Lawn idiot needs help

[octatonic]

Hi there,

I have a badly maintained lawn that needs some assistance to get back to health.

I put the lawn in 2 years ago and then injured myself badly enough that I was unable to do any gardening until now.

I've spent the last two weeks cleaning it up and it looks like this:

[image: issues we are having are:

Ground is a bit uneven in places. Grass grows in clumps (thanks to a female dog that wees on it0 we are discouraging her from doing it)

Generally poor condition of the grass.

How do I fix this?

Should I be mowing it- or using a strimmer to cut for now? Should I be fertilising it and putting down some new seed and top soil? Or just water it and mow it every 2 week?

Thanks people.

[octatonic]

FWIW, I am in London.

[octatonic]

Thanks for the reply.

Should I try putting some more grass seed down?

Jim

[octatonic]

Thanks, I will give that a go.

Jim

[trader4]

Big unknown here is what the soil is like. If it's decent soil and the existing grass is OK, not some undesirable crap, then I would:

1 - test PH, adjust if necessary

2 - Rough up the bare spots with a rake or similar

3 - Apply a high quality grass seed suitable for the location

4 - Top dress lightly with peat moss, humus, topsoil, no more than 1/4"

5 - Apply starter fertilizer

6 - Keep it constantly damp, which could require watering for 5 mins few times a day. I'd do the last watering at about 8pm so it stays wet at night. Only do that when establishing new grass, not on an existing lawn during summer, which would promote disease.