r/Lawncarewithpics

I pulled up old slabs from this area (and old rotted decking in the back), dug up a lot of the old soil, pulled up as many roots I could find, raked, lay down a lot of top soil, raked again, scattered grass seed and added a thin layer of top soil over that and lightly watered. 2 weeks have passed and so far nothing. What did I do wrong?

Lately i've seen a lot of posts asking how to restore their lawns.
I am located in Brantford Ontario so you know what the weather is like.

I had a lot of weeds. Literally more weeds than grass. Tons of dandelions. Absolutely hated going in my backyard.

Here's what I did.

Depending on the level of weeds you have you might want to go nuclear like I did or try to salvage.
If I tried to salvage it, it would've taken me atleast 3 years to get to what I achieved in 9 months.

Started the process in August 2025.

1. Rented a roto tiller from Homedepot and went to town.
2. Removed all the dead grass (raked) over the course of 3 weeks as they kept dying and wanted to remove as much organic material as possible.
3. Ordered 3 yards of top soil and 1.5 yards of clean sand. Mixed them together and leveled the lawn.
4. Did some landscape edging with the blocks.
5. Applied a good layer of Scott's sun shade mix grass seed. Almost 8kg. Raked the seeds into the soil lightly.
6. Watered twice a day for 2 weeks straight. By then it was end of September and temperature was cooling down with some rain here and there. By October it was perfect amount of rain and I didn't need to water it.
7. By end of October grass grew to about 2-3". Mowed it down to 1.5" and that was the last mow for the year.
   But before the first frost it grew back to 4" and I left it at that.
8. In April of this year I mowed it down to 2" and applied Scott's turf builder fertilizer and didn't do anything till first week of May.
9. To fix the patches you see in the photos I mixed 2 bags of top soil for 1 bag of sand, mixed in 7 handfuls of seed per batch (a batch was 2 topsoil 1 sand) and filled in the spots. There are baby grass currently. Will cut the lawn in 2 weeks when the seedlings are atleast 2" tall but I will make sure i won't cut so low so the 2" new grass won't get cut.

Before attempting to fix the patches I mowed the grass to 1.5" since I knew I can't cut until the seedlings emerge.

------------------

Front lawn was a different story. It had dandelions but not other weeds. So I took a different approach.

Started the process summer of 2025.

1. Bought fiesta off Amazon.
2. Applied that shit liberally twice a week for 2 months. 99.9% of the dandelions were gone.
3. Cut the grass down to 1.5" and rented a detatcher from Homedepot and took 4 passes to remove the dead grass. From roughly 800 sqft of grass I had almost 10 yard waste bags filled with thatch.
4. I applied a little bit of fertilizer and watered for a week. Let the soil breathe a bit.
5. Then I mixed 1 yards of top soil with 0.5 yards of fine sand. Mixed 4kg of seed with it and filled the spots. This was in September of 2025.
6. Watered everyday until it started raining consistently.
7. Cut the lawn again end of October.
8. March of this year I cut low once and applied fiesta.
9. Let the fiesta work for 2 weeks and then applied Scott's turf builder.
10. After letting the fertilizer do its thing for a week I overseeded again.
11. It rained for about 3-4 weeks straight so it was great for the grass but it grew really tall.
12. I cut down the grass to 5" beginning of May. Then 5-6 days later I cut it down to 4" and again 5-6 days later I cut it down to 3".
13. In may after the 2nd cut I applied fiesta again.
14. Today on Victoria Day I cut the grass again and applied fiesta.
    0 dandelions. Fuck em.

Hope this helps.
There's one pic of the front lawn.

Just moved into a house in Chelan county, Washington state. Trying to figure out 2 things:

1. What type of grass this is.

2. What is going on with it that is making it so vertically thick? I believe the previous owners mowed and left the clippings on the lawn. So I’m guessing it’s a thick layer of thatch. I had the lawn dethatched a few weeks ago. But it still seems like there is a lot left. Or maybe this is something else going on with the lawn or an attribute of the grass species?

Thanks!

(Upstate SC)
Hello everyone. I know the photo isn’t great but as you can see there is just about nothing growing in my yard aside from crab grass.

Before it got warm and before Bermuda got out of dormancy, I used triad QC because I read it was supposed to kill grassy weeds. It did the opposite.

Last year I de-thatched my yard because I noticed there was a lot of debris on the ground and it felt noticeably warmer than what I thought it should be. I had been putting only nitrogen fertilizer down and watering it immediately for months. I am not sure what I need to be doing to get the grass to start growing again.

Bought this house in 2024. It was a new build…. So new sod. There is nothing but hard packed clay under the grass.

Can anyone give me some tips on how to revitalize my yard?

What is causing, and how to treat, my Zeon Zosia runners have started running above the soil (see pic), and is getting worse.

Lewis.

How do I get my mower out of my fence? I've been trying for half and hour!!!

Located just north of Denver. Kentucky bluegrass, but I’m not married to that varietal if there’s better options. Currently we are allowed to water twice a week, but I’ve been holding off due to rain and the fact it only results in mud. Should I de-thatch? Aerate? Hydroseed? Overseed? Do I need to bring in some top soil? Is sod better than seed for this level of disaster? Should I fence off and work on the yard in halves to keep the dogs off it until it takes? Gonna DIY this, but would love some advice. If this helps in any way, the grass was beautiful two years ago when we bought the house and staid lovely until I cut it too low and then it never grew back normally.

My lawn has become overrun by Poa Annua, it’s literally covered in it. Last year it wasn’t too bad but this year it’s horrendous. I have aerated, scarified and over seeding as well as pulling the larger areas but it’s a losing game. I’m in the UK. Not sure whether totally re-turf is my only option?

My yard is struggling to start the year. I can see the dog pee spots are dark green. Will nitrogen and water help my yard come to life?

Normally my lawn has greened up a lot more by this time of year. Granted, it has remained cooler for longer: nights in 30s F and days in 50-60s F mostly. So is the longer cooler weather causing this issue? Or is it fungus? Another note, I have been mowing much shorter than previously, at 2” rather than 3” which it had been in the past. Following same feeding schedule as last year, so not thinking that is a factor. My neighbors have mostly greener lawns, but some minor patchiness compared to mine. I’m beginning to think more and more the low mow height is the culprit.

Can anyone help me/tell me what kind of grass this appears to be?? I've been trying to find the perfect grass for my lawn... Feeling random grasses I walk on or pass by (🤣) and THIS is what I want! It's VERY soft, dense, doesn't have a super wide blade (approx 1/8" wide), and a nice medium green. I tried to pick the two best pictures I got. Northern ohio. THANK YOU!!!

In the process of renovating the garden - main lawn has been ripped up, aerated/thatched and seeded (Boston seeds BS hard wearing) 2 weeks ago and covered in fleece. Took fleece off this morning and there are a few thin patches. Should I reseed these or let the lawn continue to grow without reseed and then mow in another 4/5 weeks time and only take a bit off it and fertilise at the same time?

Pictures of before, during and after.

Any help/feedback would be appreciated, thanks.

Hello everyone, just curious if this is the dreaded sedge? If not what is it, and what can I do to treat it without killing my grass? It’s popped up in about 8 patches a couple weeks after applying weed n feed in my 500 sqft yard. Thanks in advance

This crap seems to be widespread in about 25% of my backyard lawn. With temperatures settling in to near or above 100° I’m not sure what to do. I would appreciate any tips. I’ve had this lawn for 25 years and I Overseed annually with rye grass. I noticed some last year but it appears to be getting worse.

I live in a town, my garden is small, around 80m2 and it’s surrounded by walls. The house was vacant for about 3 years and although someone cut things back, it’s been neglected.

The lawn is just thistles, dandelions, weeds and mint! What can I do to bring back grass, without putting a load of bad weed killer on there?

Around it I have a grape vine, flowering bushes, wisteria and roses. I just want some grass in the middle. Thanks for any advice!