Just to clear some things up…if you’re going to work on your yard, start now, in the fall, and stick with it for at least 18 months. It could take more time if you forget about it like a dirty sock behind the dryer. Although, I feel like I’m always losing the clean ones … Anytime you lay seed or sod, you HAVE to water it EVEN AFTER IT GETS GOING! Quit fooling around. Water it in the summer as well. After a couple years, you may be able to relax for a minute, but don’t do that in the middle of July and August…if you want to maintain your turf.
If you have a lot of patchiness and compaction around your yard, for whatever reason, you should probably AERATE AND OVERSEED. “Overseed” is just a technical term for seeding an existing lawn. On the other hand, if you have new sod from moving into your new home and you have an irrigation system giving it plenty of water AND Denison Maintenance Department stopping by to weed/feed at various intervals throughout the year, you may need to DETHATCH your lawn every couple years or so. Thatch is a layer of decomposing grass roots/stems that builds up between the green crown of the grass and the soil base. This is bad for nutrient and oxygen flow if it builds up too much. You should not have more than about 1/2″ of thatch in your lawn. You’ll kind of know when you have a “thatchy” lawn when it feels squishy to walk on.
And just to clear something up, thatch is NOT created from grass clippings. Grass clippings actually add about half the nitrogen your lawn needs throughout the year when left to fall back on the lawn. True story.
If you are going to aerate, use a core aerator to do the job. You can hire a professional (Like Denison) or you can rent one. When it comes to seed, people you get what you pay for, period! Don’t skimp on the seed and use a cool zone, tall fescue mix for this area. If you want to use zoysia, fine, it’s okay to have a green lawn for 2 months…no problem.
To dethatch your lawn, you can do a heavy raking, rent a machine, or have Denison do it for you. We can come out and dethatch your lawn, lay some seed and organic matter that will help the soil get the seed started.
Hope you find these hints helpful – HAPPY FALL AND GOOD LUCK…A. Carr