Patch Magic by MiracleGro

Yes, my second product review!

Okay, my product for today is Patch Magic, made by MiracleGro.

I've been putting it on our garden to cover the patches which became evident when I raked the grass to remove the moss which had been building up over the years. Some patches were small, some were large - all needed filling in. So one of the products I tried was the above-pictured Patch Magic, manufactured by MiracleGro. How did it work?

Well, the first, quite large patch, came up in about a week. The second set of patches also started showing in a week or so - a few of them, in the shade, didn't do so well, but still showed grass coming up in places. I've had to water it pretty much every day, but that's because we're having hot, sunny weather - when we had some cloud around,. I could leave it an extra day.

The grass looks green and healthy, and the coir which makes up the bedding material certainly holds water well. I may need some more to fill in thin areas, and redo the edges of some of the patches, but all in all, it's worked well.

So my rating for Patch Magic? I'll give it

3.5/5


I've yet to try it down the bottom of the garden, where it's in constant shade. If it does well there, I'll up the rating. Still, it's pretty good stuff - I'm happy with it.

More lawn management

Yes, I've been at the lawns again.

I tried seeding them a couple of weeks ago, but no luck, so I did it again today. Raked the ground to break up the surface. Seeded it, then watered it in. Hopefully it'll take this time. If it doesn't. I'm going to give up and let Nature take its course.

I've still got to clear up the cuttings from last year - I'll try to get them in the green bin for next week ...

Still working on the lawn

Well, the last attempt at reseeding the lawn didn't work - there's no sign of anything coming up. I'm trying some different seed - which says I need to rake the lawn hard enough to break up the surface! I didn't do that last time - maybe that's the problem? Anyway, we'll see if this works better.

Time to pull some more goose grass, too - keep on top of it, that way it's less of a problem later (I hope!).

Replanting the lawn

I've finally gotten started on reseeding the front lawn. Fortunately it's just started raining, so hopefully the new seed will get enough moisture to get a good start at growing. I followed the instructions on the packet, so in a few weeks we'll see if the seed has taken. Supposedly it'll only take a couple of weeks for the grass to start sprouting.

I'll take a few photos soon, so you can see the 'before' and 'after' shots.

Also, a product review or two should be winging its way here soon.

The weedkiller I put down to kill the non-grass plants before reseeding didn't kill all it should have - maybe I needed to soak them more. I'll try again when the weather's dry.

Clearing up

Well, the garden looks a bit cleaner now - I got rid of all the old dustbins, plastic pots and containers and other rubbish which had accumulated next to the garage. Took them all down the dump, so the plants growing underneath can now get some sunlight.

Plus, more grass off the flower beds - there's still  plenty there, but it's starting to look a bit better  -the daffodils in particular are standing out more now they haven't got the competition.

Some spraying done

Well, I did some pesticide spraying yesterday - looks like I did it just in time, it's starting to rain. I need to try to get rid of the goose grass and brambles. The latter's not too bad right now - I hit it pretty hard last year, and it's not yet recovered, so if I keep on top of it, I might be able to stop it coming back. The goose grass, however, is going to need constant work - that stuff is pernicious as heck.

Still, the daffodils are out, and a few other flowers are starting to push through. I'm still removing grass from the flowerbeds, and there's a pile of cut branches need disposing of, but they're not a priority right now.

Still raking moss

Now much of an ad here, I have to say. I've been over the lawns again, raking up the dead moss I missed last time, or that has died since then. There's less and less coming up, so hopefully I'll get it all soon, and I can start getting ready to reseed.

Anyway, I will as usual update the next time I do something, so keep 'em peeled!

Tidying up

Not a vast amount to tell - just some odds-and-ends tidying up around the garden, removing dead plants from the snow we had over Christmas time, and digging up grass that had become seeded in the flower beds. The goose grass hasn't come back yet - a bonus - so things are looking a little better, but there's still a lot to do, preferably before things really start growing again.

More reviews to come, too ....

Review - Yeoman Rolling Lawn Aerator

I purchased the Yeoman Rolling Lawn Aerator a couple of weeks ago, and have used it on our lawns since then. I feel it's time for me to write a review of the product. So here goes :

The Yeoman Rolling Lawn Aerator (£29-95) is a device for breaking up the surface of your lawn to allow air in, allowing deeper, stronger root growth and better, greener grass by breaking up any soil compaction. It comes in a self-assembly kit which took me about fifteen minutes to successfully complete. The end product is a wheeled roller which has six free-hanging metal bars, each set with metal spikes which, when the roller is moved over the lawn surface, dig into the ground to a depth of about two centimetres (just under one inch). As the roller turns, each bar in turn hangs down to be driven into the ground. The device has two wheels and a straight handle similar to a hoe or broom.

The Aerator can be a little fiddly to assemble, especially when fitting the six metal spike-bearing bars to the central hub - this was the part that took the longest time for me. Also, given that it IS self-assembly, the construction isn't the most solid.

However, once the Aerator is put together, as long as you don't abuse it, it should be sturdy enough for everyday usage. It is easy to use - it only took me a few minutes to repeatedly roll our front lawn leaving plenty of small holes to break up the surface - and a nice, reliable piece of equipment for the garden. As a result, I give it

..

Still waiting on the effectiveness of the moss-killer/grass-greener I put down last weekend. Hopefully I should see results by this weekend coming - at least, the box says the moss should have died off and become brown by then. Can't see much difference yet, but give it time ...

In the meantime there's the goose grass and brambles to deal with. Last year I cur down a tree that was nearly dead and rather diseased, but now the ground where it was is infested. I have some neat glyphosate in a container, which I'll make up to a strong solution, in the hope that it'll be powerful enough to get rid of the weeds, after which I may cover the ground with wood chippings, to reduce the risk of re-infestation.

We'll see how it goes, if the weather holds up.

Well, I treated the lawns yesterday - put down something to kill off the moss, rejuvenate the grass and remove any weeds in the lawns. Let's hope it works as advertised. I'll write up a review when the effectiveness becomes clearer.

In the meantime, it's weeding time! Removing grass from the borders - there's a lot of it, and there are areas where I'll just be digging up everything in the ground - there's no flowers to preserve, so everything must go!

Anyway, I'll keep this blog informed of my progress.

More garden work

I've filled our green waste bin AGAIN with the amount of moss I'm raking up off our lawn! Plus there's a ton of goose grass and bramble that I need to keep on top of.

This gardening lark's non-stop, isn't it? Apart from wintertime, and maybe no even then! In my case, Mum used to handle the gardening - she loved to get her fingers dirty out there - until she couldn't manage it anymore due to ill-health. Neither Dad nor me stepped in at the time, and now there's years of neglect to put right - this is going to take a LONG time, I can already see that ...

Got a bit further with my raking off the moss on the front lawn - I guess ten years of nothing being done to it will take a while to right ....

Anyway, the worst has now been cleared, and I've gone over it with an aerator roller, hopefully that'll help with drainage and stop the moss coming back. I've still got the back lawns to rake, but I can't see as much there - maybe there's more sunlight on the back lawns, or better drainage to the ground. Anyway, there's cuttings from last year to cut up and bin, so that's my task tomorrow.

Garden work - ongoing

Well, I've spent some time today getting the front lawn raked. There's so much moss there that I've nearly filled the green garden waste bin. The lawn's going to look a mess when I've finished getting it up off the lawn. I've started looking at what grass seed to use to reseed the bare patches when I'm done.

Then the whole thing needs flattening with a good roller, and the beds need work too. I haven't a clue what's actually growing there - I don't know whether to just let it all grow and see what comes up, or clear the whole lot and replant. I'm contemplating the options ....

Back again!

Since I have this squeaky clean blog here, I might as well use it, right?

So, I've started doing some tidying up in our garden - I know it's early, but things are still growing! The lawns are going to need plenty of work - there's moss in them, and weeds, and the lawn hasn't been aerated for years, nor any kind of fertiliser added. I'm going to have to draw up a long list of things to do this year to get it back into shape.

As for the borders, I have no idea what's there! I don't know whether to let it all grow out and see what shows up, or just clear them all and replant ....