I am no lawn care expert—but, I can clearly see that our
front lawn is a wreck. We have battled
dead patches, weed patches, grub worm induced “crop circles” and this past
summer’s lovely drought. We decided it
was time to reseed (again) with a seed suited to our ever-changing landscape. Reseeding the lawn in the fall was our latest
do-it-yourself project, but will it improve our grass?
What is the problem with our front yard? It’s old and worn out. It has faced three kids, dogs, deer, skunks,
and general wear and tear for over twenty years. We fertilized. We watered. We tried to take care of the front yard. We called in the lawn experts for a couple of
years of grub worm battle plans, we aerated and reseeded our front lawn with
“shade loving” grass seed since our once sunny front yard had been overtaken by
three massive, 20 year old trees over the years. We saw a little success. We actually had real
grass in spots for a season or two. Then a winter ice storm took down one
twenty year old tree. Our yard became a
little sunnier. Then a fall windstorm
took down another twenty year old tree. The
front yard became lots sunnier. Then Mother
Nature refused to allow rain for about three months straight this summer. Now, this fall, our front lawn is virtually sunbaked,
dead, and dried out. The shade
loving/sun loving/mixed up grass that we had struggled with for years gave up
this summer in a few massive patches.
What was the expert, lawn care advice? We needed to either start over and do a
complete front yard “rehabilitation”, so to speak, or give yet another attempt
at aeration and reseeding—with grass seed more suited to the front yard’s
changed environment. We also needed to
add some nutrient rich soil to our old, rocky, “dead” soil, and keep the critters
off the lawn to allow the new grass seedlings a shot at life. Well—the aeration, soil additions, and
reseeding were all easy enough—and we can keep the kids out of the yard. Now we just need to wait and see if the grass
can withstand all of our suburban deer, skunk, rabbit, and kitty cat traffic!
Will reseeding the lawn in the fall improve my grass? Lots of lawn care companies recommended that
we reseed in the fall rather than the spring for better results in our
situation. (Believe me--I have someone trying to sell me a lawn care contract at least once a week!) So, we are giving a spot-reseeding to one
of the worst areas of the lawn. The husband actually spent his day yesterday on the task. Only
time will tell. We’ll post an update as
the seedlings sprout—or fail to sprout—weather and skunk willing.
Disclosure: I am not a lawn care expert--nor have I been paid by any company to offer advice or endorsements. I just wanted to let my readers know what we are up to--and what happens when I'm out of the kitchen for a day or two!
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ReplyDeleteDid it work? Our backyard was pretty bad...to the point where we finally gave up trying and put in brand new sod. It looked great for a while...but we are starting to get dead patches...and it's only been a few months. We water and maintain it, so I don't know why it's happening....maybe some animals? I do not have a green thumb...that is for sure!