The Grass Doctor

How to fill in barepots in a new lawn/ thicken up lawn in southern Ohio area?

I built a new house last year, and at the end of the summer last year we had a terrible drought. About early Sept. when fall was coming, I planted my grass seed. It was a Tall Fescue/Ky Blue grass mix (called Urban Extacy by Southwest Landmark). The soil was like powder when I sewed the seed, put down straw and we got decent rain within days of planting, and it was not overly dry from then on. I still have a terrible looking lawn with many barespot (I am looking at bare dirt in many spots). Where do I start to get it to fill in to a nice lush lawn? More seed (what kind), fertilizer (what kind), lime. etc? All I know is to buy more seed, drop it in the spreader and start spreading. I know next to nothing about seed types, fertilizers, and lime. Please help, and keep in minde I have an acre and a half of yard with next to no shade, and watering that much lawn just isn't possible. Thanks, JW

Public Comments

1. Annual rye and fescue mix should do the trick.
2. Drop spreading will work where you already have some grass, but wait until October to sow, when there's likely to be more rain. A trick I use for bare spots is to mix a cup of grass seed and a handful of grass fertilizer with about 3 gallons of topsoil (the kind that comes in bags). Mix it up good and toss a light coating of the mixture on those bare spots - preferably when rain is predicted. It works better than those commercial "lawn patch" products.