lawn with worn out soil

[Zoe Girl]

HI all, I am renting an older house in the urban area. The landlord rented to me despite my foreclosure and dog because I had been a homeowner so I would take good care of it, and specifically bring the lawn back. The front is coming along except for a couple spots that no matter how much I water just stay mostly dead. I even started with miracle grow on them. The area that is in the run off area of an evergreen bush is simply not doing anything. I planted a few drought resistant plants there.

Now the back yard is not coming along at all. It is bumpy ground, sparse grass and just looks bad. I am setting up a bad area for a garden hoping that will build up the soil. The rest has been overseeded, fertilized, had the organic booster sprayed on it and watered reasonably. I kinda want to ask the landlord to rototill the entire thing with a good amount of steer manure and vermiculate.

Any other ideas?

[fidgiegirl]

We tried some of the tricks here: http://www.richsoil.com/lawn-care.jsp

Particularly high mowing and leaving our leaves on the grass, and it helped. But it took a few years. Sounds like you have no grass at all?

It has a lot of good illustrations and explanations.

This was the other thing we thought of but never did do:
http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/horticulture/M1228.html

I know you are not in MN but it will give you some terms to look up for your region, at least.

Good luck!

Another thought . . . since you do have the dog, maybe grass isn't the best choice for the back yard anyway. Not sure how much latitude you have in this due to landlord's preferences, but so often grass gets wrecked from dog pee or just their being out there and ripping it up. Maybe mulch the whole thing and put in low maintenance plantings in some spots, leaving mulched paths and areas elsewhere in the yard? Being wild here.

[Zoe Girl]

Thank you fidgie, I will check those resources out.

We are in Colorado so I am soo used to only careful and limited watering. It is hard to keep putting so much water on a lawn.

My dog passed away in August so it probably affected the yard last year but this year may be better. There is grass, it is just very patchy and weedy. The large tree also drops branches like crazy but shades the house so it is cooler.

I am watering a spot right now that is bare weedy space and will plant sunflower seeds there. I think that will be a barrier to some of the really yucky areas, and give me another year.

[fidgiegirl]

Oh I'm really sorry about your dog, I didn't know. Hugs!

Interestingly the top link above advocates very limited watering for grass, and when you do, to water very deep to encourage deep roots (thus resulting in needing less watering later). I'm not familiar with how to landscape for dry areas, but it sounds like you have ideas. Perhaps forgo the grass altogether!

Good luck again . . .

[bunnys]

My dog passed away in August


So sorry to hear about the loss of your dog. You should probably get a new one now. (I love dogs and don't think anyone should ever be without one.)

[Tussiemussies]

Have read a little bit about natural lawn care. First you can aerate the lawn, you can rent out a machine from a large hardware store for a half a day. This will punch holes into the soil so that th water gets down to the roots. Then you rake the lawn getting all the dead stuff out, then you get compost and rake a very thin layer over the top of the lawn. Now you are ready to seed. There are a lot of different types of seeds out there make sure you get the type that are right for your condition. Good luck!!!

[iris lily]

This probably isn't the time of year to seed, that's spring and fall. Aeration is good for the lawn if you've got clay soil. Grass doesn't grow in excessive shade, at least blue grass doesn't so perhaps that tree is causing you trouble (don't theye all? h aha.)

[herbgeek]

Our yard is very shady, and we had thin wispy grass in a lot of places. I've switched to fescue for some areas, as well as using ground covers that can tolerate shade in others. Also use a lot of clover, it adds nitrogen to the soil and doesn't need to be mowed much since it doesn't grow that tall. When I mow, I leave the clippings on the lawn to decompose, and maybe once a year or every other year I add an organic fertilizer. It still is not, and never will be, one of those lush TV lawns. It is however low maintenance and safe for my cats to romp in.

[Bronxboy]

Might also have the soil pH checked to see if it is incorrect, something that can be fixed cheaply and safely. In the East, we'd say acidic soil is the problem, but the link below says basic soils are more common in Colorado.

http://www.coopext.colostate.edu/4dmg/New/colosoil.htm

Cooperative extension can do, or I've seen kits in hardware stores.

[Tussiemussies]

You can also find brands of grass seed that are made specifically for shade...

[Gardenarian]

Here is a link about how to renovate your lawn. (http://goorganicgardening.com/garden-maintenance/organic-lawn-renovation)
This is exactly how I would do it. Check with your local nursery for the best seed for your elevation.

[Zoe Girl]

Thanks, I am right now going with the cutting high technique over the summer. It seems the simplest. Then if the landlord wants a do-over in fall I will cooperate with her. In reading some of the lawn sites they talked about how far your shovel could go down easily, in this yard not at all. It is pretty much cement. I have also done the water for awhile, then come back and water again to get more to soak in. Now the garden areas I watered and dig and watered and dug, and added soil until it is good soil, but she may have to accept her goals for this yard with just lots and lots of watering are not realistic. And I would rather she got someone to do really big work, while I do maintenance.