How to Renovate a Lawn

If your lawn isn't looking so good ' full of weeds, thin and thatchy, or just plain tired ' renovating will give it new life. Renovation is easier than planting a lawn from scratch and gives you that new lawn look.

Difficulty: Moderately challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Garden Hoses
• Lawn Aerator
• Lawn Fertilizers
• Lawn Seed
• Mulch
• Steel Rake
• Topsoil
• Weed Killers

1. Plan renovation so you can reseed during ideal planting time ' early fall or early spring for most typical cool-season grasses, such as bluegrass and fescue.

2. Kill the whole lawn if it is hopelessly infested with weeds; spray with a broad-spectrum herbicide like glyphosate (Clean-up or Round-up), and wait the length of time recommended on the label before proceeding with replanting. If weeds are not a big problem, you don't have to kill anything.

3. Dethatch the lawn with a power dethatcher, available for rent at many rental yards.

4. Rake up the thatch and dispose of it, or add it to a compost pile.

5. Aerate the lawn with a power aerator, available at rental yards. Leave the dug-up cores (they'll break down) or rake them up.

6. Level uneven spots by spreading topsoil and raking.

7. Reseed the lawn with a grass type adapted to your area (see related eHows).

8. Lightly cover the seed with 1/4 inch of organic matter spread with a cage roller; see "How to Plant a Lawn From Seed." Apply dry lawn fertilizer, and water it as recommended.

9. Keep the new lawn moist until grass is established. Then water as usual.

Tips & Warnings

• It may take several weeks for sprayed weeds to die completely, so plan ahead accordingly. If you have really tough weeds, such as Bermuda grass, you may have to spray again in a few weeks to kill them completely.
• It will be easiest to use a dethatcher and aerator if the ground is lightly moist, not soggy or dry.
• Adjust the depth of the dethatcher blades to match the thickness of the thatch.
• Most herbicides work best if sprayed during hot weather.
• Follow herbicide label instructions precisely. Many herbicides will kill any plant they touch, so avoid spraying on windy days.
• Flag below-ground sprinklers before operating equipment. Otherwise, you may damage them.

[schwaja]

on 4/28/2009 Spray the whole lawn with Round Up? Ugh! This stuff is toxic, toxic toxic. Horrible for the environment. An entire sprayed lawn going into the ground water supply? Very bad. Rent a commercial aerator, follow directions for aerating lawn, spread 1/4" of good, organic compost (available at lawn supply stores), and overseed. Be an environmentally responsible home owner and leave the Round Up behind.

[bake4u]

on 3/24/2008 thanks for the article, i bought a house with the yard that is challeging, so i'm about to tackle it thanks for the info that was much needed

[landscaperpro]

on 5/29/2007 As a 20 year veteran of renovating lawns, the first step should be installing a sprinkler system. I have never had to renovate a lawn that had a working system. Visit www.1800topsoil.com to have soil delivered to the site, anywhere in the U.S.

on 11/22/2005 Rent a slicer seeder or overseeder from local rental company. This will eliminate a need for multiple machines. These units will thatch, aerate and embed seed all in one pass!