I have always dreamed of having beautiful grass. Because my family tends to move houses every few years, this dream has never been a reality. We built the house we currently live in a few years ago and this will be our third spring and summer with grass. So far its been a struggle to say the least. This year I have big plans for a spring lawn refresh.
My Ugly Grass Journey
We have 2 acres and about 1 of that is turf grass. The first year we had it tilled and seeded. Our landscaper set our sprinklers to water the seed around the clock. He seeded in the middle of summer and it was HOT. After the grass sprouted in that hot weather, the sprinkler system was never changed and it continued to be over watered throughout the day. At the end of the season we were left with an outrageously high water bill and a lot of fungus in our grass.
The next spring the grass struggled to begin with. The fungus left a thatch problem and our turf began to thin out quite a bit. We also realized that our soil was severely compacted from the construction of our home. I had been trying to deep water the grass but it looked like I wasn’t watering it at all! I finally put two and two together and figured out my water was running off the compacted soil and not sinking in to water the grass.
My soil needed help. We rented an aerator from Home Depot and I quickly learned that using an aeration machine is one of the hardest kinds of manual labor I’ve ever experienced. I will definitely be hiring that out in the future. After we aerated I spread seed and layered compost over it. We then used the riding lawn mower with a weighted pallet pulled behind it. This smoothed the compost and covered the seed. I changed my watering to cycle through short waterings a few times a day and we finally started to see some change.
And then came winter. I kept my grass a little longer thinking it was better for it to overwinter that way. Boy was I wrong. The long grass invited the voles to move in. On top of that, the snow and rain added more fungus. Now that it has all dried up the moldy grass has crusted over, preventing the new grass underneath from growing.
Common Lawn Mistakes
I have made all of these mistakes. My poor lawn has been through it. Lets go over them
- Seeding during the wrong time ie:hot summer or cold winter
- Overwatering
- Underwatering
- Soil Compaction
- Choosing the wrong kind of turf grass seed for your climate
- Soil under-nourished
- Grass left too long or mowed too short for the weather
- Should be kept shorter in the spring and fall and longer in the hot summer
- Too much thatch
Spring Lawn Refresh Plan
This is my plan this spring to refresh my lawn and help it recover from the last 2 years of bad decisions.
- Scalp the grass – mow it short
- De-thatch & Scarify
- I bought this machine HERE. It’s fairly affordable and the reviews are fantastic. The pull behind machines are not great. I’ve used one and they aren’t heavy enough to be effective.
- Overseed with the right seed for your climate
- I live in a cool season grass climate. For this the best grass is a combination of Kentucky Bluegrass and Perennial Ryegrass
- It’s really important to get good grass seed. Most seeds sold at big box stores have a lot of filler and inert matter included and aren’t as effective. I get my seed HERE.
- Compost/Organic Matter to cover the seed
- Water appropriately
- For me this means interval watering because of the compaction I have. I’ll water for 5-7 minutes and then circle back in an hour and do the same thing again.
- Fertilize in 6-8 weeks
- Keep grass mowed between 2-3″ for springtime. This means mowing more in the cooler wet weather when grass is actively and quickly growing.
Hopefully I have an amazing after photo at the end of the season here. Managing your own turf grass is a lot of work! I am giving myself this year to really dial in on the soil and type of grass I’m using along with proper watering and mowing and I’m hoping this is my year of grass success. There are other factors such as pests (voles and grubs), weeds, and fertilizing that can also affect turf health and I’ll dive into those more once I get the basics under control.
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