Reestablishing Your Lawn

Many homeowners are faced with patching bare spots in their lawn or reestablishing areas of their lawns after a construction project. There are five main parts to properly establishing a healthy lawn: clearing and grading, soil preparation; seeding or installing sod, watering and maintenance. Following these guidelines will help you achieve a successful lawn:

Repair with Seed

Remove any debris from the area and cut out all damaged turf.
Replace with a good top soil, making a mound at least 1″ higher than the surrounding surface area to allow for settling.
In order to obtain a consistent look, you should match the seed to your existing type of grass. Traditionally, sunny areas are made up of 70% bluegrass and shady areas are 40-50% fine fescues combined with ryegrass and bluegrass. If you are not sure what kind of grass to use in your lawn, ask your arborist.
Purchase premium seeds* and spread at the recommended rate.
Apply lime (25 lbs. per 1,000 sq. feet) and “starter” fertilizer (starter fertilizer has a high phosphorous content which helps establish new seed).
Mulch to prevent erosion and hold in moisture.
Water seeds until soaked, twice daily, until the grass has germinated. Continue frequent watering to keep roots from drying out.
Once the grass reaches an ideal cutting height of 3″ you must begin mowing with a sharp blade.

Repair with Sod

Purchase sod made of grass similar in color and texture to your existing turf.
Remove any debris and cut out existing damaged areas. If necessary add an adequate amount of top soil raising the elevation 1/4″ to 1/2″ for sod to settle.
Apply lime and fertilizer.
Cut the sod to fit the area (a sharp kitchen knife works great) so that its edges are tight against the existing turf and near level or a bit higher than the surrounding turf.
Sod should be watered at least two times a day for approximately six weeks to allow the roots to establish.
Aggressive aerating is also an important step to help sod increase rooting into the existing soil but, must be done 3-4 months after installation.

Patching Small Areas

Purchase pre-mixed “all in one” mulch with starter fertilizer (everything but the seed included).
Clean out area and make sure adequate soil is available, as above, to allow for settling.
Seed with a quality grass seed and then apply mulch starter kit. These kits work great for small areas.
Water twice daily and keep off area until grass is established. Mow when it reaches 3″.

SavaLawn purchases custom seeds which are evaluated every year by local universities. We choose only the most sustainable varieties for our custom blends. Our goal is to give you a top performing turfgrass that will last.

Click or call today to arrange a complimentary consultation from our fully trained and certified arborists and lawn specialists for tree care, tree fertilizer and lawn care services from SavATree. Click here to contact the office nearest you.