Lawn renewal, reseeding, sod and dethatching

Most lawns in this valley fail for one of a small number of reasons and they are all findable by looking. Thatch built up into a mat that water cannot get through. Moss taking over the shaded half. Compacted ground where cars, children or a building project have been. Bare ground under a tree that has grown enough to take all the light. Or grass that was never the right sort for the amount of sun it gets.

So the first thing we do is work out which of those it is, because the fix is different every time and putting seed on top of the wrong problem wastes a season. Sometimes the answer is dethatching and overseeding and the lawn comes back on its own. Sometimes it is taking a limb out of the tree above it so light reaches the ground again, which we can do on the same visit. Sometimes the ground is far enough gone that new sod is the honest answer.

Dethatching pulls the dead mat out of an established lawn and opens the surface so water, air and seed can get in. It looks alarming for about a fortnight and then the lawn comes back thicker than it was. Overseeding after it, with a mix that suits the light that spot actually gets, is the single most effective thing available to most lawns here.

Where sod is the right answer, the ground work is most of the job. Old turf and debris off, the surface graded so it drains and so it sits level with the paths and beds around it, and the base prepared properly. Sod laid onto ground that was not prepared looks perfect for three weeks and then shows every hollow underneath it. Laid onto ground that was done properly, it knits in and you cannot see the seams by the end of the season.

Timing is honest advice rather than a sales pitch. Autumn and spring are the times to seed in this climate. If you call us in the middle of a dry August about a bare lawn, we will usually tell you to wait a few weeks, and do the ground preparation now so you are ready. Estimates are free and happen at the property.

Lawn renewal often follows tree work on the same property, and the order matters. If a tree is coming out or a canopy is being lifted, the light on that ground changes completely, and the right seed for the spot afterwards is not the right seed for it today. So where both are happening we do the tree work first, then look at the lawn, rather than seeding ground that is about to become a different place.

There is also a repair version of this job that has nothing to do with neglect. Ground torn up by a removal, ruts left by a delivery, a strip where a trench went in, or the bare area left after a stump has been ground out and settled. Those are small, quick pieces of work and they are worth doing properly rather than throwing seed at, because a patch that was levelled and prepared disappears into the lawn and one that was not stays visible for years. Estimates are free and happen at the property.