Has your lawn been neglected? Whether you’ve fallen off the wagon in keeping up with regular lawn care, or maybe you’ve inherited a bad lawn after buying a new home, you might be wondering how to restore a neglected lawn.
We get it…having a brown, patchy, or weed-filled lawn can be a major source of frustration. You want to know what you can do to turn things around.
Table of Contents
Start by assessing your bad lawn
How to restore a neglected lawn
Practice an optimal schedule for lawn care in North Texas
Choosing professional lawn care in North Texas
Before you can start solving any lawn problems, you need to assess what’s going on. Identify the issues that you feel are making your lawn look “bad.”
Some of the most common lawn problems include:
If your lawn is dealing with one or more of these issues, then you are probably on the hunt for solutions. The good news is that it’s rare that a lawn will need a total renovation (as in starting from scratch). Even a terrible lawn can typically be turned around with the right lawn care program.
Next, we will cover the steps you can take to bring grass back to life.
If your lawn is in bad shape, we recommend the following steps to give it renewed life. All of these steps should be covered in a comprehensive lawn care program.
Taking care of those pesky weeds means making an investment in comprehensive weed control.
A good weed control program is going to include a combination of pre-emergents (which help prevent weeds in the first place) and post-emergents (that control weeds that have already germinated). It should also include specialty controls for certain weeds that require a specialized approach.
Your weed control approach also needs to be switched up depending on the season. Here in North Texas, there is weed pressure year-round due to our mild climate. And different seasons bring different weeds. It’s important that your weed control program addresses this.
Another important step that should be taken to restore a bad lawn is to get on a regular fertilization schedule.
Fertilization is one of the best maintenance tasks that you can do for your lawn. This is because fertilizer provides essential nutrients that will help your lawn thrive. The reality is that our soil is not optimal for growing grass here in North Texas. One of the reasons why your lawn might look like it’s in bad shape is that it’s lacking the nutrients it needs.
Fertilizer provides essential nutrients to improve turf color and thickness, to help the grass stand up against environmental pressures, and aid in healthy turf root development. If your lawn is struggling with discoloration it’s quite possible that it needs better (or more) nutrients.
When you start fertilizing your lawn, you’ll start to see healthier grass growing. This can also make a difference in choking out weeds. That’s because weeds tend to fill in bare spots and thin areas where healthy grass is already struggling to grow. But when the lawn is thick and healthy, it’s challenging for invaders to creep in.
Another vital task that can be done to restore a bad lawn is to aerate it annually.
Lawn aeration in Texas is so important due to our sandy loam soil type, which is prone to compaction. This can make it difficult for oxygen, water, and nutrients to get to where they are needed. Without easy access to these basic needs, your lawn can really struggle.
But lawn aeration can turn things around.
Lawn aeration can also be paired with seeding to help fill in those bare spots where grass has already died.
Of course, your “terrible lawn” could also be the result of a disease or pest problem. Diseases and pests can lead to problems like bare spots and discoloration. You’ll want to make sure that you get problems like these under control.
Unfortunately, here in North Texas, lawn diseases can run rampant.
Extreme heat, limited rainfall, and rising humidity—all quite common in Northern Texas—can be the recipe for lawn diseases to start growing. Identifying what type of lawn disease you’re dealing with is a first step in pursuing the best course of action.
Three of the most common lawn diseases that we deal with in our region are Brown Patch, Dollar Spot, and Summer Patch. There are professional fungicide products that can be used to help get these issues under control.
Similarly, pest problems can also wreak havoc on healthy lawns. Grubs, chinch bugs, and armyworms are three that we constantly have on our radar as they can do a lot of damage. You want to make sure that you are working with a lawn care program that can address these pests.
Improper watering can also lead to symptoms of a bad lawn.
While most people think of too little water as being a problem (and it certainly is), overwatering can also lead to issues. Our climate is obviously conducive to problems with drought. But you don’t want to overwater your lawn and drown its roots either.
Everything from the timing to the amount of water used is important when it comes to watering your lawn. We recommend an irrigation system that can help remove the guesswork.
Keeping up with regular and proper mowing is also important. Believe it or not, mowing mistakes can be contributing to a terrible lawn.
When it comes to how to cut grass properly, the mowing height is important. More often than not, homeowners (and even some so-called “pros”) cut the grass too short. This puts a lot of unnecessary stress on your lawn and can actually cause it to yellow.
Of course, the ideal mowing heights are going to vary depending upon what grass type you have in your lawn.
As a general rule of thumb, we generally recommend cutting Bermuda grass around 2.5 to 3 inches, though on the higher side is better. Zoysia, however, can be cut shorter. We generally recommend somewhere between 1.5 to 3 inches, depending upon the look the homeowner wants to achieve. Finally, St. Augustine should generally be cut around 2 to 2.5 inches.
You also want to make sure that you are mowing regularly. Going long periods without mowing will mean you need to make a drastic cut. This is very stressful for the lawn. The goal should be to cut no more than one third of the grass blade with each mow.
You can take the burden off of your shoulders by letting a professional lawn care company mow for you.
Lawn care in North Texas is a year-round endeavor. Our mild climate means there is almost always something that needs to be done. Keeping up with lawn care throughout the year will help you to restore your lawn and prevent it from falling back into disrepair.
It’s important to understand that lawn care isn’t just something you do until your lawn looks good. It needs to be continually practiced in order to build upon and ultimately maintain your results.
If your “bad lawn” is truly in bad shape, you also need to trust the process. It can take some time to restore the lawn so you’ll need patience. But as we mentioned at the beginning, it’s rare that you need to truly overhaul your lawn.
Of course, sometimes homeowners don’t want to wait…and we understand that. If you’re looking for an “instant lawn,” then sodding is an option. Once sod is laid down, you’ll want to make sure that you keep up with proper ongoing care so that you don’t fall back into having a bad lawn.
Restoring a bad lawn can take time and patience. You’ll also need to have a good understanding of what your lawn needs in order to ensure the best results. When you partner with a lawn care professional, the guesswork can be removed from this process.
Of course, there are a lot of options when it comes to choosing professional lawn care in North Texas. You’ll want to make sure that you do your due diligence and choose a company that you trust.
We understand that there’s a lot of marketing noise out there which can complicate that decision for you.
We’re here to be your guide if you need us. Whether you have questions about your lawn (and what it needs) or you just want to better understand how Grasssperson stacks up against other lawn services in Flower Mound, Lewisville, or Highland Village, TX, we are here to help.
Choosing the best lawn care program is an important decision that will directly impact your results. Don’t get caught up with gimmicks that are meant to lead you astray. Focus on the information that you know matters most and you’ll ultimately make a wise choice.
Ready to get the results that you desire for your lawn in the Flower Mound, Lewisville, or Highland Village, TX area? Get a free quote and then enjoy the best lawn with no worries!
