[red86yota]

Hello All.

I'm hoping someone can help me here. My lawn needs some work, and I'm willing and able to do the work, just need a little direction. In the 5 yrs we've been here, I haven't done much to the lawn other than some spring and/or fall fertilizing in addition to the mowing/trimming duty. I'm planning on renting a core aerator soon because I can tell the soil is pretty compacted now. Not sure if I need to also de-thatch now or not? I also have a big section of what appears to be some type of a weed because it turns yellow and is not as soft as the regular grass. For what it's worth, I live in Michigan. Lawns have just started greening up for spring around here.

My plan is to rake out the yellow areas, aerate, and top seed the whole lawn.

Here's a few pictures of the 'grass' in my yard.

First pic is a wide view of one of the yellow areas. Second pic is a closeup. Third pic is a close-up near a landscaping border - the grass is very dense here and not soft at all. Fourth pic is a close-up of some of the grass I pulled out of the ground.

Any thoughts on how to attack this lawn to get it looking better? Thanks for reading!

 

[hortman]

Hey, red86yota. Ken here with The Home Depot in the Chicago area.
I used to be a gray90yota. Your lawn definitely needs some help, but
your plan is right on. Hard-rake the yellow areas, even the whole lawn
for that matter. Core aerate, and then mow high to get up all the debris.
Over-seed the whole lawn and if you feel like it, top-dress with seeding soil to help keep the seed moist.
Put down not more than a quarter inch.

Keep the soil moist. After germination do not mow for at least 3 weeks
so the roots can get set. Mow high in the begining, then gradually lower
to the proper height. This should be done when the weather gets a little warmer(May).


Good luck and take care.

 

[user1007]

Most important thing you can do is feed it on a regular basis.

That yellow stuff looks like some sort of perrennial crabgrass. If you were not in Michigan, I would think some sort of Bermuda grass actually. In California even the most beautiful bermuda grass lawns would go dormant in winter to the point some turfgrass managers died them. They came back in spring. You had to crop them very short and water and fertilize like crazy to keep them looking nice. Same with creeping bent grasses popular on West Coast golf course.

Aereating is certainly a good idea at this point. I cannot really tell from the photos if you have a thatch issue. If you reach your fingers down through the turf for the soil do you have to work hard to pull apart grass and fiber to get to the soil? If so, you should probably de-tatch.

I would definitely set your mower higher too. And water only early in the day if you can.

Grubs and fungus an issue at all?