How to making my sod lawn rich and full.?
Question:I have a sod front lawn which has been established for 12 years. I finally managed to get the chickweed and crab grass out of there. I can not seem to get that carpet feel or look. I use scotts brand on the grass every year, I mow with a sharp blade at 4" off the ground. I have been working with this for 5 years and still it is not near where it should be. I have reseeded twice. Any Ideas?? I even tried Chemlawn service which did nothing more that what I could accomplish.
Answers:
There are a few things to look for here:
the type of grass that you've got within your sod
as well as how you're maintaining and cutting it
You've done well to get rid of the some of the nasty grass. If the rest of the grass varieties are not the really fine leaved types, then it will never appear like a bowling green lawn, however it's cut.
You can 'over-seed' with new seeds, of a variety that will look better, this can be done from spring to autumn, if there is sufficient watering, but is best done in spring or fall. I'd research some luxury turf seed suppliers, and perhaps even remove a piece of your current lawn and re-sow from scratch. This would then give you a comparative area of lawn that would show you what you could achieve if you redid the whole lawn. Over-seed where the growth is not as strong as others, and try this sample patch to compare. You say that you've over-seeded twice, though don't mention what grass varieties that you added to your lawn. If you add the same types, you're likely to get the same results, I'm sure you don't need me to tell you this.
Otherwise, if you're mowing at a height that is too high, or even infrequently, this will favor the stronger grass varieties that are mixed into your lawn. General advice is never to take off more than a 1/3 of the leaf length. You could gradually lower some of your cutting height, or even do a sample area of lawn, to see the effect after a few months. The faster longer grass is likely to shade out the fine, lower growing types and thus inhibit their strength. I'd try something like 3'' and perhaps mowing more frequently.
Lastly, I feed my lawn with an organic feed, which is not made from man made chemicals. I use a sea weed extract that really strengthens my lawn's growth.
I also add a mycorrhizal additive to the lawn roots when I prepare new lawns. These are beneficial fungal cultures that aid and extend the roots and plants, in fact of most plants on earth. They assist with nutrient uptake as well as provide an extended 'root' area, which strengthens the grass immensely. As you can imagine, cutting off a plant's top every few days is somewhat artificial and harsh. Anything that you can do to strengthen the plants natural abilities to maintain itself is also good. I've digressed slightly here, away from getting the most carpet like fine lawn for you, but this will help prevent you having to suffer a damaged lawn in times of drought etc. and also ensure that all appropriate nutrients are delivered to the plant.
Otherwise, ensure that other good 'house-keeping' tips are followed with your lawn:
aeration, de-thatching debris, limitation of chemicals, ensuring the subsoil is as good as it can be etc.
Good luck dude!
buy some cow manure and spread it all over the lawn
what i've always done and has worked great is to go get some rose food. it has alot of blood meal and other nutrients. no need to get fancy since it seems that you've already put a lot of money into your lawn. i usually get the cheapest one that they have at walmart and it comes in a little box. throw it out there and water it. it thickens the grass and almost makes it glow on how green it becomes.
The best thing is to re turf the lawn and put some weed and feed on it, this feeds the grass and kills the weeds.
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