Lawn Repair & Care

Bare spots in lawns can be as a result of many different factors, including lawn insect pests, diseases, drought and wear and tear from kids and pets. In addition to ruining the look of the lawn, weeds are opportunistic and will quickly invade bare patches in the lawn if you don’t repair them.

Summer is a great time for repairing bare patches with lawn seed, as new grass seedlings can establish quickly with regular watering.

To prepare the bare patch for repair:

• Remove any dead grass or weeds and gently cultivate and loosen the soil to create a nice soft and crumbly surface for the seeds to grow in.
• Scatter Yates Lawn Seed Repair over the patch and gently rake into the surface.
• Yates Lawn Seed Repair contains a premium blend of turf seeds that are ideal for patch repair in both sun or shaded lawns, creating a rich green, fine textured grass cover. Yates Lawn Seed Repair also contains slow release fertiliser that will feed the new patch as it establishes and a natural wetting agent to promote better water absorption into the soil and aid seed germination.
• It’s very important to water the patch regularly while the new grass establishes. Watering the patch several times a day may be required in hot, windy or dry weather.

And as we’re all keen to enjoy time in our backyards over summer, it’s time to control any untidy, prickly or invasive weeds in the lawn like thistles, catsear and capeweed. You can easily control the most common broadleaf weeds in lawns, before they take over, in only a few minutes by using hose-on applicators.

• If you have a couch or kikuyu lawn, apply easy to use hose-on Yates Weed’n’Feed. If you have a buffalo lawn, it’s important to choose weed killers that are safe for buffalo. Yates Buffalo PRO Weed’n’Feed has been specially designed for buffalo lawns. Both Yates Weed’n’Feed and Yates Buffalo PRO Weed’n’Feed will also give the lawn a quick burst of nutrients to promote healthy rich green growth.
• If you prefer using a pressure sprayer, dilute Yates Lawn Weedkiller Bindii & Clover Concentrate or Yates Buffalo PRO Weed Killer Concentrate in a sprayer and apply over weed affected lawn areas. These concentrates can also be applied using a watering can.
• For small lawns or small patches of weeds, Yates Lawn Weedkiller For Lawns Spot Spray is a handy ready to use spray for controlling broadleaf weeds in non-buffalo lawns.

It is difficult for air, water and nutrients to penetrate into hard compacted soil and is difficult for grass to grow and flourish, so it’s a good idea to improve and fix areas of compacted soil. A hand-held corer or lawn aerator can be used, which removes small plugs of soil, helping to open up the soil and improve water, air and nutrient penetration down into the root zone and improved grass growth. Mechanical corers can also be used.

A small amount of thatch can be beneficial as it helps prevent evaporation, aids water retention and can give increased tolerance to wear and tear. However too much thatch can affect water, fertiliser and air getting to the soil and lawn roots and needs to be removed by a process called ‘de-thatching’ or scarifying. This can be done by mowing the lawn at a low level (this can be done over several mows, lowering the mower at each cut) or vigorously raking the lawn with a strong rake (sometimes called a thatching rake). 

Lawn scarifier machines are also available. De-thatching established lawns is best carried out from mid spring to early summer, so that the weather is warm enough to promote fresh new grass growth. Apply a soil wetting agent, a lawn fertiliser and water well after de-thatching to help promote better water penetration into the root zone and encourage healthy grass growth.