How to Repair a Bare Patch of Lawn
Bare patches of lawn are sometimes commonplace and there are any number of reasons why they might occur - grubs, poultry scratching, disease, shade, compaction etc. Compaction is the most common reason for bare patches, especially in areas with heavy foot traffic. This article provides some suggestions for repairing a bare patch of lawn.
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Steps
- Test to see if compaction is the problem. Stamp your foot hard onto the soil of the patch. If it feels hard on contact, you have a problem with compaction. This means that you will need to consider what is causing the compaction so that it does not reoccur after mending the bare patch.
- Dig over the soil in the bare patch to loosen it. This is best done with a garden fork.
- Take some runners from a healthy part of the lawn. Plant these into the dug-up soil of the bare patch. Another alternative is to simply seed this part of the lawn with the same lawn seed. Keep well watered in both instances.
- Fence of the repaired patch. People and any heavy animals such as horses need to be kept off the repaired patch. Leave the roping off for a while to give the patch time to recover. Continue to keep it well watered but don't fertilise it.
- Consider other options. Here are some thoughts on what to consider depending on the issue:
- If the problem is high traffic, it is likely that the bare patch will return whatever you do. This means that you will need to consider ways to reroute foot traffic or use objects such as stepping stones to concentrate the foot traffic to one spot only and to discourage stepping on the lawn itself.
- If shade is the problem, select a shade-happy variety of lawn unless the shade is constant and always cold, in which case, you might consider paving the area instead, as no lawn likes constant shade.
- If it is poultry, create an area of the garden just for them, to keep them from tearing up the lawn to get at grubs and make dust baths. And if Fido keeps lying on the same spot, rubbing in the dirt, it's time to shift Fido to his own spot in the yard too.
- If it is lawn grubs, treat the problem and have them removed. There are non-chemical possibilities; ask at an informed garden centre about the options.
Tips
- Large patches of compacted soil can be dug up using a soil aerator; hire one from your local garden centre or hardware store.
- Use a rotary hoe (hire one) if you want to lay new turf over a large area. Since turf is not cheap, however, it pays to find out why the bare patch occurred in the first place or you might be throwing away good money.
Things You'll Need
- Lawn runners or lawn seed
- Rope, stakes etc. to rope off lawn
- Stepping stones (optional)
- Water
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