Grass can recover remarkably well and easily spread 6" to cover bare patches. If you seed, then you have to rake the area before to break up the soil for the delicate new roots, and then after to make sure that the seed is covered with soil, if there are grass plants around, this can damage them quite badly (possibly digging them up). Throwing seed on the surface has very little effect really, if not covered the birds will have it or it doesn't germinate well. I only resort to re-seeding if there are distinct large patches where the grass is unlikely to spread back with a few months. If this is the case then by all means seed, but make sure you prepare it in advance and then cover it well.

Q. We moved into a new home last March it was graded and seeded in the spring that afternoon we had a major storm that washed huge ruts into the yard. Upon calling the developer he said that the machines push the seeds deep into the ground but they would take care of the problem. They somewhat fixed ruts only to have a big storm several days later. Now they are not wiling to repair again, we seeding ourselves a third time and even a little storm washes everything including large amounts of dirt, how do we go about fixing the huge ruts that run through the entire yard? Any help regarding this would be greatly appreciated.

A.  Well nothing is going to grow properly from seed in the conditions that you mention. Either one of two things needs to happen, and possibly both. 1/ You need to deflect the rain run-off until the lawn is established. 2/ You need to establish a lawn using turf and not seed as it will be more complete more quickly and so become resistant to rain run-off.

It also sounds to me that the developer may have created the problem in the way that they built the property with hard surfaces, drives etc. There shouldn't ever be that amount of run off across a lawn except in dire extremis. The main problem (I'd guess, I can't see it from here) is one of adequate drainage from hard non-porous surfaces creating the run-off. Where does the water come from? Does it all originate on your property or does it flow down the road (for instance) first? It sounds like you need to get serious with the developer (in a very polite and dignified manner of course). Work out carefully what the problem is, write it down and confront them with it. Are they still around? In a show-house maybe? going in and being very insistent on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon while they're trying to sell can work wonders, double points if there's a sales manager present.

1/ Mower set too low and the grass was quite long. Set the mower a little higher next time, give your lawn a nitrogen feed, wait for it to rain (shouldn't be long!) and next year raise the blades for the first couple of cuts.

2/ If you have a cylinder mower, the blades are blunt, so the grass is being ripped up instead of being cut. Immediate remedy as above, and get the blades sharpened.

Is there anything like this under your turf? It may be caused by pieces of wood squashed into the soil and covered over (common in new homes), or alternatively by rotovating in old grass or weeds and not clearing them from the site before laying the turf.

What to do about it? If it is bark chips and you paid some-one to do it I think you've a good case to get them back to sort it out. If not, then it will sort itself out in time when the conditions change and the food supply is exhausted. Cut the toadstools down with a mower or just knock them down with a broom or besom, they'll soon dry up and shrivel to nothing. Fairy rings are the only fungi that will really harm a lawn and it doesn't sound like you've got any of those.

I'd suggest spending a day with a rotavator leveling it out and then get the turf delivered on another day. If you've never done it before give yourself time.

Q. We have bought a holiday house in France. most of the garden consists of a patch of ground the size of a small field. at present the local farmer comes in once or twice a year and cuts the ' lawn' with his tractor. We will go three times per year. The 'lawn' is just full of tussocky clumps of grass about shin high. What can we do to improve the appearance of this 'lawn'. At present the grass is dead due to prolonged drought. I had thought that next time we go - October - I would rake up as much of the cut / dead grass as possible. Apply a weed killer (can I get a weedkiller for tussocky grass?) and just before leaving sow some grass seed which is - drought resistant, doesn't grow too high, stays green in drought conditions, will be as tough as the existing grass which is bound to resurface or at least compete with it to give a better lawn. any advice?

A. The main reason the grass is the way it is, is that it is cut so infrequently. You could do the clear and start again approach that you suggest, though a new lawn from seed is a delicate thing and I'd always advise being there to water if it doesn't rain within 7 days.

If you spray it with weedkiller, you need then to clear the dead growth, rotavate the cleared ground, rake it to a fine tilth and then sow the grass seed into this. I guess you won't have the time to do this.

I'd suggest there are two approaches to make it a half decent lawn.

1/ You pay a local landscaper / gardener to carry out your weedkiller / reseed approach at the appropriate time, water it and look after it.

2/ You get the grass cut on a more regular basis than meadow land management approach that your local farmer is carrying out at the moment. (this seems the more likely to succeed option)

I'm afraid there is no grass that fits your criteria for solving the problem. Good lawns are more than anything the product of good preparation and good continual management. Regular mowing (according to a local, rather your imposed regimen) is probably the easiest way forward. Also, bear in mind that the concept of the British lawn is often unknown beyond the shores of the British Isles. Ultimately it depends on how much you want to spend on it. A good quality lawn maintained in absentia will be an expensive thing to have. A half-decent regularly mown lawn - as opposed to meadow - shouldn't be so bad. At the moment, you are applying meadow land management and so that is what you have.

Q. I laid a new lawn from turf last year and although it took well at first it has torn up in patches by the dog racing around while it was still establishing itself. The dog is now banned from the lawn but I am unsure if I will be able to repair the damage without having to start all over again - HELP!!!.

A.  You could get some turf and cut and fit it to the shapes that are missing, though this is often difficult as it's very awkward to buy small amounts of turf.

I don't know what area you have, but I'd guess that grass seed would be the easiest way to repair the lawn. Fill in any cavities / divits with topsoil and seed into this in March / April. It will take time, but by midsummer, you should a decent looking if not entirely finished lawn.

I have been looking at moss and heather as alternatives to grass. I'm not fussy as to how it looks, but I'd like it to completely cover the ground and as I said be tough. I saw some weeds in Thailand grown in place of grass that looked promising.

Moss too fragile can't take much wear.

The best bet is a tough resilient grass seed, you can also get "meadow turf" that is basically turf with tough weeds already in it. There are also plastic sheet products that can be laid to add resilience to areas that are driven on for instance, or you could even let concrete bricks into the ground that have spaces to fill with soil and grow grass in.