Patching bare spots in the yard for Dummies

This is for all the over dummies like me out there....

I searched all over about how to do this, and got tons of long, involved procedures, with strict quantities, testing soil, etc etc etc. Is it shade, sun, north, south facing, etc....?

I wasted days trying to figure it out. Took practically no time and effort, and within 2 weeks the new grass is thin and dark green, looks like it's been there forever.

You experts will laugh at this, but the first time it's always a guessing game whether to read the packages or who to listen to....

For the other dummies, this is what worked for me...

  1. Get some of that sun & shade grass seed that is coated with something to help retain moisture. Also birds don't seem to eat the coated type.

  1. Get some plain old garden soil containing mulch. Don't need fertilizer, additives or anything fancy for this.

  2. If you don't know what the soil needs, just get some general purpose fertilizer 10-10-10. If the yard is not dark green, use high nitrogen like 24, with some sulfur and iron.

  1. Rake up the dead grass and thatch in the bare spots and dump it.

  2. Sprinkle the seed so that the seeds are about 1/4- to 3/4-inch apart. Just guess, it's not that important.some.

  1. Sprinkle the garden soil over the seed by hand if you just a few spots. Just enough to cover the seeds. I used 4 cu ft and save a bunch of money by just covering the seed and not the whole yards.

  2. Water it until soaked, but not enough to run off. Use fine spray to keep from splashing the seed around.

  1. Water it several times a day to keep the top damp. Don't need to soak it again. For me in So Calif I had to water 2-3 times a day at first due to dry windy days. Don't let it dry out if you can help it. But if does, just go back to watering and it will be fine.

  2. 3-5 days later, grass started to poke up. After a week it was an inch. 3 inches after 10 days and started to fill in between the blades. After 2 weeks it looked great.
Reply to
Newgene McMensa
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What about the other kind of grass .. how about a post to grow-your-own - marijuana - all of Canada will be freely growing it next year ! John T.

Reply to
hubops

For bare spots I just grab seed by the handful and toss down. Most seeds are touching each other or at least very close. Only water too. No fancy fert.

Reply to
Thomas

...

if you are concerned enough about bare spots then you should also be concerned enough to match the existing grasses.

that means knowing what you have planted and/or letting some of the existing grasses to go to seed and harvesting them.

buying random seed at the hardware you could end up with a pretty rotten looking result.

in our case, we don't care what the grassy spots look like, so if there is a bare spot we just keep mowing with the mulching mower until it fills in.

songbird

Reply to
songbird

As long as the result is green... My lawn is a textbook model of diversity including species that are not grasses in any way shape or form.

Reply to
rbowman

Same here. Whatever grows is fine unless the name includes the words puncture or thistle.

Reply to
Dean Hoffman

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I.m not sure where you are, but this plant seems to be sprouting all over the place.

Reply to
Mike_Duffy

Puncture as in goat-head thorns? I was first exposed to that crap in Utah. I wound up cutting bicycle tire patches in quarters to try to hold enough air to make it back a mile of so to my truck.

I'm not in love with thistles but at least they're pretty and don't turn into caltrops.

Reply to
rbowman

Thanks the Gods it doesn't favor semi-arid climates. A pox on all gardeners who drag ornamentals home with them. Yeah, I'm looking at you buddy, whoever thought Japanese knotweed, Oriental bittersweet, and tamarisk were a good idea.

Reply to
rbowman

For my yard, it can be poison oak - as long as it's green.

Reply to
Newgene McMensa

My yard has some kind of spurge vine. Never noticed it before (it's green). Now it stands out with the new grass and easy to pull out. Amazing that the simple throw and water method now looks better than the neighbors on either side, both of whom put down sod last year. Poor sods. Nyuk nyuk nyuk....

Reply to
Newgene McMensa

...important context removed?...

why would you edit out my previous words when they are important to the context of the remark?

i'd previously said that "if you cared about the looks..." which is pretty clear that my comment doesn't much apply to you.

doesn't apply to us either. the rabbits do most of the weeding for us when it comes down to the grassy areas (very little left that isn't gardens).

plenty of mints, worts, clovers, thymes, daisies, plantains, dandelions, chickory, yarrows, etc.

we also never bother with fertilizer just keep mowing with the mulching mower - 20yrs it's done just fine.

songbird

Reply to
songbird

Even if they care about the looks, unless they are real lawn fanatics and know what specific grass was originally planted, expecting the typical homeowner to be able to match the grass, buy the correct one to match, when fixing a spot is asking a lot. Even among the same species of grass, there can be a big difference in appearance and typical homeowner isn't going to be able to determine much of anything, unless they already know. It would be a good idea to keep a note of what was used, if you even know, but IDK anyone that does that. And most of the seed sold is a mix of varieties anyway, further complicating what you can do.

Reply to
trader_4

trader_4 wrote: ...

*nods*

just keep mowing it regularly and prevent any stray weeds from moving into the bare spots and they'll fill in from the surrounding grasses eventually. if you want to speed it up you can rough it up a little and add organic matter which will make it easier for plant roots/stolons to invade or seeds to start.

we just mow whatever grows once in a while. don't care much what it is. if it can't survive being mowed regularly then that's ok too...

i think we're down to about 2% of the area being lawn now. would like to get rid of the rest of it too.

songbird

Reply to
songbird

Yeah, this stuff:

Another article says this: Chemicals. A mixture of one pound of sodium chlorate in four gallons of water or the same amount of ammonium sulfamate used as a drenching spray will kill puncture vine plants, but will not kill the seed. If such a spray is to be used, the application should be made when the first plants are in bloom. Plants with mature burs and viable seed may be sprayed with 1 to 1Yz gallons per square rod of Diesel oil, any light fuel or crude oil, waste cylinder oil, or crank case drainings that can be sprayed satisfactorily as a mist. Such oils will kill both plants and seeds of puncture vine

Reply to
Dean Hoffman

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