If you’re spending more than an hour weeding, then the bad news is… you need a new lawn! When weeds take over your yard, it can be virtually impossible to stop them, unless that is you want to spend a whole weekend weeding. That’s why the best way to reclaim your time and get your lawn back is to follow these steps.
Try to salvage the grass.
Are there patches of grass that don’t have weeds that you can keep? Or is the entire lawn overrun? This is something you can have a reputable lawn care expert assess to let you know if a simple weed killer is warranted to stop the problem, or if a complete grass reseeding is necessary.
Kill the weeds.
Before you embark on any landscape project, you’ll want to get rid of as many weeds as possible. The last thing you want to do is to invest time, money, and energy into your landscaping project only to have the weeds resurface a few weeks later. To effectively kill weeds, you can use a chemical weed killer, but be careful to keep it away from animals or other plants in your yard.
Aerate the soil.
To get the soil ready for seeding, you’ll need to create small holes about an inch wide using an aeration tool. This helps to loosen the soil and get oxygen flowing into the dirt which will help the grass seeds grow and survive at a higher rate.
Use Caution
To effectively kill weeds, you can use a chemical weed killer, but be careful to keep it away from animals or other plants in your yard.
Use a spreader for the grass seed.
As its name implies, the spreader will enable you to evenly distribute the grass seed across your lawn. The spreader usually has a drop speed on it and you want to adjust it to half of what it recommends. This is to ensure that the right amount of seed is dispersed without too much coming out.
Rake the seeds.
You’ll want to use a rake to go over the areas that you seeded to allow them to incorporate into the soil. You don’t need to make sure each seed is buried, but simply running the rake over the seeded area for about 2-3 minutes is sufficient.
Add fertilizer.
Your grass needs nutrients to grow, so generously add fertilizer to all seeded areas before watering for the day.
Water daily.
If you don’t have an oscillating sprinkler, then you can use a water hose to lighty water the ground every day. The goal is to not drench the ground, but instead to give the lawn just enough water for the seeds to start germinating. Generally, you’ll need to water the lawn twice a day (once in the morning and once after sunset). However, if it rains, then you can cut back to just one watering a day.
Conclusion.
Although reclaiming your yard from weeds can seem like seven simple steps, they can take several hours or days to complete. That’s why many homeowners prefer to leverage the skills, expertise, and equipment of a reputable lawn care company to help. If you haven’t had someone inspect your lawn and provide you with tips to improve it, then now’s the time to connect with your local lawn care team. At Home Pros can put you in touch with lawn care pros like Terminix for a beautiful, hassle-free lawn.