conditioner, but that didnt have any effect either. I've also tried to re seed the bare patches using grass seed labelled as suitable for shade, (and also the Miracle grow "patch" system) but it didnt work. I've also attempted to get rid of the moss, but I know that unless conditions are improved it will keep coming back.
I can't do anything about the lack of daylight, as obviously I cant cut down my neighbour's trees!! They are not overhanging my garden either, so I don't feel oppressed by them, its just that being so big they cast a very large shadow. (the dividing hedge between our two gardens is kept to a reasonable height, so I really don't feel I can complain, and I do want to keep on good terms with my neighbour - this is very important to me).
The lawn measures about 6 metres by 3 metres at its widest point, so its not really very big, but it does form a focal point to my garden. I've started to think the "unthinkable" and maybe I should consider replacing the grass with something else. The question is, with what? I'm going to be honest and say that at the moment I don't have much money to spend on it, but hopefully once the repairs to my house are sorted out, (long story!!) I should have more money to spend in a few years time. Thats why I'd be interested in both cheap short term and more expensive longer term solutions. We use the lawn mainly for sitting on and walking across to get access to the borders. It doesnt have to put up with "hard" use like games of football!! Despite all the work I've done on improving the drainage it does get VERY soggy and muddy in winter and bakes hard in the summer.
Thanks for reading all this!
KittyKatt
