How in the world do all of my neighbors have it but us?? Last summer we had TruGreen come over and they did some good, but it seemed like they did a lot more harm than they did good. Ugh! Now we have huge bald patches in our front yard! It was sod 3 years ago...but the heat in the summers has been difficult on it, not to mention whatever TruGreen did to make it worse. So how do you fix that!!?
My husband is a grass fanatic. He 'fixes' the bald patches with topsoil and grass seed. and he swears by the Scott 4-Step System.
If you want to go environmentaly friendly, try corn gluten meal (corn meal gluten?). There's a company called cock a doodle do that makes it and we can buy it at Agway where I live. Spread it in the Spring and Fall, makes grass healthier, so it natrually resists dandylions. Smells like popcorn, too. The only "problem" we've ever had is that our dog would eat it, which is safe, but it would give him terrible gas!
Do you have the same type of grass as your neighbors? Some types of grass do better in certain climates and shade conditions than others. If there are any well-respected landscapers in your area, I would ask what type of grass does best in your area. Around here, Dwarf Fescue does well; we have long, hot summers and mild winters with no hard freeze. But if we were to plant Kentucky Bluegrass, it would die because it can't handle the heat that we have. Also it helps to know if you have clay soil or sandy soil. So - some of the health of your lawn will depend upon what kind of grass you have, what kind of soil you have, and how much shade you get. Just because they sell it at Home Depot doesn't necessarily mean the sod has a chance of doing well where you live. Sometimes it's not you, it's that you have the wrong plant (grass) in the wrong place!
Do you have a lot of shade? We finally had our big trees trimmed back last year and it made a WORLD of difference. We have lucious green grass for the first time in 6 years! My husband has been dedicated at seeding last fall and fertilizing too, so now everything is in line, but it was hard. We just bought a mix of grass from Home Depot and did it ourselves. Good luck!
have your lawn aerated and then put some seed and fertilizer on your grass. If you have grass in places you dont want it or you plan on expanding your flower gardens into your grass dig up the grass and 'transplant" it in the bald spots add a little extra water and fertilizer and in a little while you should see improvement.
Not sure what the weather was like last year where you were at. Here we got rain rain rain, then no rain and heat heat heat! The problem with too much rain is the grass forms shallow roots. Then when the heat hits it dies because it cannot tap the moisture in the soil.
Did your neighbors water more than you?
If TruGreen came and sprayed when there was no rain then they just gave it the death blow. Still would have died mind you.
Either get fresh sod or seed the bald spots. Then pay attention to how much water the grass is getting.
In our yard the grass next to the street always dies because of the heat coming off the road. One of these years I am going to do something about that. :)
Planting grass in the summer is sometimes too late for it to do well, because by the time the summer heat kicks in, the roots aren't long or mature enough to hold on, so it dies. I've always read that planting grass in the fall is best, so it has time to grow roots and become strong before the following summer.
