Lawn renovation plan
So the first step to your lawn renovation plan is going to be around preparation of removing weeds removing some coarse grasses and generally preparing the area that you plan to renovate.
It’s critical to remove all the things that we don’t want in our lawn because all those things will compete with the types of grasses we do want in our lawn and they also compete with the new seeds that we’re putting down
Think of it like when you paint a wall you need to do all the preparation or fill in the cracks and sanding down if you want to get a really good finish at the end
So this is the first day of the lawn renovation project that I’m doing if you’re not familiar with what the series is about take a look at the introduction article but basically what it’s designed to do is anybody who’s preparing any lawn renovation works can follow along and get some really good information how you at home can get the same results
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Step #1:
The first step of the program is going to be to leave the lawn to grow through a couple of inches
The reason we’re doing this is most people think right I’m going to start a renovation project I’m going to scalp the lawn right down to its bare bones and then work it from there but that’s actually not the most useful way to do
The first step allows the lawn to grow and then you can actually see what you’re working with so you’ll be able to see all the types of weed grasses you’ve got
You’ll also be able to see some of the broadleaf weeds and it gives you a real good feel for kind of what you’re up against in your lawn and you can tailor the treatment to suit what you’re facing
Step #2:
So once the grass has grown to around an inch or just over I’m going to give it a light rake
This isn’t a scarification type of rake it’s a light rake and that’s going to help stand any of the weed type of grasses up it’s going to help sort of make it visible so you can see what you’re tackling
The vast majority of this preparation type of phase is going to be treating broadleaf weeds and removing these types of grasses out of the lawn
These types of coarse grasses you can normally see them they’ll be thicker they’ll have wider stems or lighter in colour and also treating broadleaf weeds when you’re removing the grasses
If you are digging them out, you really want to get the root it’s no good just pulling off the tip you need to get your tools right into the into the sod and pull out the roots or they will just grow back
For some types of weeds you can also try to cut them out with a knife and slashing the roots or if you’ve got bigger clumps you’ll need to dig these things out
The best time to start project like this is in the spring or the autumn
These are the seasons where the grass is most actively growing and also favourable weather conditions such as not too much sun and enough rain to keep the seeds moist
For a small area like this I’ve actually hand weeded it and you can see some of the type of clumps that I’m pulling out it probably took me a full day’s work to literally pull and rip them out.
If you’ve got a bigger area you can use something probably like a power rake or a scarifier and it really depends on what type of condition your lawns in
The only way to remove these things is literally digging them out or ripping them out there are no chemical treatments unfortunately without using a non-selective killer that’s going to completely kill all of the lawn off
Step #3:
So after looking at the coarse grasses the other thing you might want to look out for is broadleaf weeds
Now these weeds can be controlled by a selective product and something similar to this and you want to look out for something that says kills weeds not lawns
You can use something like this resolver or weedol type of product (affiliate link i can earn commission from purchases)
For these weeds follow the label carefully, shake the bottle thoroughly and just give the weeds a spray
You don’t need to completely saturate the area because it might kill your lawn
Just give it a small spray make sure the leaves are covered and jobs done
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Final Step:
Okay so this is towards the end of that process I’ve pulled and dug out and slashed all of the weeds that I could see and I’m gonna rake them all together and collect them to get them off the lawn.
So here’s the picture after the first day of cleaning up and treating removing as many grasses as we can the lawns going to look really patchy in places and probably thin and a little bit worn
