Last year the summer was hot and dry. The rains came as normal in the fall. But did your lawn recover from the heat and drought? Did lawn insects damage your lawn as well?
Fortunately, lawns and grasses have some ability to regenerate and fill in. But in cases, where the damage is more extensive, it may take a long time until the lawn is dense enough to suit our tastes.
So, how can we help the process?
- First, a good nutrient program will help. Grasses respond favourably to applications of high quality turf fertilizer. Feeding the lawn regularly will increase the root and shoot growth and encourage the lawn to fill in the bare and thin spots
- Secondly, adding seed will add new grass plants that will grow and expand the green area. There are several different ways to seed a lawn.
- For small areas, one can add some good soil and sprinkle the seed over top. Rake lightly to cover the seed. Tamp down lightly to create good soil contact with the seed. Spreading large amounts of soil, however can be very labour intensive.
- For larger areas, we recommend Aerating and Overseeding. Core aeration removes plugs of soil from the lawn. (Likely, you have seen the cores lying on lawns in your neighbourhood after an aeration has been done.) When seed is spread on the lawn after an aeration, many seeds will fall into the aeration holes. Some seed will end up under the cores as well. These seeds will now have good soil to seed contact and will have a good chance of growing.
- Once seeded, it is important to keep the lawn moist. We recommend a light watering twice a day for the first two weeks. By then some of the faster growing seed will have germinated. The frequency of watering can be reduced at this time. However, newly sprouted seedlings can easily die off if they don’t get enough water. Their roots are still small and underdeveloped, so dry conditions will easily cause them to shrivel and die.
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