We all agree that bare patches are annoying and unsightly, so how do we fix them?
Well for smaller areas up to say the size of a 9L bucket it’s about maintenance.
Regularly mowing your lawn with sharp mower blades, following a lawn care program, or at least applying a quality fertiliser and hand watering those bare spots daily will help you see drastic results if you’re currently not doing much apart from semi regularly mowing your lawn.
The existing lawn will naturally spread from the side and fill in the spot in no time under the right conditions. The exception to this is for lawns in cool climates where your cool season lawn will not naturally spread and fill in like warm season lawns, and you’ll need to use some seed.
For larger spots that just won’t grow, you may need to put in a little more effort. Knowing your grass type is important here because in most cases it’s extremely important that you DO NOT USE SEED!!!
Australian varieties of warm season grasses like Kikuyu, Couch, Zoysia, Buffalo can be regrown from a single piece of root system. Adding seed to existing lawns will bring in new varieties that grow at different rates and look terrible - especially if you use a seed blend.
One question to start with: does your soil suck? You'll know because nothing ever grows there and the area looks extremely dry and infertile.
If yes, then doing any planting of new lawn is going to be tough and the area will probably remain a bare patch - you might need to try a lawn repair job like this.
If the soil is alright, instead of removing the soil like I did in that video you can just dig some small spots up and plant into it the same way I did there. You could also use a tool like a pro plugger. Once you’re done, aim to water these areas up to 3 times a day if possible to help them establish and fill in your bare spot. If you’re more impatient you could try to buy turf rolls that match your existing lawn. For this I would take up to 10 up close pictures of your lawn and take them to your local turf farm so that they can help you identify and replace the area. Again though, soil quality is highly important so don’t just lay turf somewhere it’s just going to die again.
Ok now for when seed comes in. If you’re going to use it for a warm season lawn then pleaaaaase use a pure seed like this pure couch lawn seed, not a blend like this. BUT if you have a cool season lawn - seed away! In terms of identification again - take lots of pics but this time compare on the interwebs or post in a Facebook group like Australian Lawn Fanatics to see if you have a Rye, Bluegrass, or Fescue lawn. From there spread the seed and lightly top dress with something like a compost soil, water 2-3 times per day and watch it pop out of the ground!
Some closing points: additional watering is the key once you’ve done your sprigging, plugging, seeding or turf laying. Regular mowing and quality products is important once established to maintain a healthy lawn. Soil health is highly important and so is timing. Doing this work to warm season grasses is best in spring and summer, while cool season grasses are best to work on during spring and autumn, but mostly autumn.
Good luck filling in those unsightly patches, it’ll be so satisfying when it’s all filled in!!
