Complete Lawn Restoration
Restoring A Bermuda Or Zoysia Lawn
A lush, healthy green lawn can make or break a landscape. If your lawn is old, tired and full of thatch it may be in need of a restoration.
Why Restore Your Lawn?
A restoration allows you to improve your lawn without removing the existing turf. While restoring your lawn is not nearly as labor intensive as removing all of your turf and starting over, it may still require several weekends of work.
Below, each step of a lawn restoration is described, some of which are essential and others optional. In the South, the best time to begin restoration of a Bermuda or Zoysia lawn is in late Spring, before temperatures are too hot. It may take your lawn several weeks to recover.
Removing Thatch and Weeds
When beginning a lawn restoration, the first step is to remove any thatch buildup - even low levels that would otherwise be acceptable. Unless you can expose the soil between the old grass plants, the steps that follow will have poor results.
The best time to dethatch is when your lawn has freshly broken dormancy in Spring - not when it's stressed in the heat of summer or cold of winter. To begin, set the height adjustment on your mower to cut the grass about 1 inch inch height or so. Mow the entire lawn. Short grass will make dethatching and surface preparation easier. If you will be overseeding the lawn, dethatching will also improve seed germination rates as more seed will make contact with the soil and seedlings will have greater exposure to the sun.
The easiest way to remove thatch from a lawn that is over 3,000 square feet in size is with a power power dethatcher. A dethatcher can be rented from your local tool rental store. For smaller lawns, or lawns with a thin 1/2 to 1-inch layer of thatch, a manual thatching rake will do a satisfactory job. When using a power dethatcher to remove average amounts of thatch, and to scarify the soil, set the blades to cut 1/8 to 1/4 inch into the soil. Make several test passes on an inconspicuous area of your lawn to judge how much thatch (and turf) will be removed. If too much or too little is removed, raise or lower the blades accordingly. The spacing between blades can be adjusted on some machines, but this is difficult to do, and is best done by the rental store staff. The blade spacing for Bermudagrass and Zoysiagrass is 1 to 2 inches. Most rental store owners will know the optimum settings for the grasses grown in your area.
When using a vertical mower to dethatch, make several passes over the lawn in perpendicular directions. It is important to be thorough. Remove the thatch you pull up after each series of passes and add it to your compost pile. When you have finished dethatching, remow your lawn to a height of 1 inch.
Fill Depressions and Level Bumps
While you are dethatching your lawn, check for bumps and depressions. These may have been caused by poor grading, uneven settling, or the decomposition of buried tree stumps, logs, roots or construction materials. Mark any irregularities with latex spray paint so you can find them easily when you are ready to level them.
To level small bumps, raise the sod with a sharp spade or sodcutter and remove the necessary amount of soil beneath it. Cut out at least a 2 by 2-foot section of sod. If you lift smaller patches of sod, they will likely dry out and die. While the soil base is exposed, mix in some compost and fertilizer. Watersoak the area using a hose and press the sod back into place. Keep the area watered to prevent lawn brownout.
Slight depressions can be smoothed over with topdressing. To topdress, apply a mixture of native topsoil and compost. Native screened top soil is recommended over top soil sold in bags. Fill depression and rake smooth with a landscape rake. When handling larger depressions - those more than an inch or two deep and several square feet in area - raise the sod and fill the depression with a mixture of screened native top soil, humus, and fertilizer. Then replace the sod, and press it in place. Be sure to keep repaired areas moist, or the edges will dry out and turn brown.
Adjust Your Soil's pH
Before applying fertilizer or lime, it is best to have your soil tested. Your Local Extension Service may provide soil testing services for free, or at a low cost. Test results will indicate any nutrient deficiencies, and the amount of lime needed to correct soil pH. Be sure to purchase "pelletized" lime. Pelletized lime is much easier to broadcast with a rotary spreader, and it activates instantly upon irrigation or rainfall.
Typically, the more clay and organic content in your soil, the more lime you will need to correct the pH. Sandy soils usually require less lime, if any.
In the absence of a soil test, and if the soil in your region is typically prone to being acidic, an application of at least 40 pounds of pelletized lime per 1,000 square feet is recommended. After spreading lime, water the lawn to wash the particles off the grass leaves and into the soil.
Broadcast Fertilizer
When restoring a lawn, either follow fertilizer recommendations provided in your soil test results, or apply a commercial, slow-release "starter-type" lawn fertilizer. You may substitute commercial-grade fertilizer with an organic lawn fertilizer, or chicken manure based fertilizer.
Build Organic Matter and Microbe Numbers In The Soil
The right dose of fertilizer won't help much if your soil does not contain an adequate population of microbes. You need billions of these microscopic organisms per handful. Microbes not only digest grass clippings, dead grass roots, and stems, but they also make their nutrients available to living grass plants.
To have a thriving microbe population, your soil must contain 2 to 5 percent organic material. A topdressing of compost, such as mushroom compost, composted cow manure, or your own home-made compost, mixed with topsoil followed by aeration will incorporate some organic matter into the soil without disrupting the lawn. When restoring your lawn, apply about one cubic yard of compost per 1,000 square feet.
SEE:Making Your Own Compost
Aerate The Soil
If you will be overseeding your Bermuda lawn, aeration of the soil is highly recommended. (reseeding is optional)
NOTE: When overseeding a Bermuda lawn, to avoid density, color, height and texture contrasts, it is highly recommended you use the same variety of Bermuda seed that was originally planted. If this is not possible, consult with your local independent nurseryman as to which varieties may be best suitable as a substitute. If your lawn was originally installed using sodgrass, chances are you have a hybrid-type Bermuda known as "419". Hybrid Bermuda should not be overseeded with seed-type Bermuda.
Aeration, also called core cultivation or aerifying, is an important part of any lawn restoration program. It allows grass roots to deeply penetrate the soil, helps fertilizer and organic matter get to roots of grass, allows oxygen to reach the roots, and makes it easier for water to soak into the soil. Aerate at least once a year in Fall. Avoid aerating during dry Summer months because you may damage an already stressed lawn.
Aeration also allows seeds to drop in shallow holes, where plugs have been removed, reducing the possibility of washing and facilitating stronger root growth of seedlings. Aeration also allows fertilizer or organic matter to get to the roots and water to soak better into the soil.
To aerate the soil, use a "core-type" power aerator that will remove and disperse soil plugs (2 to 3" in length) randomly atop the ground. Core-type power aerators can be rented from your local tool rental store. Make at least two, or as many passes as desired over the area to be reseeded.
Aerators penetrate your lawn best when the soil has been moistened by rain or watering; so, unless it rains, water your lawn the day before aerating. When aerating, make several passes in several directions over every square foot of lawn.
Prepare the Surface and Overseed (If Necessary)
In the South, the best time to overseed a Bermuda lawn is between late Spring to mid-Summer, when soil temperatures are abobe 68 degrees F. The earlier the better as this gives the young grass plants more time to establish strong roots, and store food needed for winter.
When sowing grass seed, begin by spreading seed around the perimeter of the lawn area. Then divide your seed and apply half making a pass over the lawn in one direction, and the other half making a pass over the pawn in the opposite direction. This technique helps to insure even coverage.
Apply a thin layer of wheat straw or hay to overseeded areas - particularly bare spots. This mulch coating will help retain moisture necessary for seed germination, and help to hold the seed in place if there is heavy rainfall.
Aside from seeding, you may also introduce new grass plants by inserting plugs or patches of sod.
Care for Young Grass Seedlings and Restored Lawn
Your work to this point will have been in vain if you don't care for the lawn as needed to maintain vigorous growth and a healthy appearance.
If you overseeded, the most critical need is to apply water once or twice a day, depending on the temperature and assuming no rain. If the soil is allowed to dry out, the seeds won't germinate. To maximize the germination rate, soak your lawn on the same day you sow the seeds. On the next day, assuming no rain, lightly sprinkle the lawn for about 10 to 15 minutes morning and afternoon. Be sure you have moistened the soil to a depth of one inch. Keep the overseeded lawn moist until the young grass plants are 2 inches tall. When the grass is 2 inches tall, resume normal watering patterns.
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SEE ALSO:
Fertilization Instructions For Lawn Turf Grasses
Lawn Mowing Instructions
Insect Control In Lawn Turf Grasses.
Disease Control In Lawn Turf Grasses.
Weed Control In Lawns