My poor lawn

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

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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

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!

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

soil and seed

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.

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?

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.

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!

I suppose that makes sense though, so maybe "your head gardener" knows what he is talking about.

I believe that it may be best to kill the moss early in the season before it gets stronger?

Or that is what the silly gardener I live with thinks.

Exactly Norah why didn't we wait until June?

Never mind, it's done now. I will just watch, wait and water. (and occasionally sprinkle more seed).

I was correct, just very fine topsoil, no lumps or clods (thus the best at the garden center). DH did allow that the earth is entirely too chilly for germination. I wonder why we bothered yet?

My photos are on the patio thread not this one. silly me.

Thank you again Norah I have been using fine (bagged) topsoil but DH said the same as you that the ground might still be too cold for germination. Fingers crossed we will see a difference soon. As I said earlier I am sooooooo impatient.

My Hydrangeas are all sorts of colours from the deepest pink to the brightest blue, purple and the palest green. I think there are some of last years in my early photos. I have managed to change the colour of two that I have in containers by playing around with the PH of the soil. I have only managed to change pink ones to blue, not the other way around. Hard to change the ones in the ground.