The misunderstanding started when I said to Cruella (my wife) that I was worried about my bald spot. She assured me that I shouldn’t worry as it happens to many men my age and that she still finds me attractive “in some ways”. Before I could explain that I was talking about the lawn she had whipped up a potion consisting of Cabbage leaves, frog spawn and what looked like coughed up phlegm. She proceeded to rub this into my head; anyway, to cut a long story short that’s how I ended up with a green head and having to wear a hat.
25th September: Things I have been doing lately.
👨🦲 Repairing a bald spot on the lawn. After the wear and tear of Summer (and two marauding Labradors) my lawn has developed a large bald area that is in need of repairing. If you have a lawn, then now is the time to repair it by re-sowing seed. The end of September and the first 2 weeks of October are the optimum time to undertake repairs to your lawn. The ground is still hot, but the scorching Sun of Summer is less fierce.
There are a number of stages to repairing a lawn:
Mow the grass very short in the effected area and then rake the area with a grass rake to pull up the grass thatch and expose the soil for the seed to contact.
Mix up an appropriate soil and compost mixture to form the base for your seeds to root. Deposit the soil/compost over the area and evenly spread with your rake. Once the solid mix has been evenly distributed roll it then check for lumps or hollows that need smoothing out or filling. The first photo below shows the Mantillo mix that formed the main base of my mixture.
Once your soil is prepared, sow your chosen grass seed. I use a Grama Kikyu mix which is a spreading grass that is very drought resistant (it is expensive but worth it). I have been hiding money from Cruella in my sock drawer to pay for it. From the photo below you can see that this seed is contained in a small pellet mixture that both feeds the seed and (hopefully) repels birds.
Once you have sown your seed use your rake to gradually tease the soil so that it partially covers your seed. This will ensure that the seeds have some contact with the soil. You then need to roll the whole area again to firm the seeds down and ensure soil contact. The photos below showing me raking and rolling, which is the gardeners equivalent of rock and roll. Cruella took these pictures but before she did so she questioned whether I was going to put a shirt on (I didn’t, it’s a small act of rebellion, but it’s what keeps me going). I also kept my hat on as my head is still green.
Finally, cover with a permeable membrane. This will keep the birds off and also ensure a nice humid growing temperature for the seeds. However, all this effort will be wasted unless you water at least three times a day. If the grass seed drys out it will just die very quickly.
🥀 Dead head Roses. Don’t forget to keep deadheading your Roses. If you do this assiduously over the next month or so you will get flowers right through to November. The photos below show some of my Roses which are now coming into their second annual bloom.
Spanish Garden 
Kikuyu is thick and aggressive! That grass takes some serious maintenance when it gets going. Doesn’t it need to be dethatched? I do not remember. It is not very popular anymore. I remember it was a thick lawn, but can not remember why it is uncommon now.
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Yes, your right it is thick and forms a dense sward. However, this part of my lawn is in direct Sun all day and tends to dry out. So I am going to give the Kikuyu a chance here. I did use it elsewhere a couple of years ago and it worked well. I’ll let you know what happens.
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