How to fix holes in your lawn

Backfill the hole with topsoil and tamp it down, then reseed it like a bald patch. By removing soil plugs from your lawn, this process cuts off the roots, rhizomes, and runners. The effects of this stimulate your lawn to produce new shoots and roots that will fill in the holes and increase the density of your lawn. They help aerate the soil, loosen it up, and are more of a benefit than a problem. The little mounds will eventually disappear and the holes will fill in.

Manure with a high bedding content can rob more nitrogen from the soil than it provides. A knife-type tine can also be used to break up dry soil and create many cracks in the soil that also serve for aeration. Most lawns receive real benefit from aeration with solid, hollow, and broken tines. Lawns like Barry’s, which struggle to grow in heavily compacted soil, may not thrive or die no matter how much water and fertilizer you give them.

Winter freeze-thaw cycles and worm activity can help loosen lightly compacted soils. If the lawn has a thatch layer greater than 1/2 inch, then center cropping can be used as a preventative approach to control excessive thatch buildup. PASTE REMOVAL In addition to deeper roots, clumps of soil that are deposited on top of the soil help break down thatch, without the risk of damaging turf that electric aerators present. If you are doing a light fall overseeding on a fescue lawn, the holes left by the aerator are a perfect place for the seeds to fall and germinate. While the spikes will poke holes in the turf, they actually compact the soil rather than remove the core.

Aeration helps prevent soil compaction and allows oxygen and water to reach the roots of the grass. Soak the food in the soil by watering (see second image below). Feed any new plants with plant fertilizer in the spring and fall until they reach maturity. Because the grass clippings will be washed into the ground and broken down by soil organisms, you’ll need much less fertilizer. It is a myth that grass clippings cause thatch.

Without aeration of the lawn, the roots of the grass tend to knot together instead of growing vertically into the soil. Due to decreased root contact with soil nutrients, grass becomes vulnerable to predators such as worms and insects, as well as weeds such as dandelions and crabgrass. Some professionals prefer to use a mix of 60% compost and 40% coarse sand because it is heavier than neat compost and will move more easily through the lawn and into the soil. If the soil is saturated with water or even too dry, it can lead to poor results.