2005 Year in Review

Lawn Repair

Source: Susan Grupp, Horticulture Educator, grupps@uiuc.edu

Late summer and early fall is an ideal time to renovate your lawn, said a University of Illinois Extension horticulture educator. For a thicker, more attractive lawn, replant seed into your existing lawn.

"Most Illinois lawns are planted with blends or mixes of Kentucky bluegrass, perennial ryegrass and fine fescue, and mid-August to mid-September is an ideal time to over-seed," said Susan Grupp. There is less weed competition from pesky annual weeds in fall.

Also, planting seed in fall gives young grass plant enough time to develop a good root system before next years summer weather.

Improve your lawn's appearance and quality by choosing seed that is disease and insect resistant, drought tolerant and suitable for the sun/shade conditions in your yard.

"While you might be tempted to just toss the seed across your lawn, you may be disappointed with the results. The key to success is making sure there is good seed-to-soil contact.

"Without that good contact, you probably won't get good germination."

Grupp recommends using a slit seeder machine, which cuts into existing grass and places the seed directly in the soil, to overcome this problem. For bare areas, roughen up the soil a little before broadcasting the seed.

"Some lawns decline because of poor soil conditions," she said. "For low-moderate soil compaction, using a core-aerifier may be a good option. This self-propelled machine removes plugs or cores of soil and grass and deposits them on the lawn surface. Do not remove the plugs--simply let them dry out. A few days later, mow over them with a lawnmower.

"For best results, core-aerify in one direction--north to south--across your lawn and then take a second, perpendicular run--east to west. This will produce more plugs per square foot. Make sure you have 15-20 plugs per square foot."

Grupp noted that core-aerifying helps improve soil compaction, poor drainage, and also helps reducethe thatch layer.

"However, if you have extreme conditions of compacted clay soil, or thatch greater than three-fourths inch, then core-aerifying may not be enough," she said. "These severe conditions may require starting over with a new lawn on properly prepared soil."

Late summer and early fall is also a good time to control perennial lawn weeds. Once weeds die, the cooler fall temperatures encourage lawns to grow rapidly and fill in.

"Be sure to identify the weed properly before choosing a control method," said Grupp. "Also, do not broadcast an herbicide across your entire lawn if spot treating will do the trick."

For further recommendations, Grupp recommended Extension's Lawn Talk web site, located at: Lawn Talk/a>.

by  Editor, theCity1.com
September 7, 2005