I'm Bringing Grass Ba-ack

Thursday, August 14, 2014

 
 
In the spring we were worried that the grass in our backyard had reached the point of no return. Our poor lawn was suffering from:
 
- chinch bug damage
- a dandelion explosion
- moss
- clover
- and many, many burn spots from the doggies
 
The lawn in our backyard is by no means perfect, but it is definitely on the mend. Here's what we did to bring it back to life.
 
1. Lime
 
There were several indications that are lawn was very acidic (lots of moss and weeds). So, we bought a giant bag of lime and generously spread it over the grass with a rotary spreader. I think we are due for another treatment but I am planning to pick up a soil pH kit just to be sure.
 
2. Aeration and Over-Seeding
 
Since our lawn was in such bad shape, we decided to invest in this service from a lawn company. A few years ago we rented an aerator from Home Depot and did the whole process ourselves. This time, however, we wanted the professionals to do the job properly and quickly! We were a little bit skeptical that this would make a difference. Much to our delight, it did!
 
3. Sprinklers / Watering
 
The lawn company that we used recommended that we water our newly over seeded lawn morning and night for two weeks. Yikes! We decided to be all hard-core about it. Go big or go home, right? So, Alex invested in some new sprinklers and we were pretty diligent about the regular watering. What do you know, in two weeks we had new grass sprouting up everywhere.
 
4. Thatch Removal
 
There were several areas in the yard that had large patches of thatch from chinch bug damage. We probably should have removed all of the thatch before we limed and over-seeded but at the beginning of the season we just didn't have the time. So, where the grass seed didn't take (because of thatch) I've been working away digging out the dead grass so that new grass has a chance to grow.
 
5. Top Soil + Extra Grass Seed
 
Wherever there was thatch or burned grass I dug out the dead stuff and added new topsoil (PC Black Earth) and seed (Scott's Coarse Grass Seed). I ended up buying a huge contractor bag of seed because we had a lot of spots to fix. I only worked on one small area of the yard at a time so that I could keep on top of the watering. Many of the little areas are blending right in to the rest of the lawn now. Yippee!
 
6. Fertilizer
 
We waited quite awhile to apply fertilizer to the lawn. We didn't want to burn our newly sprouted grass. We used a rotary spreader and applied Scott's Turf Builder a few weeks ago. We plan to add another round of fertilizer in the late summer / early fall. 
 
7. Weed Control
 
Even though our lawn is looking better, we still have a lot of dandelions and clover. Here in Ontario, dandelion pesticides have been banned since 2009. Not that I'm a huge fan of using chemicals on our lawn - but the recent ban on pesticides means that every lawn on our street has dandelions and the seeds spread everywhere!!! It's been really hard to keep on top of. We did pick up an iron-based weed control product called Scott's Ecosense Weed-B-Gone. We have to spray each weed individually so it's a slow process. We also invested in a stand-up weed removal tool (Fiskars Deluxe Weed Remover) - which works great but is a tedious task when you have a lot of weeds. One day I had to stop after filling four large buckets full of dandelions. Oy.
 
8. Mowing the Grass Long
 
Alex raised the blades of the lawnmower so that they are almost as high as they can go. This keeps our grass nice and long so that it doesn't dry out in the hot sun. We do have to mow it more frequently but it's worth it because it really does make a difference.

Before:


After:

 
 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
Of course, I couldn't have done any of this without my little helper.
 
 
 
He's at the age now where he will occupy himself for a few minutes and then he will come along with his little shovel and fling topsoil e-v-e-r-y-w-h-e-r-e. :)
 
If you have any lawn care tips or tricks make sure to leave me a note in the comments section!

10 comments:

  1. Lawn looks great Sarah. Great to have a little helper by your side. He's doing a great job :-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. We tried for years and finally threw in the towel and went 'faux'. So I guess I don't have any tips. Other than good luck. Our problems were three-fold - too much shade, too many roots from massive trees and raccoons. Hopefully you aren't dealing with those issues!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I actually love how your backyard looks now with the faux grass. We don't have racoons but we do have the tree root problem. Hopefully with more TLC the grass will keep looking better and better. Fingers crossed!

      Delete
  3. your lawn is looking good and you've done everything we've heard of that should be done. We have too much grass and am looking forward to removing some of it and going with a European look.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Too much grass!?!?! I wish I had that problem right now, lol!

      Thanks for stopping by and saying hello.

      Delete
  4. yard looks beautiful!! Really nice. Think about embracing the dandelions and clover. They are soooooo good, actually essential, for pollinators like bees and beetles. The dandelions especially, in the spring, are important for the first pollen flow and give insects some pollen when there isn't much else around and therefore a chance to survive and thrive. By leaving (and even loving!) the dandelions, you are helping bees and other beneficial insects survive, and they are enjoyable to watch and learn about. .. . Cooper will have fun blowing the seeds! Or you could pull yours out before they go to seed. Those Fiskars tools are amazing exercise, you get to play outside and spend time in your yard, and hey... it kind of aerates the lawn??

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for sharing your point of view about the pollinators, Jackie. I don't mind a few dandelions here and there but we were growing a field and it just looked so ugly and rundown.

      P.S. Cooper LOVES to blow those seeds around!

      Delete
  5. Spraying white vinegar on your weeds is an inexpensive way to control them.

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

Cozy.Cottage.Cute. All rights reserved © Blog Milk Design - Powered by Blogger