Lawn Issues - Why so dry when so much rain

[Eve]

Am a bit non-plussed as to why my lawn is so dry considering we have had so much rain recently.

I mowed it last week and most of it is just so dry and almost straw like. I'm wondering whether to start watering it with a hose but don't want to end up with more of a mudbath.

Will watering it help at all or should I just let it do it's own thing and hope it grows back a bit greener. I have a hose but don't want to make matters worse.

[Maydup]

As all gardeners say, don't water it with a hose, it'll come back eventually.

[Quassia]

Jenna ... are you cutting it on too low a height? Grass goes like straw if the mowers cutting height is too low .. do you have the option of several cutting heights on your mower?

[Purple_Popple]

I sympathize Jenna, mines awful, bald, patchy, yellow and the only green thing growing in abundance is clover !!! But apparently clover is a good thing as its rich in nitrogen for the soil....I guess some greenery is better than none.

[RAV1D]

You could water a lawn for an hour or two and drench it but by the next day it could be bone dry from a little heat or wind. alot of it is due to the soil under it. If its sandy,or stoney then alot will just go deeper down and not stay near the roots and the bit that is near the roots will just evaporate back into the sky. If you have clayey soil then it will hold alot of the water and sometimes flood in winter or bad rain but in dry walm weather still have a bit there for the grass roots. It takes alot of water to water grass! I used to work on a bowling green and could spend 3 or 4 hours non stop watering with high powered hose pipes and still make no effect.

[Eve]

Oh, I didn't know you could choose a level, it's a flymo and not seen anything I can alter. I will have a look though. I don't mow as often as I should as I have bad arthritis and between that and all the rain I thought maybe I was letting it get a bit long which didn't help. They get between the paving slabs and drive me mad trying to get them up.

Mind you, the grass locally is all pretty poor so it's not just me, so many weeds about though as you said Purple, they are the greenest things! A few doors up have got clover and daisies but I just get dandilions and wilidsh grass. It almost temps me to leave it longer as it at least looks greener. The front is ok, more the back that's the problem though it gets the full on sun in the afternoons.

[Quassia]

If your mower hasn't cutting height options, go for one that has .. generally 3 !

[Quassia]

I think generally on hovers with variable cutting heights there's normally something called a spacer? .. like a round thing that goes between the main body of the blades & raises or lowers the cut. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk...A&hash=item56319913d6