My poor lawn

We have a scarifier which I used to use with great enthusiasm in about April - resulting in a very bare lawn indeed! I think we DH just put down seed and probably a thin layer of topsoil but I have noticed that bare patches, mainly round the edge, he has just thrown some seed down this year.

I haven't used the scarifier for a few years now as our lawn seemed to get filled with a flat weed which has tiny yellow flowers - the scarifier would tear the top off this weed but not pull the roots out. We are letting some of it do its own thing and grow like a meadow - in fact, I threw some flowering meadow seeds down in compost earlier in the year and nothing has come up so far. Too dry!

ps none of the seeds came up but we did have self-set violets and now some little blue flowers (speedwell?), daisies of course and the inevitable dandelions which I try to dig out.

Back to roundup, Gnets alerted me to the ill effects of roundup. So, I tried some organic remedy (salt, vinegar, washing up soap, etc) alas the dandylions are lovely and strong. Now what?

Roses and ants do well with organics, but the weeds?

I bought DH a garden tool which is supposed to dig out dandelions and other strong-rooted weeds. It's languishing at the back of the shed somewhere I think
But actually, it is quite effective
cpc.farnell.com/fiskars/139950/weed-puller-fiskars-xact/dp/SI17798?mckv=s_dc|pcrid|72935567897|kword||match||plid|&CMP=KNC-GUK-CPC-GEN-SHOPPING-FISKARS-Tools-SI17798

I'm sure other makes are available and I bought ours from the local garden centre so other stockists have them as well.

Then just fill up the hole with some soil seed if necessary.

soil and seed

You could try covering the grass seed with clear plastic. It will warm the ground and keep the perishing birds off it. August is a good time to sow grass seed.

Monty, I think, suggested two methods of re seeding. One was to mix the seed with fine compost before spreading on the lawn. The other was to grow small pots of grass and then patch them into the bald patches. I've tried the first and it seemed to work without the birds eating it.
I would only cover the grass area with horticultural fleece, that allows the rain to go through.
Plastic would cause a warm damp, from condensation, area that would ruin the sprouting seed.

I just think everything is too dry, and we really need some gentle rain, preferably overnight, and then warm sun during the day without this chilly wind which we on the SE coast seem to have taken possession of. Dreams.

Cold soil will also lead to poor germination. We've had a cold spring so things need to warm up.

What is wrong with moss? we have let our front lawn become almost entirely moss. you will not need to cut it, and if you walk on it in your bare feet is is Fabulous! In my book Moss rules.

Grass seed is often unreliable. I understand that the seed needs to be fresh and if the supplier was selling last years stock, that might be the reason for poor germination.

I never understand why seed can be unreliable - if you look at programmes about the desert blooming after 10 years of drought followed by rain you wonder why your grass seed/courgette seeds fail after one year!

www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2015/10/29/the-driest-place-on-earth-is-covered-in-pink-flowers-after-a-crazy-year-of-rain/?utm_term=.9b4218cc14b5

The ground is quite cold merlot so might just try and be patient until the ground warms up a bit. In the meantime I might give another light sprinkling of seed and soil and a gentle water.

Thanks a million for great tips and advice everyone.

I'm in the north west and can't remember another year where the ground has been as dry as it is currently. Our water butt is empty - unheard of especially in May.
My husband is the lawn person - he's infuriated because as well as our on female dog, we have one of the children's female dogs here with the result the lawn is developing yellow patches again. He obsessively clears and seeds any such areas.
I have a cunning plan. B&Q sell small rolls of turf - how about that as an easy solution? Patch the bare areas on the lawn gillybob and water well till its bedded in. That'll stop the birds pinching the seed.

My sister has a tiny little (female) dog and my DH follows her out with the watering can, watering the wee patches to dilute it. It works too.

I did consider the turf solution Iam64 and will do that as a last resort. Should be relatively easy. Will give it until mid June and then if it hasn't at least tried to grow from seed we will patch up with turf. You are right about the ground being extra dry although I have been watering the patches well.

Yes, my husband does the watering can thing and expects the rest of us to do this if he isn't around.
Until recently, our own female dog would not use the garden as her toilet, she'd wait until she reached the fields. She's 9 now and though she's very fit and healthy, I suspect that (like we older women) if she needs to go, waiting isn't the thing.

My sisters dog is a Chihuahua so her wees are just little dribbles really.They still burn if you don't get there with the watering can though. She won't go out unless you go out with her so easy to rinse the spot.

Nope, my female dog is a very large standard poodle x working lab.

hopehope moss and large dogs = torn/bare patches, then when/if it rains they bring in mud

She sounds lovely Iam64 does she shed hair, like a Lab or need to be trimmed like a Poodle ? My sisters Chihuahua might be tiny but she doesn't half moult. Not sure of spelling as iPad doesn't like molt or moult).

Is she a Labradoodle ? I've just googled them. Lovely.

I have found huge variation in different 'brands' of grass seed over the years. Some take ages to germinate (weeks), others germinate quickly, and some include seed that never germinates. I always ignore the recommended quantity for the area to be covered, sowing far more (eg 4x more). Even then I still get bare patches. So it is probably not anything you are doing or not doing. When it does finally grow I find watering with liquid feed like phostrogen or similar encourages it to fill the gaps.

Our BBC weather forecaster told us tonight that there will be 'a risk' of showers on Friday -
Yes Please! from all the gardeners amongst us

Tizliz. I can get that , we too have a large Dog, but he only ever goes on the back lawn which is grass. The moss one is for me, and I had to cajole, plead and threaten DH NOT to kill off the moss out front. He was a professional Gardener too before he became ill so I guess it went against all that he had been doing for years. I love it though, and so do the birds, it is soft, and I love to watch them getting the worms, they also like to pull bits of moss out, presumably for nests. I always leave some tufts of dog hair around too in Springtime.

we have often found old empty nests as snug as anything all lined beautifully with the Dog hair .