Grass recovery

[abcd]

Hello,
There's a lot of grassy areas of the playground at my school - well, when I say grass, about half of it is now mud. What things can I do to try and enable grass to recover? It's covered in leaves - should I rake it off or let it turn to compost for the grass? I'm also cordoning it off in rainy weather. Tried to fence it off completely last summer which worked a wee bit after I planted some grass seeds but the school wanted the area reinstated after a month so did not improve much.

[thecaretaker]

Not much you can do until the spring. Then rake any debris off, aerate the soil with an aerator (thing with lots of spikes on) scatter new seed (make sure you buy a tough grass seed) and feed with a lawn feed as directed.

Unless you keep people off the grass, any grass can only take so much punishment. But grass (if you buy the right type of heavy duty/sports grass seed) is surprisingly resilient and will often win in the end.

[Vera]

Not much you can do until the spring. Then rake any debris off, aerate the soil with an aerator (thing with lots of spikes on) scatter new seed (make sure you buy a tough grass seed) and feed with a lawn feed as directed.

Unless you keep people off the grass, any grass can only take so much punishment. But grass (if you buy the right type of heavy duty/sports grass seed) is surprisingly resilient and will often win in the end.

CT has it here..

We have OPAL play and our field gets hammered as they play out in all weathers.

I do keep saying that to the head and pointing out the grass needs time to recover particularly this time of year as any mud when trampled in will compact the soil making it impossible for the grass to re grow.

[Sparky]

Grass is pretty resilient stuff and “should” make a recovery during the spring but as said may need a little boost if it’s really been hammered.
You could also sprinkle a little grass seed in the affected areas. Won’t really do much now but will give a chance for it to bed in, keep damp and hopefully make an appearance in March / April time

[Vera]

Grass is pretty resilient stuff and “should” make a recovery during the spring but as said may need a little boost if it’s really been hammered.
You could also sprinkle a little grass seed in the affected areas. Won’t really do much now but will give a chance for it to bed in, keep damp and hopefully make an appearance in March / April time

It will probably rot if you put it in now.
Spring is the best time wait until you see the other grass growing the seed and protect.

[abcd]

Thanks for the advice! Good idea about an aerator - I'll try and get one for the spring along with hardy grass seeds.

Just one more question - do you normally rake off the leaves during winter?

[abcd]

any mud when trampled in will compact the soil making it impossible for the grass to re grow.

I think that's what happened last year - I spent far longer than I should have, hacking away at the rock-hard ground to plant the seeds last summer.

[Vera]

Thanks for the advice! Good idea about an aerator - I'll try and get one for the spring along with hardy grass seeds.

Just one more question - do you normally rake off the leaves during winter?

I only clear the ornamental grass areas at the front of the school.
The field is left as the leaves will rot and provide nutrients to the soil and grass.
It also is very beneficial to bugs and wildlife.

[Keyolder]

Just one more question - do you normally rake off the leaves during winter?

I remember a gardener once telling me to go over the autumn leaves with a mower but don’t collect the clippings, they will rot down quicker than if you just leave them on top of the grass.

[abcd]

Great thanks. Better for the grass and nature and less work for me. Sounds good to me!