Post-winter brown spots, torn up lawn, need to re-seed?

SouthCentral

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  • / Post-winter brown spots, torn up lawn, need to re-seed?
Every spring I have the same problem. The snow melts and the ground softens up and while riding around the lawn on my mower, the lawn gets torn up. Sometimes the spots are bigger than others but the consistent factor is that they are ugly. Then after a month or so the ground dries up so much and the grass doesn't re-grow. One year about five years ago I had a big patch of problem grass and I wound up tilling it, re-seeding, rolling, and that turned out pretty good.

This year I am looking for a quick fix for the spots that get torn up and are exposed dirt. I'm thinking if I seed when the ground is still soft and moist, that will provide the best environment for the grass to grow and I won't need to worry about breaking up the dirt to seed, or even worry about laying hay over it to keep the seed down. Also I think this would be an economical solution to the problem, just one bag of grass seed.

Any thoughts about this? I'm sure others deal with it too. :thumbdown:
 

jenkinsph

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  • / Post-winter brown spots, torn up lawn, need to re-seed?
I try to stay off a soft wet lawn, I would rather it grow taller and cut it later than to make ruts.

I overseed every year with about 20% additional seed, keeps the lawn thick and weed free.
 

SouthCentral

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  • / Post-winter brown spots, torn up lawn, need to re-seed?
Do you ever aerate your lawn? This is more a general question and not about the brown spots.
 

KennyV

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  • / Post-winter brown spots, torn up lawn, need to re-seed?
Your brown spots could be caused by a few things, but re seeding should get something green happening...
Aerate is a good thing to start with, I am way OVERDUE myself... that alone will help the existing plants and is also great for the new seed...
Keeping moisture at and around the new growth is going to be important... once the root system is well established you can back of on watering but in the early stages of growth you will have to keep it wet... Aeration is an often overlooked spring lawn fix... :smile:KennyV
 
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