Updated at: 04-07-2022 - By: cnbusinessnews

Water-damaged lawns can be revived in spring by assessing the damage and either mowing or replanting. The greatest time to do this is in the spring, when most people’s gardens are in need of a significant overhaul.

Too much water will inevitably ruin your lawn due to the unpredictability of the weather. Overwatering your grass is more likely if you don’t have a huge awning covering your entire yard.

Don’t let your once-beautiful green lawn become a shimmering pond until you’ve read this guide to remedy what can be done.

Lawn Problems Caused by Excessive Rain and OverWatering

Walking and moving heavy objects like trash cans across Wichita’s clay soil compacts it, but it can also leave behind lasting scars or footprints in your yard.

Filling the air spaces in the soil with sufficient water can effectively suffocate the roots of the grass, preventing it from growing.

How To Liven Up Water Damaged Lawn In Spring: 6 Easy Steps - Krostrade

You may notice yellow patches in your yard when your lawn is overwatered, which can lead to disease caused by fungus. Once fungus takes hold, there is nothing you can do but reseed those areas in the fall.

As a result, patches of dead brown grass can be seen in areas with shallow root growth, which can’t cope with dry weather.

An infested lawn is especially vulnerable to disease because of the stressed grass that results from a shallow root system.

Weeds – more Overwatering your lawn on a regular basis can encourage the growth of hard-to-kill weeds.

Overwatering your lawn might result in the loss of nutrients that would otherwise be absorbed by the plant’s root system.

You’ll have to use more fertilizer to make up for the nutrients your grass isn’t getting because your lawn isn’t getting enough of them.

Overwatering or watering your lawn when it’s raining wastes water and money because your lawn can only absorb so much water at a time. You’ll also end up paying for fertilizer treatments that your lawn doesn’t require.

Pet feces, fertilizers, and other chemicals used to maintain a lawn end up in the sewer system, where they combine with other pollutants already present on the surface.

How To Revive A Water-Damaged Lawn

Step #1. Do the waiting game

Determine the sort of soil that is the foundation of your grass. Heavy clay and light sandy soil are two examples of soil types.

Is the sort of soil in your yard light? As a result, the water will seep through and dry off much more rapidly. Your grass may take longer to dry out if your soil is heavy or clayey.

In order to mend your grass, you will need to wait until it is completely dry. The best week to fix up your lawn is one with good weather predicted.

Step #2. Assess damage

The time has come to examine the damage done to your grass by the excess water. Get a rake and other necessary materials and begin raking your lawn to accomplish this.

Remove any and all fallen leaves, debris, and other unwanted materials from your beautiful grass. Once the debris has been removed, examine the items to see whether any are moderately to badly damaged.

Your lawn should ideally be a shining example of a perfectly leveled field of grass. Make a note of any inconsistencies you find. Grass can be clumpy, sparse, thick, overgrown, or barren.

Also, keep an eye out for overgrown weeds. The first step is to document the damage your grass has sustained, and then move on to the next stage.

Step #3. Let the soil breathe

Your lawn will thank you if you let the soil to breathe. If the damage to the grass is too serious, this method may be the next best thing to have at your disposal.

To begin, if your grass is having trouble draining water, try using a garden fork instead of a rake. Using this method will expedite the drainage process and open up the soil.

Once the soil has dried sufficiently, repeat the aeration process with a garden fork. Your lawn’s topsoil can become compacted due to water damage if you don’t aerate the soil or allow the air to circulate beneath the surface. With this method, your lawn’s soil will be much better able to drain in the future.

Step #4. Mow overgrown grass

Regular mowing is essential for maintaining an even lawn. A well-planned mowing strategy is essential if you’re serious about maintaining your grass. Lawn mowing stimulates grass growth, especially in the spring, when the weather is warming up.

Before operating your lawnmower, make sure it’s in top shape. It’s just as crucial to maintain your mower as it is to mow the lawn. You can either perform the maintenance check yourself or have it oiled and sharpened by someone with greater experience.

It’s time to get to work on your mower when it’s all set up. Just a third of the grass has to be trimmed back.

Step #5. Feed the lawn

Planting and gardening necessitate fertilization, and your lawn is no exception. You must feed your lawn properly in order to take advantage of the spring season and have the even green, green grass you desire.

The best lawn food or fertilizer for your lawn should be chosen based on the type of soil in your yard. After a month or a month and a half, reapply your grass fertilizer.

Other than commercially available fertilizer, you may also fertilize your lawn by mowing it. If you only have half the time to maintain your garden this spring, dried leaves and grass clippings can serve as a natural compost that works.

Step #6. Start reseeding

Planting new grass seeds is the best solution if your lawn has been damaged by water so severely that there are barren spots. Make sure your soil is healthy and ready before doing this. To start, make sure the soil is free of weeds and undesired moss, and then fertilize it.

You can either spread the seeds across the entire lawn or focus on the areas that are most in need of attention. Leaving seeds on top of the soil will not result in healthy plant growth.

A seedbed must be prepared by breaking up the soil’s surface. Sow the seeds and, if you wish to hasten their growth, place a black garbage bag over them for a few days. Remove the bag once the seeds have sprouted and allow it to grow organically.

After two or three days, water your yard. As a precaution, cover the area with some form of net or other barrier to keep birds away, and avoid walking on it for a few days if at all possible.

Spring-Green, Author at Spring Green

Prevent Over Watering Problems

It’s true that you can’t control the rain, but you can take efforts to ensure that your grass can withstand both periods of rain and dry weather.

Make sure your yard has proper drainage

Always look for puddles or pools of standing water after a rainstorm. Bringing in fill earth and reseeding low sections in your yard can assist. Make sure your rain gutters are clean and that the downspouts are equipped with extenders to divert water away from the foundation of your property. Installing hidden extenders to create a french drain system that disperses water underground rather than on the surface of your grass is an option as well.

Know when and how much to water your lawn

As a general rule, you should water your lawn deeply yet sparingly. Watering your grass every day isn’t necessary here in Wichita because most lawns just need an inch of water per week. Having a lawn that can resist drought conditions is easier to achieve by letting the soil dry out between waterings. Your lawn’s water requirements will change throughout the year, so you’ll need to adapt your watering schedule accordingly.

If you have a sprinkler system, consider installing a rain sensor

If you have an irrigation system, you should consider installing a rain sensor to ensure that the sprinklers don’t run when it’s raining. As a bonus, you’ll save money and conserve water by maintaining a healthy lawn.

10 Essentials for Spring Lawn Care

1. Tune Up Your Mower

By the time spring rolls around, it’s time for a service. Nothing is more aggravating than trying to start your lawn mower in the heat of the summer. When it comes to mower maintenance, it’s more than just sharpening or, in certain cases, replacing the blade. The oil, spark plug, and filter need to be replaced, and then the gasoline tank must be refilled.

2. Rake

The next step is to start over from scratch. When it comes to fall, raking isn’t only a seasonal activity. Any dead grass or other debris from the winter will need to be raked up, as will any falling leaves. Make sure your dirt is dry before raking. Healthy grass can be yanked out if the ground is too wet.

3. Dethatch

This is more of an as-needed task, but it’s critical that you get to it as quickly as possible if you need to. You should eliminate thatch if it’s more than 12 inch thick, a layer of organic matter that sits between the top of your grass and its root system.

A layer of thatch prevents your grass roots from receiving the water, air and nutrients they require in order to grow strong and healthily. If your grass has a heavy layer of thatch, it is more susceptible to illness and may even attract insects.

A special dethatching rake can be used to remove thatch that is too dense for your standard rake to handle. Cool-season grasses should be dethawed in early spring, whereas warm-season grasses should be dethawed in late April.

4. Aerate

Compacted soil on your lawn needs to be broken up to allow for proper aeration. Heavy foot traffic can cause soil to become compacted, preventing water, air, and nutrients from reaching your grass’s roots. In general, aerating in the fall is preferable, but if necessary, it may be necessary to do it in the spring. Compacted soil is more likely to be clay-rich.

Your lawn will benefit from aeration by allowing water, oxygen, and nutrients to enter its roots through thousands of tiny holes in the soil. In terms of aeration equipment, you have a variety of choices. Solid tines are used in spike aerators to puncture the soil. Plug aerators remove a core of dirt and vegetation from the ground. Plug aerators have the advantage of allowing the core to decay on top of the grass, providing the grass with additional nutrients.

You can either rent or buy these equipment, however the latter option is more expensive. TruGreen, for example, has a wide range of high-tech tools at its disposal.

5. Test Your Soil

Having the right soil pH is critical to a lawn’s ability to develop and thrive. Soil pH levels between 6.0 and 7.0 are good for the majority of plants. If your grass is covered in moss after the winter, your soil is probably excessively acidic. Is there a solution to this problem? Addition of lime to the solution.

You must first verify your suspicions. It is possible to buy a soil test kit and send your samples to a business or a university for analysis. You can use a fertilizer spreader to administer lime if your soil is excessively acidic. Keep in mind that an excessively alkaline soil can have problems of its own.

6. Mow High

Rather than taking quick cuts, go high throughout this season. Cut only one-third of the blades’ length for most lawns, which thrive at a height of 3 to 4 inches. Make sure your mower is set to cut at the highest setting possible for your lawn’s kind.

Drought stress is more likely to occur when the grass is short and the roots are shallow. You can encourage weeds to thrive on your yard if you cut your grass too short. On the other hand, tall grass has deeper roots than short grass, making it more resistant to weeds.

7. Overseed

If your grass has been ravaged by the winter, it’s time to get started on a new layer. Wait until fall, when weeds are less prevalent and new seeds have a better chance of germinating.

To restore your lawn to its former lushness, you can reseed your lawn. You’ll get a mixture of seed and fertilizer from the lawn builder you hire. There are distinct varieties for cool-season grasses and warm-season grasses, so be sure to look for those while making your blend selection. To disseminate the seed, use a hand spreader.

For the first two weeks after overseeding, it’s critical to keep an eye on your newly sown grass. Taking extra precautions is advised. Help it grow strong and healthy using a slow-release fertilizer. For the first two weeks, you can be a helicopter plant parent, watering the area every day.

8. Kill Lawn Weeds

Pre-emergent and post-emergent herbicides are needed for spring weed management. That is, unless you overlookd. Overseeding and applying pre-emergent herbicide are incompatible because herbicide prevents fresh grass seeds from germinating.

If you don’t want to use overseeding, you can use pre-emergent herbicides to keep new weeds from appearing.

The best way to get rid of weeds like dandelions on your springtime lawn is to use a post-emergent herbicide, which is far easier and more effective than pulling them out by hand. It’s a defensive type, actively eradicating weeds that have already established a foothold.

9. Fertilize

Avoid fertilizing your lawn if you’ve just used herbicides, as you would overseeding. If you haven’t already, slow-release nitrogen-rich fertilizers are the finest thing you can do for your grass. A high-quality fertilizer helps nourish and protect your grass against dryness and heat.

NPK value, or the nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium ratio, should be considered while selecting a fertilizer. Potassium promotes flowering in plants, whereas phosphorus increases root growth. The optimal fertilizer for your grass type can be determined by doing a soil test.

10. Eliminate Grubs

What’s left now that the hard work is done? Grubs should be checked for. During the spring, white, ravenous beetle larvae feast on the roots of the grass they devour. There are numerous methods for dealing with grubs.

How to Repair a Drought-Damaged Lawn

First, you can opt for traditional insecticides, which use chemicals to kill off these unwanted insects. If you’d like to go green, consider an organic alternative. Applying products with milky spore powder or neem oil, or introducing beneficial nematodes, should do the trick.

Traditional insecticides, which use chemicals to kill pests, are a good place to start. Consider using an organic substitute if you want to go green. Beneficial nematodes can be introduced or products with milky spore powder can be applied.

Traditional pesticides, which utilize chemicals to eliminate these pesky pests, are an option. Take into account an organic option if you’d like to be more eco-friendly Beneficial nematodes can be introduced or items with milky spore powder can be applied to the area.

Conclusion

Your initial damage assessment will inform your springtime efforts to revive a water-damaged grass. Mowing, fertilizing, and reseeding can all be accomplished in a single day if it is determined that your lawn can be salvaged.