A beautiful green and well-kept lawn is every gardener’s dream. But what should you do if holes appear in the lawn after winter?
Holes in the lawn can occur for a number of reasons. In order to eliminate them, it’s important that the removal method is tailored to the problem.
If the grass of yellow patches can be easily pulled out, it means that there are spider mites under the lawn. They are most commonly found near deciduous trees. You can protect your lawn against them by raking the grass intensively from May to June – especially in areas where it grows poorly. By raking intensively, you can bring the eggs to the surface, which will be dried out by the sun.
If the grass has been heavily infested with spider mites, then a good quality insecticide should be applied and the lawn will need to be re-planted
Places that have been completely scorched by the sun should be raked heavily. If depressions have formed because of this, fill them in with soil and sow the grass mixture used earlier to establish the lawn. Cover the seed with a layer of compost. Water the renewed area generously.
Snow mold is a fungal disease that most often attacks the lawn after winter. It can only be seen when the snow has fully melted. White, slightly pink or brown mold marks then appear on the blades of grass. The fungus develops under the spring snow melt, gradually destroying the grass and leading to the death of the lawn.
In order to prevent the fungal disease, it is essential that you remember to take proper preventative measures such as regular mowing, watering and fertilizing. When snow mold causes spots on the grass, remove these sections of the lawn and then sow new grass.
Damage to a beautiful lawn can also be caused by pet urine. The main component of pet urine is highly concentrated nitrogen, which leaves yellow stains on the grass. Replenishing the loss of grass in this case is not easy. You need to remove the layer of turf along with the soil, and then spread new soil, on which you will sow new grass
Once you have diagnosed and fixed the problem, you need to proceed with filling in the holes in the turf. As a first step, you need to prepare the soil properly, which means digging it up. If the deficiencies are small, you will only need to dig up the lawn with a hoe or rake. For larger areas, dig up the lawn with a pitchfork. After digging up the areas with defects, pour a 1-2 cm layer of soil and sand mixture and compact it firmly.
>> See also: Lawn after winter. Why does the grass turn yellow?
The next step is sowing the grass. You can choose from regenerative mixes, self-compacting mixes and last year’s mix (as long as it was sown then). After seeding, rake the seeds with the back of a rake to mix them into the new soil. You can also cover them with a 1 cm layer of compost. Water the freshly seeded grass thoroughly.
