Making lawn greener and thicker, growing new seeds, weeds, etc

10 years ago

Hi all

I'm new to lawn care as I just bought a house about a month ago, and I have been trying to revive this lawn into a nice, green, and thick lawn, as it was a precarious shape when I moved in.

I've been watering is every other day (im going to transition to 2 times a week), and put in two applications of fertilizer (2 weeks apart), and the lawn is looking MUCH better now, but still a long way to go before becoming really thick and really green.

My issues are both "brown/deadzones" that won't grow back. Random brown grass scattered throughout the lawn, and thin areas of the lawn. Here are some example pics (before I cut the grass):

Some areas of the lawn that were completely dead (stayed completely brown no matter what) I dug up and replanted seeds a week ago. In the areas I planted seed, I have been watering every day, but the seeds won't plant and I don't see anything growing yet. Any ideas of what I am doing wrong? Along with digging it up and putting dirt on top, I put some topsoil on too. Here are the pics of these areas:

And then I have the random areas of brown spots that won't grow back:

In addition, I have this weed that keep growing randomly in spots, what do I need to use to get rid of these?

Here are some pics of the lawn after cutting, lining, and cleaning:

Any tips please to making this lawn nice, thick, and completely green? And help growing my seeds?

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Comments (7)

uscjusto
10 years ago
Where in sacramento did you buy?

Reseeding will be very difficult in this hot weather we are having. The seeds just won't germinate and it's hard to keep the soil moist enough.

Just be patient and when fall rolls around you can try overseeding and reseeding. What kind of grass do you have?
Fusion916
Original Author
10 years ago
I bought in Oak Park.

Is just an issue of watering more often if the problem is the soil isnt moist enough? Or do I really have to wait until the temps get into the 80s everyday?

When you say overseeing and reseeding? do you mean just take a bag of seed and spread it all over the existing lawn? I have no idea what kind of grass it is, but the seeds I planted were tall fescue.
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Crabgrass control and trying to grow grass seedlings at the same time is not a real great combo. In addition to the good suggestions above, I would suggest a couple of things. First, do you get enough sunlight on the yard to allow any cool season grass to thicken up? If it doesn't get full sunlight, do a search here on the forum about sunlight and grass to see how much is needed and what you can do if you are in between (more shade tolerant varieties). The second thing is, as you suggest, overseed in the fall so you can get the grass established before tackling the crab grass control issue in the spring. It dies in the winter, so, overseeding then has a better chance of establishing. Second, as mentioned, you can then apply pre-emergent to best effect in the spring. A good coverage of new grass seedlings and the pre-m should work together to hold down the crabgrass. Lastly, keeping the dogs off the new seedlings for several months should also help them a good bit in getting established. I've fenced my back yard for just that reason to good effect a couple of years ago. I basically made a dog run on the side for a few months. Good luck.
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I agree with the two previous entries. But also...I suggest using the aerator as a 'tool' merely to 'lift' soil up to the surface, maybe as many as two passes over a moist lawn, after it's been mowed short (to reduce interference w/ equipment & increase user visability). And then....once all of the soil cores all over the lawn have dried to a large extent, use a genuine SLICE SEEDER to cut vertically into the soil, and drop the grass seed into those cuts, while at the same time pulverizing all of those aforementioned soil cores. I myself like to implement the use of endomycorrhyzae spores when I 'dissect' lawns like this...but doing so pretty much neccessitates the lawn-owner to a PERMANENT shift toward ALL ORGANICS in terms of turf food & weed control, or else the beneficial spores will likely die for the lack of protein that needs to be spoonfed to them, in the manner that corn meal (etc) does. A good, successful seed job is all about SEED TO SOIL CONTACT, first and foremost ! Generally, other considerations to think about, are erosion potential (both wind and water), weed invasiveness potential, moisture loss potential, and the length of time to mature before freeze / frost cycles begin.
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1. I bought and used some weed-b-gone/crabgrass killer earlier this year..you can buy it at the big box stores. It worked well in my weed infested back yard(disclaimer, the weeds were not my fault, it's a new house for us) You just attach it to your hose and spray the yard and watch those weeds fade away...it won't kill them all though...keep hand pulling...not sure what to do about your dog. 2. Absolutely aerate...it is so good for your lawn in so many ways. You can hire someone to do this for you..it costs about $80 for an average size lawn in MN, not sure on NY...when they come to do it, I would insist that they go over the lawn twice(front to back side to side) so that there are more holes for seed to fall in when you overseed. If possible, you're probably better off doing it yourself because then you can go front to back, side to side, and diagonal, which will really be an aggresive aeration, which means more holes and soil cores for your seed to germinate in. You should mow the grass down very low and bag it before you aerate. Then mow it again and mulch it after they aerate...then seed...then water twice a day..if your lawn gets plenty of sun, I'd recommend a higher quality Perennial Rye / Kentucky blue mix. Though you should know that you must keep Kentucky Blue moist for an entire month after you seed it.(alot of work if you don't have an irrigation system)..you only need to keep Perennial Rye moist for about two weeks...so maybe just the Per Rye mix unless you don't mind twice a day watering with sprinklers for a month...you probably already have some K blue in your lawn so if you just follow the lawn basics mentioned below it will start to flourish. 3. I personally enjoy hand sowing the seed...put it in a big bag or bucket and grab it and throw throw throw yourseed to a nice new lawn. Yes, do the entire lawn if you've aerated the entire lawn. Some of the seed will fall into the aerated holes, and some will get in contact with the mulched up soil cores that are now laying all over the top of your lawn. The seed that lands in the holes will grow the best, so again, more holes better results. After doing this, follow soccerdads advice about mulch mowing on the highest setting for your lawn mower once a week, fertilize spring, summer, and fall(if you have a shady lawn, only fertilize once a year) put out a pre emerge for crabgrass next spring, aerate and overseed each fall for the next few years, and water once a week about an inch of water. Aerating, once a week watering, and mowing on the highest setting will promote deeper root growth and a strong and dense stand of grass....this is how you keep the weeds and crabgrass away, if there is no room for them to grow, they don't. By the way, if you have a shady lawn, you need a shady mix of grass seed instead of the Per Rye/ K blue. The best shade grass in my opinion is chewings fescue...when you buy shade grass seed make sure there's chewings fescue in it.
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uscjusto
10 years ago
I think you have more problems than a dying lawn when you are living in oak park: high crime rate, poverty, depressed property values, etc.

Anyway back to the lawn. I think the soil temps are too high in summer to germinate grass seed. So that's why waiting until fall is better. Plus turf seedlings won't be able to survive in this heat if they do germinate.

Re-seed is laying down grass seed in bare spots to grow more grass in that bare area. Overseeding is to spread grass seed over your existing lawn to make it more full and lush.

You should probably add some starter fertilizer after seeding as well, plus water daily.
Fusion916
Original Author
10 years ago
The part of Oak Park I live in is not the high crime rate, low property value area. But lets stick to the lawn care please.

On on overseeding, so I need to rake out or dig out the brown spots before laying down the overseed to the existing lawn?

Also, as of today, I am starting to see tiny new lawn sticking out, so I guess the seeds (or at least some of them) did germinate properly. It's probably helping that I have a shade tree over the entire lawn so it doesn't get as hot or as dry when it's 90 outside.

And I didn't see any suggestions on how to get rid of those weeds I pictured. What kind of plant is that and can I put something down that targets that plant?
uscjusto
10 years ago
I can't help you with the weed question. Is hand pulling the weeds possible? If you want to prevent weeds in the future, one solution is to water deep and infrequently (1" per week all on one watering) and mow high. The shallow roots of the weeds won't get enough water and the tall grass will shade out weed seedlings.

For overseeding or reseeding bare areas, you can dig out dead grass and loosen soil to ensure grass seed contact with soil and to make sure nothing is interfering with seedling growth.
Fusion916
Original Author
10 years ago
Yes for right now, hand pulling is possible, but its spreading and won't be possible in about a month at it's rate of growth.

Watering infrequently right now won't be possible as I will be overseeding soon and will need lots of water.
uscjusto
10 years ago
Watering requirements for overseeding are different. Daily watering and you only need to keep the top 1/4" moist. Don't let the soil dry though! And good luck with the high temps and new grass seedlings.

And best of luck to you in Oak Park. I went to McGeorge. I know the area.

Making lawn greener and thicker, growing new seeds, weeds, etc

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Making lawn greener and thicker, growing new seeds, weeds, etc

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uscjusto

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