To reverse the damage done by compacted soil and a buildup of thatch, employ the use of a hollow tine aerator.  These tools, available in both manual and power varieties, create space in the soil for water, nutrients and air to reach the roots.  They are also very helpful in helping you repair your lawn.  They do so by removing chunks of soil with small h0llowed spoons.

Using an aerator is not complicated, though there are some things to think about ahead of time.  The first thing to decide is whether you will use a manual or power aerator.  Manual aerators, also called hand aerators, look a bit like a shovel with several hollow tines at the base.  The tines are inserted into the soil with the force of the operator’s weight.  Because they are time and labor intensive, hand aerators are only recommended for aerating very small areas of land.  For full lawns, you will want to use a power aerator.  These tools look like a large, heavy-duty lawn mower.  They have a cylinder surrounded with hollow tine aerators that remove plugs of soil as the cylinder rotates.  Though far more efficient than the hand aerator, the power core aerator is very powerful and requires some physical strength and endurance to operate it.

Once you have decided which tool to use, you will need to plan when you will aerate.  In most climates, you only need to aerate once a year; however, if you live in a very hot and dry area, you may want to do so twice a year.  It is best to aerate right as the grass begins to grow, so in either late summer/early fall for cool season grasses or in spring for warm season grasses.

Next, you should identify any sprinkler heads and mark them with flags to avoid damaging the aerator or the sprinklers.  On the night before you plan to aerate, thoroughly water your lawn.  This will make the process go more smoothly.

To operate the aerator, set the penetration at its deepest setting, usually about 3”.  Pass over your lawn as you would with a lawn mower – in straight lines, back and forth.  If it has been a long time since you last aerated, your soil is high in clay content, or your thatch is more than ¾ inch thick, you will want to do a second pass perpendicular to your first.  For very severe cases, you may want to do a third pass.

When you are done, you can either rake up the resulting soil plugs or simply wait for them to be reabsorbed into the lawn.   By the time your grass has fully grown, you should see a marked difference in the quality of your lawn.

Learn all about Lawn Aerators!

Bad grasses can ruin a lawn faster then most other things.  Yellow annuals or bent grass can take over a lawn completely in just a few years. You can repair these when the spots are small but after the 1st year or when the grasses have become much worse, it can be a lot harder to repair.

Weeds are usually fairly easier to fix.  Most can be eradicated with a few treatments of weed and feed.  If you lawn is all weeds, you may want to have it replaced.  A ball park figure your tearing out and replacing a lawn with new sod is roughly $2 per sq ft.  This could be more or less depending on where you live and how big of an area you are replacing. The cost or repair is a lot less.  (Subscribe to my blog and I will keep you up to date on some of these best and latest methods.)

If pests have damaged your lawn and the dead layer of thatch is more than 1/2 to 3/4, replace it.  Be sure to put a heavy dose of insectiscide on it befor you tear it out to prevent the pests from returning.  If damage is only in spots and non extensive, this lawn can be fixed.  Some insects leave your lawn and migrate away, some stay.  Some have suckers and some chew.  For insect the chew such as beetles and grubs, use a contact pesticide.  If they suck use a sestemic one. (spiders, fleas, and flys. )

Grasses can be repaired or replaced anytime lawns are actively growing. Cool weather grasses like to be dealt with in in the spring and fall.  (Less weeds in the fall.)  Warm grass lawns  like to replaced or repaired in the late spring and summer.

More to come on lawn repair!

The type of grass growing in your lawn depends more on the variability of sunlight and the variety of the existing soil, then it does on the outside temperature.

Did you know different type of grasses in different parts of the country grow differently.  Warm weather grasses such as those found in southern California, Florida much of the south and the south eastern coast are thicker, warm weather grasses.

Generally speaking, the hotter it gets, the better warm weather grasses grow. The faster growing time for these grasses is when the weather is between 85 and 95 degrees.  Warm weather grasses are a lot better at repairing themselves or self lawn repair.  They are also more vigorous and grow by shooting rhizomes out in many different directions at once.  Two of the most common types of warm weather grasses are St. Augustine and Bermuda grasses.

Cool weather grasses are a lot different.  These are predominately the types of grasses that grow in the north west.  Although this grass grows like crazy in the spring and the fall, it grows a lot slower in the winter and the summer.  Part of the slow grow in the summer is due to the hardening of the soil. This compacts roots and prevent water absorption.  In the winter, many of backyards in the northwest see less than 4 hours of sunlight a day.

Cool grasses grow in a circular pattern and are far less vigorous than warmer grasses.  These grasses also face a few other problems including poor drainage and competition from moss.  Lawns that don’t get a lot of sunlight in the winter may be replaced by moss (which has a shallow root system and needs less sunlight.)  Cool grasses includes different varieties of fescue and ryegrass.

The best way to maintain a lawn healthier is to mow higher and mow more often.  As  a general rule don’t moth your lawn under 2 inches and mow regularly so that you never have to cut more than 1/3 of the blade at a time.  Both types of grass benefit from longer, less frequent watering as a method to help develop the roots.

A nice healthy lawn can be enjoyed by you, your family, and everyone else in the neighborhood. Having a well taken care of lawn can be fun to play on, good for the environment, and give your home and neighborhood increased aesthetic value. Each of the hundreds of thousands of blades of grass in your lawn contributes to a healthy lawn.

Fun Lawn Facts

625 square ft of lawn produces enough oxygen for one person. A 5000 sq ft lot produces enough oxygen for 8 people. (Scotts: Lawns: Guide to a beautiful lawn. Christians).

Lawns cut down on pollution and noise. 1 acre of grass can break down 100 of pounds of pollutants including “sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, hydrogen fluoride, nitrates and other greenhouse gases.” (Solve global warming, cap and trade, and urban growth boundaries from your own back lawn.)

Grasses provide air conditioning in the summer and heating in the winter. Even if the sidewalk gets over 100 degrees, grasses stay at regular temperature of 75 in the summer.

What are other benefits of a healthy lawn?

Healthy Lawns are beautiful. Just looking at a freshly cut and edged lawn can be as refreshing as looking at a work of art. (Make sure to get a lawn chair, a glass of lemonade, and enjoy the view.)

They are safe for kids and pets. If lawns where bad for you, they would come with a warning label. Pets and kids love the out doors. Inside things can be static and unchanging but outside the world is always changing. Plus there is a lot more to see and bark at.

They’re great for parties. Did you run out of room inside? Or, maybe you just didn’t want to keep the whole house spotless, well move the party outside and let everyone enjoy your lawn with you!

These lawns are also durable. People might complain about getting walked all over, but your lawns never do.

They are a good place for insects and microorganisms to live.

They prevent erosion. Grass roots thickly penetrate into soil and hold it together.

Lawns help to clean dust particles out of the air. (Jupiter has fierce storm because it does not have adequate amounts of lawn.)

Lawns help me get in my regular ½ hour of exercise each week!

If you have questions on where to by a rolling lawn aerator please visit our site.

To tune up your lawn it is good to do the following. One or more of the following may be applicable. How the lawn should be repaired really has a lot to do with what is causing the problems.

These are some things that can help

1) Thatching- especially if you have cool weather grasses, moss instead of lawn, or a lot of dead material in your lawn. Experts recommend thatching cool weather grasses once every 3 years.   (For on dethatching a lawn.) 

2) Aerating- this helps to soften hard soils. It also allows deepen penetration of air water and fertilizer into the soil. The main purpose of aeration is to allow roots to go deeper and eventually create thick, self-sustaining turf.

3) Regular mowing- never mow more than 1/3 of the blade at a time. The general rule is mow high, mow often. For more information see our article on mowing. Mow more frequently during peak growing seasons and less frequently during slow grow seasons.

4) Fertilizing often also helps maintain a thick healthy turf. With the advent of slow release fertilizers, one can usually get away with fertilizing every two months during periods of active growth. In the northwest, this would be about 4 times a year.

5) Top soil or topdressing is also a good idea, especially when the soil is lacking in organic material. It can also be very good to use when you are over seeding.

6) Over seeding. With cool weather grasses this is best to do in the spring or in the fall. With warm weather grasses it is best to over seed in the late spring or early summer. If it never gets cold where you live, we can overseed any time the grass is actively growing. The most important thing to remember when overseeding is to water your lawn daily and keep the grass seed and seedlings wet. This will affect the germination rate of the new seed.

]]> http://lawnrepairdiy.com/six-ways-to-do-lawn-repair/feed/ 1 http://lawnrepairdiy.com/how-to-properly-mow-a-lawn/ http://lawnrepairdiy.com/how-to-properly-mow-a-lawn/#comments Thu, 28 May 2009 05:25:18 +0000 spencer http://lawnrepairdiy.com/?p=21

Is your lawn a cut above the rest? The best way to drive your neighbors green with envy is to have healthier and greener lawn. To really make them change color, mow your lawn a half an inch higher than theirs and mow it more often. There are two mistakes most people make and some even do both. Most people mow their lawn to either too short or they don’t mow it very often.

A lot of people mow short so they won’t have to mow as often. Mowing a lawn to short is detrimental for two reasons. First, roots don’t grow very well when the grass is to short and second the grass can get burned or dried out very easily. Mowing the grass to short can also make it appear yellow. A short lawn will also respond slower to fertilizers.

Mowing a lawn infrequently allows the grass to get to long. Long grasses expound more energy on shoot and less on roots. In addition grass is less dense because each plant takes up more room. When you do mow the lawn short, the ending result is a lawn that looks sparse or patches and this is a perfect invitation for weeds.

Most grasses need to be mowed at a height of between 2 and 3 inches. (nearly 80 percent of lawns.) The generally rule with mowing is mow high and mow often. Never mow more then 1/3 of the blade at a time. Sometimes this may require you to mow twice a week, but following this rule is one of the best ways to keep your lawn and prevent weeds from invading.

Additional tips:

For cool weather grasses, Leave them a little longer in the summer. These may help your lawn retain moisture.

Another tip is to sharpen your mower and change the oil at least once a year. Having a sharp blade helps you prevent lawn diseases and change your oil helps your engine run longer. Some older engines should be checked for oil every time they are used. We suggest once a month.

Another tip is to mulch and not bag clippings on the lawn. Since clippings are 95% water they break down quickly and can serve to fertilize you lawn. If you are cutting more than 1/3 of the blade, always bag. This is why we suggest mowing more often, because doing this might make mowing a lot faster.

What’s worse, land mines or acid rain? I knew a guy with a 400 square foot back yard who bought a Great Dane as a puppy six months ago and couldn’t understand what had ruined his small lawn. With dogs, it is usually always compaction, over fertilization (acid), or pH imbalances caused by ovulation in addition to regular dog behavior (digging holes).

This guy had a problem with lawn compaction. The weight of the energetic Great Dane compacted the root system to the point that the grass just could not grow anymore. Lawn repair for compacted lawns involves the use of mechanical aeration and sometimes soil additives like gypsum and peat moss.

The next problem caused by dogs is over fertilization. Have you noticed the grass closest to the rear and front door are always hit the worst? Dog urine contains urea, a powerful nitrogen fertilizer with an N-P-K of about 46-0-0, which means it is almost pure nitrogen. Too much fertilizer makes soil acidic and burns it. You can solve this problem a number of ways. There is now an additive you can give your pets to neutralize their urine, you can train them to pea on rocks and bark dust instead of grass, or you can pour a bucket of water over the fertilized area.

Ovulation is only a problem with some female dogs. It is a lot more acidic then Urea. To repair the lawn and get rid of pet spots, just scrape the surface, and reseed. Make sure to water regularly for at least 3 weeks or until the new lawn is established. When reseeding, add topsoil (or peat moss), grass seed, and a little bit of starter fertilizer. Adding sweet soil or lime to the area may also help the grass to become established faster. Spots can take anywhere from 3 to six weeks to fill in. If some spots fill in and some don’t, this could means that the soil in that spot is to acidic and you need to wait a little longer to replant.

Pet stores have recently started selling acid reducing sprays for lawns and water additives. How have these things works for you?