Replacing Your Lawn

A Lasting Lawn

If your lawn suffers from soil compaction, rampant weed problems, heavy thatch, or nutrient and organic matter deficiencies, you may want to remove your existing turf and replant your lawn. that's a big job, but like a new roof, your new lawn will last a long time with proper care.

Replanting Your Lawn

Four Choices

There are four ways to replant a lawn: by applying seed, planting either sprigs or plugs, or laying sod.

1. Seeds are applied to a new lawn. They are applied to soil where all turf has been removed.
2. Sprigs consist of cut-up lengths of underground or above ground runners, called rhizomes or stolons, which new grass emerges. Typically sprigs are planted by machine over large lawns; in small areas they can be planted by hand.
3. Plugs are round or square pieces of sod that measure about 2 inches across and are planted in holes that are evenly spaced throughout the lawn. After several months, the grass plants from the plug spread and fill the gaps.
4. Sod is available in carpet like sheets that are usually about 3/4 inch thick, 1-1/2 feet wide and about 6 feet long. Pieces should be laid perpendicular to a slope in a staggered pattern, as you would lay bricks.

Choose Your Seed

Low Upkeep

Don't by your seed on impulse! Choosing the right grass for your yard can make the difference between having a low-maintenance, environmentally-friendly lawn and one that is susceptible to disease, pests, and weed invasion, and a lawn that requires a lot of upkeep.

The type of seed you choose for either a new or restored lawn should depend on several factors.

1. What do you want your lawn to look like? Grasses vary in color, leaf width, and density of growth.
2. How much time and money are you realistically willing to spend tending your lawn.
3. Your sites growing conditions; the amount of sun and shade your site gets, the soil type and its level of fertility and dryness or wetness, and your climate.
4. Consider how your lawn will be used; for decorative landscaping, for erosion control, or as a play area.

Overseeding

Every 3 to 4 Years

A lawn that is dense as brand new sod, year after year, will have few weeds. To get your lawn thick, overseed the lawn in the fall or spring once or twice the first year. Once the second year, and then make it a routine to reseed every 3 to 4 years even if the lawn is looking really good.

Mulching Lawnmower's

Recycling Nutrients

A good mulching lawnmower chops u the grass so fine that their are never any clumps left on top of the turf. Recycling clippings back into the lawn for an entire season provides the grass plants as much nitrogen as there is in an application of fertilizer.

Nitrogen Fertilizers

Slow Release

Using quick release nitrogen fertilizers need to be applied three or four times a year in order to be effective. They are high in salts, this increased salinity burns turf roots and repels valuable earthworms and kill many of the beneficial soil microbes. Using slow release nitrogen fertilizer needs to be applied only once or twice a year and will not hurt the soil critters. One application in the fall is all that is usually required in most lawns.

Watering Your Lawn

The Right Amount

Things to consider before you water your lawn are, when does the grass need to be watered? and how much do i need to water my lawn ?

When you walk over a lawn that is mowed tall, you will leave temporary footprints. If the footprints disappear with the grass popping back upright within a minute or two the grass has enough water. If the footprints last more then 3 or 4 minutes, the lawn needs to be watered. Lawns need 2 inches of water a week in the heat of the summer.

Using Insecticides

Broad Spectrum

A lawn that is dense and mowed tall is likely to be inhabited by a healthy population of beneficial insects, including ants, spiders, and ground beetles, seldom has any problems from fleas, grubs,sod webworms, chinch bugs, or any other grass insect pest. Brand Spectrum insecticides kill all the good guys along with the bad guys. Usually left alone the good guys will eliminate the bad guys themselves in a dense lawn.