Joe wrote:
I had a very nice lawn up until this year when I got lazy in the fall and
instead of raking up all the leaves I did a combination of raking and
running them over with a mulching mower.
Major mistake, as now I have half dead grass, lots of bald spots and
thatch.
I have aggressively raked up all the thatch and things are looking better,
but I see signs of ant hills, moss, weeds and bare patches.
The grass looks off color green instead of bright green
So how do I repair this situation?
I am located on Eastern Long Island NY so the soil is sandy and like I
said I had a pretty decent looking lawn up until this point.
BTW this is a fairly decent sized property so installing a new lawn is not
the option I want to take.
Up until this point I was using Lebanon 5 step process every year (the
lawn is only 5 years old, new construction house) but I was never really
happy with it and was thinking of going to Scotts this year. I did use it
in October though, step 5 I think.
I appreciate any and all advice on how to make things better!
Joe
Get on a good program of watering properly and cutting proper length.
Sounds like you probably know that part. Scotts is an expensive luxury,
IMO. Routine weed killer is not needed. By neglecting it for a while,
you will have some resurgence of weeds - they will have dropped seed, so
expect them to keep coming for 2-3 years. Spot treat broadleaf weeds
unless they get very heavy. Pull isolated ones, if you have the time.
Each one you take out might mean several thousand fewer seeds
) With
a large lawn, it is wise to consider changing some area to natural
plants, or islands of shrubs, trees, groundcover, etc, that don't
require much care. Ants belong there. Moss, if it bothers you, is
probably coming up where it is too shady for grass. Moss gardens can be
great! Slow release fertilizer so's it doesn't wash out right away.
You might have alkaline soil - pH test a good idea, with iron or sulfur
depending on pH needs. Sometimes iron or sulfur will green up the grass
when fert not needed.