Treating Bare and Brown Patches on Your Lawn

For many people, bare and brown lawn patches are a nuisance that won’t seem to go away. However, such problems are not beyond repair if you know what to do. Read on to learn the best way to treat bare and brown areas in your lawn.

Remove Existing Grass from the Area

The first step when fixing bare and brown lawn patches is to remove all the dead grass in the area. Continue stripping away the turf until you have a bare exposed patch of soil that is surrounded by healthy green grass on all sides.

Loosen and Amend the Soil

Once the soil is exposed, you should use a rake to loosen it. Loosening the soil will make it easier for your new grass’s roots to spread and take hold. This is also an opportune time to add fertilizer or an organic soil amendment like compost to improve the soil’s nutrient quantity.

Spread Seed or Lay Sod

There are two main ways that you can introduce new grass to your bare lawn patch. The first option is to spread seeds into the area. This process is identical to starting an entire lawn via seeding. The only difference is that you’ll be spreading seed in one distinct area of your lawn.

The other option you have is to patch your lawn with sod. If this is your choice, you should cut your bare patch to match your piece of sod. Your sod should fit perfectly into the space you create, being neither too small nor too large. Precise sizing ensures there will be no visible gaps in your grass.

Add Water

Regardless of whether you use seed or sod, you should give your new grass plenty of water after you plant it. Continue giving seeded areas water about once per day for at least a month. Sodded areas should receive water at the same frequency for about a week or two.