With the spring season directly upon us, the Louisiana Nursery team is getting more questions about lawn care, weed prevention, fertilizer, best mowing practices and everything else that leads to a beautiful yard. Whatever your specific needs entail, there are certain practices everyone should know before tackling a lawn renovation, rejuvenation or general maintenance.
We can start with a bare bones scenario. Let’s say you are a new homeowner with a yard that’s in poor health. The soil is an uneven mixture of loose direct and packed clay – very typical in new community developments in Louisiana. Even worse, you have no idea what type of grass the previous owners used or if they consistently used the same grass seed.
This scenario can go a few different ways based on the needs or wants of the homeowner. Some people don’t really mind a patchwork of slightly different grass varieties, while others are looking to get the most level, vibrantly green, picture-perfect lawn possible. I’m sure both groups of people would want a great-looking lawn if it were that simple, but it takes a lot more time, effort and money to achieve that standard of perfection.
Considering all of that, let’s assume your goal is to transform the yard into something that looks uniform and feels level when walking around. You would also prefer this to be done as quickly as possible. I would suggest this homeowner starts by removing the old sod with a sod cutter. There are both manual and gas-powered cutters, and they all do an excellent job at removing old sod as well as the first couple inches of dirt from the surface.
Once you’ve removed all the sod, it’s a good idea to inspect the yard for low points that can be filled with river silt. The best practice is to agitate the soil with a rake before filling. (I mentioned that our hypothetical lawn has poor soil quality. Adding topsoil to your dirt and mixing with the clay will help new grass roots break through these obstacles).
After you feel comfortable with the level of your yard, place the new sod down. Be sure to find the right variety for your area and preference. If you are looking to put down St. Augustine, it is only sold in sod form, since the seeds have very poor germination rates in our climate.
Once your sod has been placed, I always suggest some sort of lawn-starter fertilizer to improve the growth rate and root system strength. My favorite pick comes from our partners at ferti-lome. Follow the instructions as stated and water thoroughly within 24 hours of use.
Now that all of the setup is complete, your job is to be attentive to the progress of your sod patches and to water. If you are renovating your lawn in the spring, it is often just too hot to water consistently. Certain temperatures could see you watering more than once a day! I suggest the soak approach, where you thoroughly hose the lawn to the point of the soil moving under the weight of your feet. This allows you to take two or three days between watering and ensures that none of your patches become dried out. You’ll known you’ve done the job right when the patches begin to form root connections. Eventually, the dividing lines will disappear.
An important note on watering: Lawns should typically be watered between 5 a.m. and 10 a.m. Watering in the afternoon can be ineffective due to extremely quick evaporation. Watering in the evening is often detrimental and can lead to a lack of evaporation and issues with mold, fungus and root rotting.
While I believe that sodding is the easiest way to achieve a great looking yard in the shortest amount of time, it definitely can be a pricier option limited by your access to certain varieties of sod. A lot of the tips mentioned above are still applicable to sprigging or seeding your lawn, but there are some key differences as well.
If you decide to move forward with seeding your lawn, the first step is to find out exactly what type of grass seed performs best in your zone, then plan ahead to seed your yard in the best months possible. For us in Louisiana, most common grasses will be warm season grasses, meaning you can seed during the spring or summer.
The next steps depend on how long you are willing to wait for better results and how much money you are comfortable spending. Some landscapers would argue for a thorough aeration regardless of the yard’s condition when throwing out new seed, but I’ve come to believe this is not necessary in every case. You will definitely see more seeds get to full germination, but that’s a decision based on your own time and effort.
Aeration is a process by which small holes are punches throughout your entire yard in the hopes that seeds will be caught and start growing there. These holes provide a great spot for water to sit, which increases germination chances, as well as fertilizer to disperse.
You can always just throw out seeds more frequently. You’ll still want to apply a lawn starter fertilizer to get the roots established as quickly as possible. Multiple applications may be necessary, but read the instructions carefully, since over-fertilizing will either hurt the grass or waste your money.
The watering process for seeding is the same as early sod, although seeds require more moist conditions to germinate. You can do this most effectively by soaking your yard thoroughly, then backing off for a day or two. This water saturation should only last a few weeks, but temperatures and humidity vary too widely to give an exact timeframe.
Seeding your grass rather than sodding can take less tools and a smaller budget to get the same end product (some would argue even better) but you lose a lot of time doing more yard work and the payoff is further in the future. If you’ve got the patience, seeding your lawn will make anyone stand proud once the job is done!
The decision between sodding and seeding and the steps you take are entirely up to you, depending on how long you’re willing to wait for better results and how much money you are comfortable spending. If your yard needs a touch-up here and there but is mostly in good health, you might just spray weeds directly and forgo the sod cutting step. However, if your lawn needs more TLC to make it beautiful, you will probably need to put in a little more time and effort. Just remember, it will all be worth it when your neighbors are asking for lawn care tips and your family is enjoying sunny days outside!
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