Why do the "worst looking patches" look the way they do? Are they shaded? If so, new grass won't do much better in those spots.

You can use a tiller but you will regret it every time you mow from now on. When you rototill and level the surface, the fluffy soil on top settles unevenly leaving a bumpy surface. It takes 3 years to fully settle, so it gets bumpier and bumpier until then.

What's the problem? Is the grass looking bad due to weeds, or as callerhoe mentioned, shade? Or animals? What going on?

Nothing out of the ordinary. I'm looking for an alternative to the recommendations I read about thatching and aerating, neither of which I can do at this time. Like any other lawn, it has bare patches and weeds. It wasn't maintained at all by the previous owners, so I think it looks pretty good considering that, plus: uneven sun and watering, normal spreading of weeds, earthworms, chipmunks, woodchucks, tree roots,.should I continue? This is the sticks, there's every element working against me. My neighbors can afford IGS and professional lawn care; I'm a DIY'er.

Thanks for the comments.

My first question would be why can't you dethatch or aerate? If you can't do those basic tasks, I'd wonder at the feasiblity of tilling as well.

And I would also argue against the notion that tilling takes 3 years to settle properly. I'm not sure where that time period came into play but you can manually 'settle' the soil quite adequately using a water filled roller. Which is suggested anyway when preparing a new seed bed for a lawn, tilled or not.

Aerating is a basic task? The cheapest machine is around $2500. Some articles I've read recommend making two or even three passes. That's 36,000 sq ft of aerating. No, thank you. I want to reseed small patches here and there. A perfect lawn isn't my goal.

No one who doesn't own their own lawn care business buys an aerator!! They are available for rent at any standard equipment rental outlet and most box stores, usually by half or full day increments.......less than $50 for a half day rental of a homeowner scale machine; a bit more for the commercial. For a yearly or every other year chore, that's a pretty insignificant cost.

And there is no need to to do multiple passes. Once over will do the job just fine.

I don’t see why you can’t use a small tiller/cultivator to scratch up the bare spots enough to reseed. Aerating only disturbs the top few inches, you can do the same thing with a small tiller.

When we had an acre to maintain, we bought a core aerator to pull behind the lawn mower for $150.

You don't need to disturb the soil. Just seed.

I would like to reiterate the idea to rent a dethatcher and aerator. My rental place charges $45 for each for day rental. It takes a few hours for each so i do the thatch one day and aerate the next. Try to do them when the soil is moist after a rain. I de-thatch every few years and core aerate/seed every fall. This is just basic lawn maintenance that you may want to get used to if you want to save money and have a nice lawn.

Once seeded, keep the seeds moist. I set my sprinklers to warer 5 times a day for 10 mins till they germinate then switch to deeper watering. Seeds need soil temps of 70 degrees to germinate so keep that in mind wherever you live.

My landscapers charge about $300 for the aerate and seed so it is a significant savings for me to do. I even found a place where the trade buys their seed at a significant savings. Plus, I am more careful not to seed my beds too-I hate pulling grass out of my beds all summer.

If i am wrong about anything, hope the pros jump in to correct.

Agree with lawniac. If all you need is seed, then drop the seed, walk on the seed, and water lightly every day until you get 80% germination. No need to buy or rent anything. 80% takes a week for rye, two weeks for fescue, and three weeks for Kentucky bluegrass. Do this sooner rather than later. If the grass comes in soon you have time to evaluate whether you need more seed.

Here's how Mother Nature seeds: grass grows up to the seed head stage, animals walk past the seed heads and knock the seed off, more animals walk by and push the seed into the soil, and grass grows. It grows even without being pushed into the ground, but it seems to grow better in the footprints of the animals.

I would also add that in 50 years of lawn maintenance, I've never used a tiller or dethatcher. I used an aerator once and saw no benefit. The single biggest improvement for me came when I changed from frequent watering to infrequent watering. The second biggest improvement was from mowing high. Third biggest improvement came from changing from chemical fertilizers to organic. The organic improvement was immediate (well, 3 weeks). These three changes have ended all the hassle I had with lawn care. I started mowing high in the 1990s but went to really high in 2012. Changed to organics in 2002 and deep watering in 2003.

Here's the poor man's way: Use a heavy duty, rigid rake to pull out some of the thatch and scarify the soil. Use a garden fork to punch some holes into the soil. Throw down a bunch of seed. Throw down a bit of organic lawn fertilizer. Throw down a layer of compost. Water, water, water.

I would agree to rent an aerator. The rental is fairly cheap, and it doesn't take long to do. It's much more effective if you do it after a rain, so the soil is a bit damp. Once you seed, make sure you keep the area good and moist for the first few weeks. I would also follow up with a good slow release fertilizer.

A tiller will technically do the job, but it will result in a very bumpy lawn.