Lawn dried out and caught on fire, now is ashes......

[neighbor hater]

My future inmate of a neighbor who belongs in a North Korean prison camp was lighting fireworks and my entire back yard burned, literally 95% of it went up in flames. It is burned all the way down to root and is basically ashes.

So obvious question and keep in mind I am not at all that accustomed to lawn care, gardening, etc but at the same time, I do not want to live in an ashed yard.

What are my steps to replace this yard? I live in Indiana and it has been dry so consider that when answering as fall is basically here. I really do not know where to start or even if I can rake up any debris or what? I have heard potting soil (prob expensive) I was thinking a load of dirt over it and then what? Grass seed, fertiler?

Please give me some steps I should take and let me know where to start especially considering the season. also, like everyone else, trying to keep cost at a minimum.

Thanks

[applestar]

What a terrible and frightening experience for you. Was the damage limited to the lawn? No one hurt, I hope?

I have limited experience with lawn care, but I did want to express my sympathy. From what I have heard though, fall is the best time to re-seed lawn. I believe the *controlled* burn is sometimes intentionally used to eliminate pest insects and weeds. And the ashes act as ideal fertilizer for lawn grass. So there is some silver lining here.

I'm sure more knowledgeable folks will give you details of best steps to take next.

Good luck.

[gixxerific]

I'm with Apple here. It sucks your lawn got fried. But think of it as a new beginning and plant a lot of seed. Also try an organic fertilizer such as Corn Gluten to not hurt your lawn anymore.

Oh and slap the edited out of your neighbor as well. That would make me feel better.

But all is not lost just seed and fertilize, hopefully in a an earth friendly manor, and you may be amazed, this may be a blessing and not a curse after all. People burn their lawns to regenerate new growth all the time.

Good luck

[neighbor hater]

OK, I appreciate the help.

So do not worry about raking up any ashes or debris? And do not get dirt?

If yard is basically completely black, just go plant a ton of grass seed and then get fertilizer and put it on the at the same time and just keep watering?

What type of grass seed would be best? How soon do you think I should be seeing results?

[lorax]

First of all, I'd be slapping the Gucci off the neighbour. That really sucks, and reminds me of the time that my neigbhour's poorly-maintained barbecue exploded and took out my 20-year old grapevines. Bah. At least it was only the lawn that got fried....

I'd just be broadcasting loads of seed without really touching it, myself. I like Blue Fescue as a grass because it's so vigorous that it chokes out other weeds, but you could also consider putting in a non-grass lawn, something like clover or creeping thyme....

I'd also say that now is the time to consider whether you want that entire area to be grass again, or if you want to put in flower/veggie beds. Now is the absolute best time to put those in, since your soil is weed-free and instant fertilized. I personally wage war on grass, because I believe that if I've got the space to grow something really useful, I should be using that; if I were in your situation, I'd be tempted to put at least 3/4 of the space into beds for planting, and then throw in a cover crop like lentils or barley for the winter.

[applestar]

It's best to find out from an independently operated local garden center/landscaping business what the best grass blend is for your location. Sunny vs. Shade, moist vs. dry will make a difference as well.

I believe it is best to cover the seeds with a thin layer of good quality aged compost and mulch with scattered seed-free straw or even floating covers to protect the seeds from getting washed away or eaten by birds. Grackles, blackbirds, Starlings, cowbirds, and their ilk will be migrating soon and they will not hesitate to descend en-masse and pick the ground clean of seeds. Sparrows, finches, and doves enjoy eating grass seeds too.

Keep moist, as you said, by watering every day until the seeds sprout, then, deeply every other day, then every three days, etc. The idea is to water so that the moisture soaks down and encourages the roots to seek moisture deeper in the ground instead of only watering the soil surface.

[tomf]

Depending upon how hot the fire was your lawn may just come back on its own. The fire may have thached your lawn for you and be a good thing. Or you could plant a water miser grass that has deep roots and stays green with out much water. You could over seed your lawn but tilling it up and then working the seeds into the soil works best. You can spread some 16-16-16 and lime but do not use weed control on a new lawn.

[gixxerific]

Okay here is what I would do if it were me. I would rent an aerator. Seed heavily with a good hardy local grass than a thin layer of compost finished off with a thin layer of straw than water like Apple said. Basically what she said but I would aerate first.

Than send the bill to your neighbor. Better yet make him do it than send the bill over.

[PVPind]

All good suggestions above.

One other thing you might want to think about if you have any hard compacted areas or wet areas that never dry out well is cultivate in some Coarse grade Perlite for aeration and to help loosen up any heavy clay soil. In wet areas it will help the water dissipate and soak in quicker.

You should be able to pick up 4 cu ft. bags at your local garden center and they might be on sale because they don't want to store the bags over the winter. Then again maybe not.

Here is a nice read about the use of Perlite on golf greens. https://www.perlite.org/perlite_info/guides/plants/RENOVATING%20GOLF%20GREENS%20WITH%20HORTICULTURAL%20PERLITE.pdf

I would start by top dressing any low areas, use a dethatcher to breakup the top layer of soil throughout the lawn, Aerate if you have compaction issues then dethatch, broadcast the Perlite with a spreader, use a leaf rake/ garden rake to cultivate things together, seed the lawn area with broadcast spreader, fertilize also and lay down some straw.

You should be good to go!

[microcollie]

Depending upon how hot the fire was your lawn may just come back on its own. The fire may have thached your lawn for you and be a good thing

I'd tend to agree with Tom. I had a fire started by lightening a few years back, and the grass (unfortunately) grew back just fine. Since heat from a fire rises, the roots may not have been damaged at all. (The leaves were going to die off soon anyway) Unless the grass was extremely tall, the fire probably didn't burn long enough to really destroy the soil or roots. I, being lazy and not really a fan of grass anyway, would wait until spring and see what happens.