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help please with a yellowing lawn

So I got a late call this evening thats depressed me.

 

I did a lot of work for a guy back in may, clearance, demolition of a bomb shelter, and laying a lawn.

 

now he called and said that the lawn is gone patchy and dying in places.it turns out he didnt mow it when I told him, or often enough. he would let it go (maybe7 inches) then use a crappy pastic bladed mower and leave the cuttings on the lawn.

 

Then he got someone in to mow , but again left it way too long , and now says its really bad and yellowing.

 

He kind of said in a round about way that its my fault, because I didnt come in time to tell him when to cut.

 

i think he knows he didnt do what he should, and wants me to fix it.

 

Now I know what i'd be thinking reading this but...he was/is a good customer, and there is still a lot of work to be done in his place. And i did leave some things undone (putting a gate back, some rubbish i've been meaning to collect for ages) so I feel I could have done better.

 

 

Ive laid maybe 70 of lawn and only once before had problems and that was when I switched supplier just that one time. I use Q lawns . But I shamefully know s f a about lawn upkeep.

 

would i be right in thinking grass would go yellow because the sunlight vant get down to the bottom of the blade, so when you cut it thats what you see?

 

Thanks guys.

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PRO MemberPermalink Reply by Dan Frazer Gardening on July 19, 2011 at 18:31

600mm of soil on top of the stuff underneath is plenty.

 

The lawn will probably recover properly if he gets it cut every fortnight.


PRO MemberPermalink Reply by axeljk on July 19, 2011 at 22:24
i got some photos. its worse than i thought, not yellowing, gone beyond that. diaster
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PRO MemberPermalink Reply by axeljk on July 19, 2011 at 22:38
do you mean the pre turfing fertiliser that i put under the turf?

PRO MemberPermalink Reply by Adam Pilgrim on July 19, 2011 at 22:47

And I quote Axels post above:

'he admitted that a guy he had got in at the start and who had cut it told him not to leave it too long and then he did leave it. also that he had bought a tub of miracle grow turf repair and sprayed the whole lot on the lawn..'

 

Sounds and looks to me like 'turf repair' product applied by customer has burnt it...... whoops...

Permalink Reply by Ayegardening Ltd - Aye and Susan on July 19, 2011 at 23:02
In our experience, we would have to agree on the above posters who say that the product the customer has put on the grass has burnt it. I wonder why he put miracle grow turf repair on it...maybe he left it too long to cut it and then it looked yellow so he tried that out.
Permalink Reply by Brigitt Stevenson on July 19, 2011 at 23:03

From the pics, it looks like the soil is really wet too, is that the case, Axel???

 

I would recommend if the soil is wet, let it dry, add fresh Triple mix Soil "Top dress and Seed"...

If it is dry and over fertilized, water well to have the fertilizer leech into the ground and once again 'Top dress and seed"... unless the Client wants to re-sod..

 

Good luck!


PRO MemberPermalink Reply by axeljk on July 19, 2011 at 23:05
says he only used the miracle grow last tuesday, and patches had been  there before that. the orange things are apples...!

PRO MemberPermalink Reply by axeljk on July 19, 2011 at 23:17

it could be wet Brigitt alright. i will be seeing it inperson tomorrow evening(these are photos he sent me). but then again today we got some very heavy showers in london.

 

Thanks everyone for all this advice, very very much appreciate it .


PRO MemberPermalink Reply by axeljk on July 19, 2011 at 23:32

I will be there GL tomorrwo and have a good look around.

 

Have to say, it looks lik e some of the 'lawns' i have dug up in the past that dogs and kids have ran on for years, all dry and hard looking.

 

i checked my emails and texts going back to around that time, I have an advice email that i send after all turfing Jobs (though I use a  a q lawn flyer now) and I told him when to cut it. by the time he cut it I recon the damage had been done and it just got worse, because he didnt cut it again for a month.

 

The 'Mrs's' could be in the backround here (sorry ladies!) and its easier to blame me than admit his own fault. and yes, i guess so, get a fix foc.

 

from my understanding of it, that top dressing if theres a chance of it working) will take time and regular attention, as well as the regular cutting and watering, feeding etc. i just cant see him doing it.

 

Thing is I like the guy, he's not one of the bad ones. he's just someone who likes to enjoy their garden from behind the patio doors.  I also think once I go over there , he's going to expect regular visits, and thats not for me.


PRO MemberPermalink Reply by axeljk on January 5, 2012 at 21:30
Just an update about this lawn. I followed your advice, we stopped watering it and for the most part it dried out. I put down a top dressing and a seed mix, and kept the mowing regular but kept the blades high. Result it all came back strongly. Thanks again for all the help.

PRO MemberPermalink Reply by Austin Powell-Allen on January 6, 2012 at 16:18

Agree with Kieran, also have a difficult time as clients on a budget want to save money yet think it can wait a fortnight between cuts when it is growing really long. then complain there is moss and weeds in the lawn, so it can be tricky trying to explain to customers. could be soil contamination from the chemicals in the concrete it depends how deep you removed soil. I have found this with old oil tank bases and garden paths.

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