Restoring a Tired Lawn

Restoring a tired lawn allows you to improve your lawn without removing the existing turf. You will have the best chance of success if you do a thorough walk-through of your lawn checking both above and below ground.



Your lawn is a good candidate for restoration if:


Some grass blades are thin or have a yellow/green look.
Turf cover is even with small areas of soil or wear.
Some bare soil is the result of water erosion, but there should not be standing water on the lawn.
Less than one half of your lawn is covered with weeds.
There are only minor bumps and depressions.
Grass roots are 3- to 6-inches long.
A spade penetrates easily to 3- or 4-inches.
There is at least one earthworm in a spade full of soil;
The thatch layer is no more than ½- to 1-½ inches thick


Soil top layer is 3- to 5-inches deep.
If conditions are worse than outlined above you will need to remove the turf, improve the soil, and replant.




The best time to begin restoration is late summer or early fall, although adjusting pH and dethatching can be done in the spring to prepare for a fall restoration. You will see some improvement in a restored lawn during the season in which you begin, but you will need two or three growing seasons to see dramatic progress.




While restoring your lawn is not nearly as labor intensive as removing all of your turf and starting over, it will require several weekends of work.




Eight Steps to Restoring a Lawn
It takes work, but it is not impossible to give your lawn a facelift. Follow these steps to help wake up a tired lawn:




Step 1: Remove thatch and weed buildup. The best time to dethatch is in the spring or fall when your lawn is thriving.


Step 2: Fill depressions and level bumps. As you dethatch your lawn (Step 1) make note of bumps and depressions and mark any irregularities with latex spray paint.


Step 3: Adjust your soil’s pH. Conduct soil tests and learn what to do to correct your soil’s pH level.


Step 4: Add nutrients. The results of Step 3 will determine how you fertilize your lawn.


Step 5: Increase organic matter and microbes. Fertilizer is not effective without an adequate population of microbes.


Step 6: Aerate compacted lawns. Aeration allows grass roots to deeply penetrate the soil and for fertilizer and organic matter to reach the roots.


Step 7: Prepare the surface and overseed it. Choose seed that is best for your area.


Step 8: Take care of young plants. All your work to this point will be in vain if you do not adequately care for the young grass plants. Click here for more details. It may take two or three growing seasons, but your hard work will eventually pay off in a beautiful lawn.