Alright, so I live in NE Wisconsin and bought my first house a couple of years ago and could use a little advice on how to make my lawn look like an actual lawn. The former owner was an older woman who I guess had decided to do nothing to it but let the neighbor mow from time to time.
I have decided to finally take some corrective action with the lawn care. The current state of the lawn isn't great, I have multiple bare/spotty patches, moss growing in quite a few different areas, little purple flower weeds popping up in groups, and a little bit of crabgrass as well. Last year I fertilized the lawn once, maybe twice and it seemed to take care of the crazy dandelion problem I had. It's not a huge lawn by any means typical suburban lawn, maybe 250 sq. feet or so.
Another huge problem I have is that the lawn has also become extremely bumpy which makes it extremely hard to mow evenly. I thought about rolling it, but after a little reading, it seems like that would do more damage than good. Apparenlty aerating the lawn and letting it naturally settle/flatten out would be much more beneficial.
It also seems I may have missed the mark on timing as well. I've seen from a few different places that the best time to do anything major to your lawn (in my area at least) would be during the end of fall, late August, early September. It would seem the best thing I could do for my lawn right now at the start of the season would be to spread some compost on it, but I can't say I know of any place to acquire compost.
My thought right now is to fertilize the lawn in the spring after a few weeks, just keep mowing it like usual until the fall. In the fall, then aerate the lawn, seed the lawn, and then once the seed has grown a bit, fertilize again.
I guess I'm just looking for advice if I'm on the right track or completely way off here. Is there something I could/should do in the spring or mid-summer to help with these issues? Should I wait til the fall to aerate and seed or should I start that right away?
Any thoughts would help and be appreciated!
Thanks!
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buddylee375
- Newly Registered
- Posts: 5
- Joined: Wed Mar 21, 2012 10:06 pm
- Location: Appleton, Wisconsin
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tremuloides
- Full Member
- Posts: 30
- Joined: Wed Mar 21, 2012 4:19 am
- Location: Colorado
Hi Buddy!
You may want to check out the University of Wisconsin County Extension for some help.
Master gardeners are there to assist with MANY questions and are quite helpful (at least here in Colorado they are!).....
Here is a link that may be in your area to get you started....
[url]https://outagamie.uwex.edu/about-oc-extension/[/url]
If not, Colorado State University has a great set of information on lawns etc....
[url]https://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/pubs.html#garden[/url]
Some tips....
Moss is an indication that the grass is not growing properly either due to fertilization, mowing issues, drainage, etc.....if the lawn were healthy then it can usually out-compete the moss (not sure how it is in Wisconsin though).
On the issues of the bumps....can you say how high they are? The reason I ask is that prepping a new lawn (one that is really lush and nice) requires proper prep.
The grade is very important and making certain that you have a good start for your lawn is KEY!
Now here is a question....
What type of grass are you trying to grow? I am assuming that it is a Cool Season grass up there in Wisconsin.
You CAN totally renovate your lawn this year and within a couple of months depending on temp and location you will have a great lawn!
You also need to figure out what you want to do with your lawn?
The grasses (and weeds...YUCK...we all get em) or grass that was originally planted in the lawn may not be the best one for you and your family.
Are you looking for a high traffic lawn (kids playing, dogs, walking on it a great deal)? Are you looking for just a lawn for beauty with little traffic?
These are questions that your county extension or someone here that knows your area can help with.
I have installed several lawns over my adult life....seems like every home we have purchased needs some work. The current home we are living in (hopefully our last)....was in foreclosure for 2 years and had a beautiful lawn at one point. The problem is that it is essentially dead and thatch, weeds, poor installation when it was installed, low spots, bumps....we have decided to totally renovate it. We live on just under 3/4 of an acre so we have our work cut out for us....
For a small urban lawn of 250 square feet you could probably renovate or start from scratch easily.
Hope this gets you on the right track....if you have any other questions post em up here or Pm me.....
A side note: budget is ALWAYS an issue.....sod can be very expensive depending on where you live. Seeding is USUALLY cheaper (at least every place I have lived) and is actually REALLY easy if you do it correctly!
Cheers
You may want to check out the University of Wisconsin County Extension for some help.
Master gardeners are there to assist with MANY questions and are quite helpful (at least here in Colorado they are!).....
Here is a link that may be in your area to get you started....
[url]https://outagamie.uwex.edu/about-oc-extension/[/url]
If not, Colorado State University has a great set of information on lawns etc....
[url]https://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/pubs.html#garden[/url]
Some tips....
Moss is an indication that the grass is not growing properly either due to fertilization, mowing issues, drainage, etc.....if the lawn were healthy then it can usually out-compete the moss (not sure how it is in Wisconsin though).
On the issues of the bumps....can you say how high they are? The reason I ask is that prepping a new lawn (one that is really lush and nice) requires proper prep.
The grade is very important and making certain that you have a good start for your lawn is KEY!
Now here is a question....
What type of grass are you trying to grow? I am assuming that it is a Cool Season grass up there in Wisconsin.
You CAN totally renovate your lawn this year and within a couple of months depending on temp and location you will have a great lawn!
You also need to figure out what you want to do with your lawn?
The grasses (and weeds...YUCK...we all get em) or grass that was originally planted in the lawn may not be the best one for you and your family.
Are you looking for a high traffic lawn (kids playing, dogs, walking on it a great deal)? Are you looking for just a lawn for beauty with little traffic?
These are questions that your county extension or someone here that knows your area can help with.
I have installed several lawns over my adult life....seems like every home we have purchased needs some work. The current home we are living in (hopefully our last)....was in foreclosure for 2 years and had a beautiful lawn at one point. The problem is that it is essentially dead and thatch, weeds, poor installation when it was installed, low spots, bumps....we have decided to totally renovate it. We live on just under 3/4 of an acre so we have our work cut out for us....
For a small urban lawn of 250 square feet you could probably renovate or start from scratch easily.
Hope this gets you on the right track....if you have any other questions post em up here or Pm me.....
A side note: budget is ALWAYS an issue.....sod can be very expensive depending on where you live. Seeding is USUALLY cheaper (at least every place I have lived) and is actually REALLY easy if you do it correctly!
Cheers
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buddylee375
- Newly Registered
- Posts: 5
- Joined: Wed Mar 21, 2012 10:06 pm
- Location: Appleton, Wisconsin
Thanks for the reply!
Great links you suggested! I never would have even thought to look at the county site, lots of good stuff there.
The bumps are not real high, not considered mounds by any means, maybe just about 1-3" in some parts of the lawn like smaller potholes and little bumps.
The grass is a cool season grass for sure. I can't say I know exactly what type is planted right now, but what is recommended (taken from the county website link you gave me!) is a blend of mostly kentucky bluegrass, some fine fescue, and a bit of rye grass. The lawn won't have a ton of high traffic, but I definitely want to be able to walk on it without thinking I'm gonna damage it somehow.
This definitely helps and gives me a good starting point. Thanks again for the help!
Great links you suggested! I never would have even thought to look at the county site, lots of good stuff there.
The bumps are not real high, not considered mounds by any means, maybe just about 1-3" in some parts of the lawn like smaller potholes and little bumps.
The grass is a cool season grass for sure. I can't say I know exactly what type is planted right now, but what is recommended (taken from the county website link you gave me!) is a blend of mostly kentucky bluegrass, some fine fescue, and a bit of rye grass. The lawn won't have a ton of high traffic, but I definitely want to be able to walk on it without thinking I'm gonna damage it somehow.
This definitely helps and gives me a good starting point. Thanks again for the help!
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tremuloides
- Full Member
- Posts: 30
- Joined: Wed Mar 21, 2012 4:19 am
- Location: Colorado
Buddy,
No Problem and glad you found some help from the links!
I had troubles figuring out just what we had on the lawn (or lack thereof) here at the house but took the sample to a turf farm place here and they ID'd it in 10 seconds! The Extension at CSU was also able to confirm it....Kentucky Bluegrass....
Aerating the lawn in a few days once this 14" of snow finally melts!
No Problem and glad you found some help from the links!
I had troubles figuring out just what we had on the lawn (or lack thereof) here at the house but took the sample to a turf farm place here and they ID'd it in 10 seconds! The Extension at CSU was also able to confirm it....Kentucky Bluegrass....
Aerating the lawn in a few days once this 14" of snow finally melts!