How do you start your lawn over?

Question

I live in southwest Florida and have just bought a home through the shortsale process. Since no one has been living in it for the past 3-4 months, the landscaping has gone to hell so I am looking to bring it all back. My number one priority is the lawn - its pretty much all dead, some weeds growing on it. It hasn't been mowed in months and it's not even growing. I am wondering what is the best way to spend my time and money to bring it back to life?

I am trying not to spend too much money so I don't mind doing it myself, but it seems like there are 50 different things people say on what to do. I have read articles on one extreme saying that i need to blanket the lawn with plastic for a week so everything dies, then dig out all the grass, rent all sorts of equipment to aerate and till, then buy more soil to lay down, etc etc.

Other articles have been on the other extreme and say just use a rake to get out the grass, lay a layer of soil and throw the seed down and water it.

Is there a simple but effective way to just get my lawn looking green again? It's not a big plot of land just a few hundred square feet. Thanks!

Ranger · Answer

I own rentals and go through this often when a tenant does not want to care for the lawn. Most of the time I can bring back a nice lush green lawn by simply over seeding the existing lawn and keeping it damp until the new grass is about two inches tall and then I cut and treat it like any other lawn.

Sometimes If the lawn is severe, I rent a slicer seeder from the equipment rental. It looks like a rototiller with a butch of saw blades instead of roto tiller tines. You fill it with grass seed and then push it across the lawn, the blades cut grooves in the existing lawn and deposit grass seed in the grooves. 
Water the seeds until they sprout and grow about two inches tall. In a couple of months the space between the slices will have filled in and you will have a lush green lawn.

? · Answer

First,  what's left of the lawn is dormant not dead. I would pull
the larger weeds. Start a watering schedule as the lawn comes back
pull the remaining weeds as they emerge. Any large areas with no grass throw some seed down or better yet buy a couple of piece's
of sod and cut it up into plugs and plant them about a foot apart and keep them moist till they take. Most sod in Florida like floratam and the like is a creeping grass and will fill in the voids in no time. A little ironite for green color and your on your way

george nash · Answer

I would agree the first thing to do is mow it then start watering it and spread some lawn fertilizer out. Chances are good in few months it will look a lot different. If you find large dead patches you can reseed in the spring (after you get a nursery or someone local to ID the type of turfgrass.) A local yard maintenance gardener can probably look at it and tell  you better what shape it is actually in.,

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How do you start your lawn over?

3 Answers