Are you frustrated when you look at your lawn? If your lawn has a lot of bare spots or seems overrun by weeds, you might be wondering about the best ways to fix a struggling lawn. You want to be able to enjoy thick and healthy grass but you’re just not sure the best way to go about fixing things.
Do you need to start from scratch with a total lawn renovation or will reseeding the lawn do the trick?
In this article, we’ll dive into what you ought to know about lawn renovation vs reseeding. Even though the terms are sometimes used loosely, they are very different approaches. We’ll explain what these lawn types of lawn repairs mean and what might be best for your Louisville property.
Knowing how to renovate a lawn will set you up for the most possible success.
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People tend to use the words “lawn renovation” for anything involving an upgrade. But technically, a lawn renovation means starting from scratch and killing the entire existing lawn.
Often, the lawn is then sodded to replace everything (though it could also be seeded at this point as well). Sodding is very expensive but it will give you an “instant lawn.”
However, to sod an entire lawn is often out of range for many homeowners’ planned budget. The pros and cons of lawn renovation must be weighed.
Seeding, on the other hand, starts with a service called lawn aeration. This service helps set your lawn up to “breathe” better, which is important due to our clay soils here in Louisville. This gives the grass seeds a better chance at optimal performance.
The way in which lawn aeration helps a lawn to breathe is two-fold:
Following lawn aeration where these holes are made, the lawn is then overseeded with grass seed. The seeds will fall into the holes, providing them the seed-to-soil contact that is needed for germination.
When seeding is done without aeration, you wind up losing a lot of that seed to birds or wind. And if the ground is hard and compacted, the seeds may never germinate. This is why these two services really do go hand-in-hand.
In our opinion, the vast majority of lawns can be fixed with aeration and overseeding.
On top of that, we also have a service called powerseeding that is even more intense if your lawn is in bad shape.
However, there are a few circumstances where lawn renovation might be warranted. We’ll cover that in the next section.
All this being said, keep in mind that we’re talking about growing grass in this article and not issues with grading. If your lawn has ankle-breaking holes or low spots that are constantly holding water, these do need to be fixed. In those cases, you might need to have soil brought in and the yard re-graded.
Overall, the goal should be for the yard to be as flat as possible. We know many yards have slopes or slight grading challenges but you don’t want any problematic holes. Nothing that we do with overseeding or powerseeding is going to fill in a hole so keep that in mind if you have a grading issue.
As we state above, it’s pretty rare that you’ll need to implement a total lawn renovation to get the results you want. If you can have a little bit of patience and trust the process, you’ll see pretty amazing results with lawn aeration and overseeding.
The only time where we’d recommend going with a total overhaul and then sodding is if you really need an instant lawn and you do not have time to wait for the optimal window for lawn aeration and overseeding (which is around Labor Day through early October, due to optimal grass growing conditions).
Maybe you have a graduation party coming up in the summer and you want a brand-new lawn. Or, you have another event in the early spring and you simply cannot wait until the optimal time for seeding.
Then, you might need to take lawn renovation steps.
Another highly specific circumstance would be if your lawn is totally overrun with Bermudagrass. That’s one of those grass types that will spread like crazy and continually outcompete your desired grass. It doesn’t take long for the entire lawn to be Bermudagrass.
If you’re dealing with this, you may need to kill the whole lawn and start fresh rather than fighting an unwinnable battle.
But these are very limited situations. If you don’t have a highly specific reason like this, then it’s probably not worth spending the money on a total lawn renovation.
As we’ve said, in the vast majority of cases, reseeding is going to be the best way to fix a struggling lawn. It’s budget-friendly and effective. It just takes some time and needs to be performed in an optimal window.
Seeding is best performed in the fall for two key reasons.
As we mentioned, if your lawn was in pretty rough shape and needed a more intense service, we also offer powerseeding.
Power seeding, which has also been called “slice seeding” or “slit seeding,” is the process of using a machine to cut rows into the soil and plant seeds. It’s a service used by golf courses to achieve some of the thickest, healthiest turfs around.
With power seeding, the cutting of the soil and the planting of the grass seed are all methodically completed in a mechanical way so that you know your grass seed is actually being planted in the ground.
Much like a farmer would cut rows into the soil to plant his or her crops, with power seeding, you are installing a lawn in an efficient and effective way.
While it’s true that power seeding is a more intensive process, many homeowners quickly see the value when they see the results. There’s a visual component to it and you’ll actually see the planted rows. You’ll also see that new grass starts growing pretty soon after. Homeowners tell us it’s a good feeling when they start to see that new grass pop up…especially in those bare spots.
The bottom line is that you have options but in order to get the most out of a service like aeration and overseeding or powerseeding, you want to be sure that it’s done right.
When you hire a professional to perform these services, you can remove the guesswork and help ensure the best results. That means gaining the maximum benefits of lawn aeration or powerseeding.
You also want to make sure that you are coupling services like these with a full lawn care program that includes things like fertilization and weed control. When it comes to the best ways to fix a struggling lawn, these services will also prove to be invaluable. They will help you grow thicker, greener, and healthier grass.
At the end of the day, it all comes down to getting the results that you desire and deserve.
When you choose Limbwalker to help grow and care for your lawn, you can gain confidence that we’re committed to offering the best over everything. That means the best lawn care services AND the best customer experience.
We are here to be your lawn care partner and set you up for long-term success.
Are you ready to have a thick and healthy lawn that’s getting everything it needs at your Louisville, KY home? Get in touch with us to get a quote for our lawn care programs, which include three lawn care pricing options, and about adding lawn aeration or powerseeding to one of those programs.