5 Easy & Simple Methods to expert Fix Your Lawn
You only need to do five quick steps to repair your lawn. Although there are different lawns throughout the country, these steps will work for almost any lawn. The first thing you need to do is evaluate the problem. For example, if your lawn has yellow spots, it could be from fertilizing too much, pests, or not getting enough water. When you discover the problem, you can keep it from causing trouble in the future.
Thatching – The first procedure is thatching. De-thatching is done with a manual dethatching rake or with a power rake and sometimes with both. The best time to thatch is typically in the spring or fall, but it can be done safely any time the grass is growing aggressively. Thatching will remove any dead organic matter from the lawn. (In the case of the yellow spots, it would remove the dead and dying yellow grass.) It lets water and air more easily reach the grass roots. It also leaves room to plant more grass.
Aerating – can also be done manually or with a machine. There are several types of aerators, but the best kinds to use are called core aerators. These leave small plugs of dirt on the lawn after aerating. Aerating breaks up clay and other hard soils and improves outcomes of fertilization and over seeding. It allows for direct access to the grass root zone giving seed more room to grow and older grass room for more shoots, creating thicker healthier turf.
Over seeding can easily be done with a hand seeder or even just with your hands. If the lawn is thin it may be necessary to over seed 2 or even 3 times. In using a hand spreader, be sure to set the spreader to the largest setting (usually the bigger numbers are larger). After the seed is sewn, be patient. Grass seed can take as long as 6-7 weeks depending on the weather. It will hibernate until the weather is warm enough to germinate. Once the seed has germinated, it will take a few months to establish itself. But most grasses grow outward with new shoots as they mature, so as long as the grass is well fed and watered, the lawn with thicken each year.
Over seeding – The third step to fixing a lawn is to over seed. Over seeding is merely spreading grass seed on top of the existing lawn. This can be done with a hand spreader as easily as any other type of spreader. Sometimes after thatching and aeration the lawn can be pretty sparse, if this is the case over seeding up to 3 times can prove very useful. However, patience is important when over seeding. It can take up to 6 weeks for the grass to come in, and a few months before it is well established.
Putting starter fertilizer on after over seeding is an important step. It gives the seed just enough extra nutrients to grow healthy. It is a simple step and can be done with the hand spreader as well, but is it essential to rapid and healthy root development in the new seed.
Spencer is a lawn repair professional. For more information on thatching or Lawn Aeration please visit our site.
