# Thicken Up Established Lawn



## SPB903 (Aug 8, 2018)

Hello all, Im looking for some advice on thickening up my lawn which at this point is established after my overseed last September. I have a few bare spots which I have a plan for come the fall, but there are some areas that are thin in my opinion and Im trying to create the rest of my fall lawn care plan. Im assuming I dont want to core aerate or slice seed again due to my lawn being established and I dont want to cause damage so how do I throw seed down to thicken my lawn overall? Would I scalp, spread and roll to create better seed to soil contact or am I totally off base? Thanks in advance for the input.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

I think using nitrogen should be your first step. Let's see some pictures of you can.


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## SPB903 (Aug 8, 2018)

g-man said:


> I think using nitrogen should be your first step. Let's see some pictures of you can.


I will load some pics when I get home from work. I did toss down some urea in October 2018. My turf company (hired them until I learn more) threw down some Signature (Loveland) Dimension 0.15 plus fertilizer on April 10 and it has been watered in, Im still waiting for additional green up, I think I should start to see the effects of the treatment at this point. Can I spoon feed N right now and see what happens? Or just wait till August? I do have 3 bags of Milo in the garage from last fall just waiting to be used....


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

You can, but talk to your service first. You don't want to drop something today and tomorrow that show up and throw more. Give it some time for what they dropped to take effect too.


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## SPB903 (Aug 8, 2018)

g-man said:


> You can, but talk to your service first. You don't want to drop something today and tomorrow that show up and throw more. Give it some time for what they dropped to take effect too.


Good point, I dont want to mess with their plan.


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## Green (Dec 24, 2017)

You should see their fertilizer taking effect over the next week. It may be enough.


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## Shindoman (Apr 22, 2018)

Just cut it a lot. Twice a week at least. Have you considered using PGR? 
IT will help things thicken up. Just make sure the grass is actively growing before you apply it.


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## Chris LI (Oct 26, 2018)

+1 on increasing mowing frequency. I made the effort to mow twice a week last year and it definitely increased the density.


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## SPB903 (Aug 8, 2018)

Sorry for taking so long with the pics but here they are,











I apologize if the pics arent clear, I'm posting from my phone and I choose the resize image for message board option.

This is the green up of my lawn so far, temps at night have been in the 40s, days in the high 50s, low 60s. Next few days in the 70s with high 40s and 50s at night. We've received moderate rain since the beginning of April and were expecting a deluge over the next 24 hrs. Not much sunlight.

I've included close-ups of the browner spots. There are no matted down areas even though it looks like it in the pics, everything is pretty much standing. I havent mowed yet because Im not totally green. Does that even matter at this point?


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## DiabeticKripple (Apr 14, 2019)

Looks like the lawn could use a dethatch and overseed


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## SPB903 (Aug 8, 2018)

DiabeticKripple said:


> Looks like the lawn could use a dethatch and overseed


Overseeded last fall and decided not to dethatch this season and just do a light rake. I didnt want to open the door to weeds by carving up the soil too much. There really isnt any thatch to bring up anyway. Im trying to learn to maintain the awesome results of my overseed.


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## SPB903 (Aug 8, 2018)

For reference, here are the results of my overseed last fall, dont mind the curved stripes.. my driveway is curved lol.


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## BarakaRS (Jun 23, 2018)

I suspect if you put down a pre-emergent for crabgrass, cut twice a week, and fertilize you will be amazed by the end of the season. Then in the fall you can overseed and repeat next year. Looks thinish in spots, but what's there looks like something you can work with. O and water properly... Deep and infrequently.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

Can you take pictures of the leaf blades? I want to be sure it is not a fungus.


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## SPB903 (Aug 8, 2018)

BarakaRS said:


> I suspect if you put down a pre-emergent for crabgrass, cut twice a week, and fertilize you will be amazed by the end of the season. Then in the fall you can overseed and repeat next year. Looks thinish in spots, but what's there looks like something you can work with. O and water properly... Deep and infrequently.


Dimension with fert went down April 10th, sprinkler co is coming on Monday to charge the system and adjust some heads. I have a plan for the fall for the more bare spots which will be easily fixed. The green up is something I want to fix now.


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## SPB903 (Aug 8, 2018)

@@g-man

Let me know if these pictures work or if I need to take different ones, I'm not good at this hah! These are from no specific areas. I cant imagine its dead.....


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

I don't see anything, feed it nitrogen and see how it responds.


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## SPB903 (Aug 8, 2018)

@g-man Thanks. I was researching the fungicide guide and it seems too diffuse to be anything like dollar spot etc... which I thought at first. I wish I knew what fert the company tossed down, its just listed as "balanced fertilizer". Does that mean something like a 5-5-5?? Should I go with Milo or Urea? Im thinking Milo since theres already a fert down.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

Balanced means it has the same ratio of N, P and K (10-10-10, 13-13-13, etc). I think you should use a fast nitrogen instead of milo. Did you call the company to see what and how much they applied?


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## SPB903 (Aug 8, 2018)

@g-man No, Ill get in touch with them on Monday and see what they used and how much. I looked on the Loveland website but cant find any info on Dimension with fertilizer. Whats considered fast?


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## SPB903 (Aug 8, 2018)

@g-man 17-0-0 is what was put down. Just not sure how much. https://assets.greenbook.net/18-22-51-01-06-2018-ldA3I001.pdf


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## Green (Dec 24, 2017)

Almost definitely they used between 3 and 5 lbs per thousand. You can try asking if you want to know exactly; they should have a standardized rate they use.

I assume you asked but they did not know. If that is the case, I would assume around 4 pounds per thousand square feet, which is standard medium rate. In that case, I personally would not put down any more Nitrogen right now as it's still partly dormant from the Winter. Let it green up entirely first, before adding anything.

One option so you don't end up overfertilizing, is have them cancel their next application and then use something like Milorganite instead in a month or so; I used to do this sort of thing. The late Spring application(s) is/are the easiest one(s) to do yourself using organics. You'll also save a few bucks most likely.


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## SPB903 (Aug 8, 2018)

Thanks @Green for the advice. The hardest thing to do is sit on my hands lol, especially when I see all the work I see everyone here doing. I have to learn to be more patient and trust the service, I have a habit of comparing my lawn progress to the nicer lawns in my neighborhood which are already a nice dark green and appear to be fully green.

I thought I would be past winter dormancy by now, no? I do need to mow this upcoming week (at least I think I do), that shouldn't affect the green-up right, only help it?

The rest of treatments on the schedule are just fert + selective herbicides like Acclaim, Prosedge, Eliminate etc... skipping one would save me the cost of that treatment.


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## Green (Dec 24, 2017)

@SPB903, I still have notable Winter dormancy in the back yard, which faces North. It looks like you do, too.

It sounds like they used full rate of Dimension, rather than doing a split app. Some companies apply half now and half 2 months later, but it doesn't sound like they were doing that.

Assuming they weren't applying Dimension again, you could do the late Spring fert app yourself organically, or half organic and half synthetic. You could also skip any Nitrogen fertilizer scheduled for July (and should). For some reason, lawn companies often love to fertilize with Nitrogen in July, but it's a bad practice. Are they scheduled to do grub prevention? You may get away without it, maybe. At the very least, I'd ask if they offer one without Nitrogen if it's scheduled for July.


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## SPB903 (Aug 8, 2018)

@Green Right, thats the first thing I noticed when I went over their schedule, it wasnt a split app, I got the full app on the 10th. I will see how it looks after a mow this week (first of the season for me).


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## Green (Dec 24, 2017)

SPB903 said:


> @Green Right, thats the first thing I noticed when I went over their schedule, it wasnt a split app, I got the full app on the 10th. I will see how it looks after a mow this week (first of the season for me).


It may take 2 more weeks for the brown from Winter grow mostly out.


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## SPB903 (Aug 8, 2018)

Here's after first mow.... I will post some more pics later on. @g-man any suggestions or thoughts, water is in the plans obviously.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

Let see a zoom in from the middle of the top image. I still see a starving lawn, but let's check that middle to be sure.

By the way, the one across the street looks great.


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## SPB903 (Aug 8, 2018)

I hope these work, here's some zoomed in areas of the spot. And yes, that guy us the neighborhood gold standard. Not a single treatment yet this year. That was his green up and of course what I compare my lawn to, or lack there of lol.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

I don't see fungus. I do see thin lawn. If it improved with nitrogen, then do more nitrogen.


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## llO0DQLE (Dec 4, 2017)

Proper mowing, watering and fertilizing, specifically Nitrogen. I would do some urea, depending on what your lawn care already did. I would spoon feed it weekly. I would also do things to enrich the soil. Compost, grains (Soybean Meal and Alfalfa), Milorganite. I would actually ditch the lawn company if I were you and just take control of your own lawn care.


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