Lawn care in south Belfast

Malone Road area, Belfast (BT9) · 2025

Levelling a lumpy lawn

The problem: It looked flat, but you could feel the lumps and dips underfoot, and it was a real mix of grasses, with a lot of a coarse grass called Yorkshire fog.

What we did: We cut it right down to show up the dips, scarified it and seeded into the lines the scarifier left. Then we top dressed with screened topsoil, putting extra into the low spots, levelled it off and matted it in.

Why we did it this way: You can’t take out the grasses that are already there, but seeding in better ones slowly changes the lawn over time. We level with topsoil rather than compost, because compost rots down and the dips come back.

Malone Road area, Belfast (BT9) · 2025

Fixing a heavy clay lawn

The problem: Heavy clay that baked hard in summer and stayed soggy all winter, with tramlines worn in from mowing when it was wet.

What we did: We aerated, scarified, fixed the tramlines, then overseeded and top dressed with compost.

Why we did it this way: Clay particles are tiny and packed tight, so water can’t drain through and roots struggle to get down. The aeration holes open channels for air and water, and the compost adds organic matter that opens the clay up over time. Sand sounds like the answer, but fine sand fills the gaps in the clay and makes the drainage worse.

Malone Road area, Belfast (BT9) · 2024

Getting on top of thatch

The problem: When this lawn was laid a few years ago it was mostly fescue and bent, fine grasses that build up thatch, and the thatch was unbelievable.

What we did: We’ve been seeding dwarf rye and fescue into it over the last few years. On this visit we aerated, scarified and seeded, covered the seed with a thin layer of soil, matted it in, then put on seaweed, iron and a pre-seeder feed.

Why we did it this way: Dwarf rye makes far less thatch than the fine grasses, so as more of it comes through, less thatch builds up. It’s turned the lawn around: the cores on this visit showed only a thin layer left, with roots going right down.

Malone Road area, Belfast (BT9) · 2023

An autumn renovation

The problem: A lawn we look after and film most years. It has some fine grasses like fescue, so thatch builds up, and this time it needed to come out before new seed could take.

What we did: We aerated, then scarified twice with the machine set lower than usual, the second pass on the diagonal. We seeded into the lines, dragged the seed in, fed it and finished with seaweed.

Why we did it this way: Going across on the diagonal takes the most out, and we only go that hard when we’re seeding straight after, so the new grass fills in. Dragging the seed in closes the lines over it and gives it somewhere safe to grow.

Royal Hillsborough (BT26)

A full autumn renovation

The problem: A big lawn with a lot of thatch and dead growth built up in the base.

What we did: We cut it, hollow core aerated and scarified, and blew off the thatch. Then we overseeded, dragged the seed in and fed it, and finished with seaweed and iron.

Why we did it this way: Getting the thatch out first means the seed lands on soil, and dragging it in gives it the best chance of taking. The seaweed feeds the soil, not just the lawn, and the iron greens the grass up and keeps the moss in check.

Royal Hillsborough (BT26)

The same lawn mid-renovation. The cores from the aerator are on the right, and the thatch the scarifier pulled out is on the left.

Out towards Royal Hillsborough (BT27)

Another of our bigger lawns out this way. This is the kind of size we mean when we say a larger lawn.

Out towards Royal Hillsborough (BT27)

The same lawn getting its spring feed.