If your lawn has become patchy after winter, with big bare areas where the grass doesn’t grow, you may wonder how you can get it back to its best. However, with the right conditions, even a compacted mess of a garden can be restored to its original glory in a few weeks.
Here, we’re looking at some of the repair options. We tested them in our garden, and you can see the difference in one area below, with the original photo and the fresh grass four weeks later.
What you need
- Rake
- Fork
- Grass seed
- Lawn mower
- Sharp sand (optional)
The short version
- Remove the dead grass
- Fix compacted soil
- Add sand (if appropriate)
- Choose lawn seed
- Prepare the ground
- Add grass seed
- Mow and water your lawn
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Step 1.
Remove the dead grass
Your first job is to remove any dead, brown grass, along with any leaves, plant materials and stones covering your lawn. It’s best to use a lawn rake to do this, clearing the lawn so that the bare areas can clearly be seen, and the fresh grass left uncovered.
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Step 2.
Fix compacted soil
If the soil is heavily compacted and flat, it will be hard for grass to establish itself. You need to aerate the soil. Before starting, water the lawn so that it’s moistened. For very large areas you may want to hire a professional with a mechanical aerator, but for most jobs you can aerate the lawn yourself with a fork or buy a manual aerator from a garden store.
Press the tines in about 10cm to break up the soil, and repeat every 15cm or so through the bare patch. For smaller areas, you can even use a long screwdriver in the ground to break up the soil.
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Step 3.
Add sand (if appropriate)
Sand can help with heavily compacted clay soil, such as the path taken to and from the office garden in the above picture. Sharp sand, which has coarser grains than lawn sand, can be added to the area. Sand should be added at around 2kg per square metre, spread using a brush to cover the area you need, and it can help break down the soil and improve aeration.
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Step 4.
Choose lawn seed
You’ll need lawn seed to re-sow your lawn. It’s essential to choose a type of lawn seed that works with your garden. Consider soil type, drainage, amount of sunlight, and how the lawn will be used. If you’re unsure, take some pictures of your garden, go to a garden centre and ask for advice.
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Step 5.
Prepare the ground
Before you can add seed, you need to prepare the ground. Water the soil and then use a garden rake across the patch.
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Step 6.
Add grass seed
Add grass seed in the correct dose. For seed in a box, this will be written on the back of the packaging. There’s usually an integrated seed dispenser in the box, too. You’ll need to check the seeding amount if you’ve bought loose seed. Typically, it’s about 35g per square meter for bare earth; 25g per square meter can be used to overseed an existing lawn.
Once seeded, lightly rake over the area, and then you can use your feet to press the seed into the ground. Water the area.
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Step 7.
Mow and water your lawn
It’s crucial that you keep watering the new areas to promote growth, while mowing the rest of your lawn. Our guide to the best cordless lawn mowers can help you find the right model. You may want to consider a robot lawn mower instead. These mow automatically, and only cut small bits of grass each time, which mulches down into the grass and helps feed it.
If, as the new grass grows, you notice a few smaller bare patches where grass hasn’t grown (birds can eat the seeds before they germinate, for example), you can repeat the instructions to fill these gaps.
