Grass repair

 

Any ideas on the fastest way to repair a bad patch on my lawn?

There is one spot (maybe the size of two basketballs) where the grass
turned brown and died. I need to reseed this, and I'd like to do it as
fast as possible. Is plain seed from the hardware store adequate? Some
of the home improvement places I've been to sell this bright green
powder mix that they claim is even better for fixing patches like
this.

I'd welcome any ideas since I'd like to repair this area as soon as I
can. Thanks.

 

Dave G wrote:


  all very vague, hard to say
exactly.  what kind of lawn
is it?  highly formal, pristine,
started from sod and adequately
maintained?  or just your every
day yard that is mixed with
weeds and the grasses could
be quite anything and you
really don't care what as long
as it is green?

  do you know why it was
killed in those spots?

  was something dumped on it
to kill it off?

  you might need to replace the
soil there before doing anything
else.

  the quickest means if you don't
care about matching the existing
grass mix is to get some sod and
put it down.  slightly spade the
soil and make the edge of the
spaces straight up and down so
that when you cut the pieces to
fit they fit snugly.  tamp it down
a little bit and keep it watered
if there is a dry spell.

  if you want an exact match that
would take a lot more effort, because
you would either have to know the
exact mix you started with or have
someone who knows grass look at
it and figure it out.  i.e. not likely to
be worth the trouble.

  easier to just take some plugs from
along the edge of the sidewalk (where
it usually is overgrowing anyways) and
move them into the spaces.  keep it
weeded and watered and it will eventually
fill in.  you can seed it in the bare spots to
fill it in faster, but that would be risking
introducing a different species.

  hard to be more precise without more
details from you.  :)


  songbird

 

songbird said:

<snip>

WTF is wrong with your word-wrap?

--

Eggs

Experience is the thing you have left when everything else is gone.

 

Eggs Zachtly wrote:

  nothing, i write short lines.

 for other's text that i quote
i have it set at 72.


  songbird

 


Agree with almost all of songbird's advice.  The big missing factor
here is geography and type of grass.  If it's cool season grass and
somewhere where it's summer now, the sod suggestion is probably the
best.   You can buy it in small pieces at HomeDepot.   The downside is
that if it's a uniform lawn with a different type of grass, it may not
match and be noticeable.

The product in the store that is a blue patching mix contains not only
seed, but also starter fertilizer and hydraulic mulch.   For seeding,
it is highly effective for patching because the mulch retains water,
so it's easier to keep it moist.   Still, in the heat of summer, this
is a constant battle and even with the mulch, you would need to water
it at a min at least once a day, probably more like 3 times a day for
weeks until it's established.  Sod gives instant results and while it
needs to be watered daily, once a day will do and the chance of
success is much higher.

The only advice I partially disagree with is the suggestion to take
plugs from elsewhere in the lawn.   That will work if it's a grass
that will spread via rhizomes, eg bluegrass.   But if it's a clump
type grass, like tall fescue, it will not.   A given clump can get
larger and partially fill it in, but it won;t spread and establish new
plants.