A luscious green lawn makes a great centre piece for your garden, but it’s often harder to achieve than you might think. It’s not just weeds that you have to deal with, there are so many different lawn problems that might come up like fungal infections or dead patches which can completely ruin your otherwise perfect lawn. If you’re trying to grow the perfect lawn but it just isn’t working, here’s how to deal with some of the most common issues.
Replacing A Severely Damaged Lawn
In some cases, if you’ve left certain problems unchecked, your lawn can become severely damaged. It might be covered in yellow or brown patches or maybe even have areas that won’t grow at all, no matter what you try to do with them. A lot of the time, you might be able to bring it back to life again but, in some cases, it’s a lost cause and you’ll have to get rid of it entirely. In that case, you’ve got a few options.
If you still want a lawn but you can’t bring yours back to life, it may be time to start from scratch. In order to do this, you’ll have to kill off the current grass by laying plastic over it and then prepare the soil to start again. Good soil is key so it’s important that you spend some time preparing it properly and making sure that it’s suitable for growing before you plant new grass seed. If you get this right, hopefully, your new lawn should come through without any of the dead patches etc. that you have now.
Alternatively, you might decide that tending a lawn is too much work but you still want that nice green space out in the garden. In that case, your best option is artificial grass instead of real grass. Modern artificial grass looks almost exactly the same as real grass but you don’t need to worry about any of the upkeep. If the soil underneath is particularly bad and you just can’t get the grass to grow properly, this may be your only option.
You don’t necessarily have to use grass to create a nice green space either. A lot of people are moving toward untidy, wild gardens instead of neat ones. If you just let the plants grow and do their own thing, you don’t have to deal with the maintenance and it’s great for the local wildlife as well.
These are all good ways of replacing a lawn that is beyond repair but before you do that, you should try to tackle some of the common problems and see if you can bring it back to life.
White Grubs
White grubs play havoc with your lawn and they’re quite a common problem. If you’ve got a lot of irregular dead spots dotted around the lawn, you should check for white grubs first. If you have a problem with white grubs, the surface of the turf will lift up easily and you can look underneath, where you’ll see all of the little white grubs. You may also notice that you’ve got a lot more animal activity in the garden because they like to come in and feed on the grubs.
If you have a problem with white grubs in the garden, the good news is that it isn’t too difficult to deal with. You can use chemical treatments such as Imidacloprid or if you want to use a more natural solution, predatory nematodes work very well. You need to apply these in the late spring and early summer to stop the grubs from growing in the grass damaging it.
Fungal Issues
Fungal issues in the grass can develop very quickly and cause a lot of damage. If you notice brown and yellow patches appearing and they spread across the garden very rapidly, that’s a sign that you’ve got a fungal issue in your lawn. Often fungal issues develop because of the way that you’re caring for the lawn so a bit of trial and error is the best way to deal with it. It may be the fertilizer that you’re using on the lawn, so try swapping it out for something else and using more natural fertilizing methods. The way that you water the lawn is important as well and a lot of people have fungal issues because they’re overwatering and saturating the lawn. If you think that you might be watering too often, just check how wet the lawn is. It shouldn’t be soaked through, otherwise, you’re likely to have fungal problems. If the lawn is too saturated, it may also be because you’re not aerating the lawn properly. It’s important that you take a fork and push holes into the lawn to increase the drainage.
Moss
Sometimes, you might notice patches of moss growing on your lawn, especially in shaded areas. These patches of moss are often accompanied by thin grass. There are a few different reasons for this that you need to look out for. Sometimes, it might just be that the area isn’t getting enough sun. The grass doesn’t grow that well in heavy shade but the moss does so naturally it will take over. If you’ve got some trees or bushes that are blocking the sunlight out, it may be worth trimming them back and you might find that this will solve the problem. If the problem persists, it could also be because you have an issue with the pH of the soil. You need to test the pH of the soil and see whether it is suitable for growing grass or not. You can get home testing kits from any garden centre and do them for yourself. The ideal soil for grass needs to be slightly on the acidic side but not too much. If it is too acidic, you can add lime to reduce the pH of the soil and you should find that the grass grows a lot better and the moss won’t be a problem anymore.
If you can deal with these common issues, your lawn will look a lot healthier and you can avoid any dead patches.
This is a collaborative post.
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