How to Improve Your Lawn Quick
Having a lush, luxuriant lawn—and still having time to enjoy it—may be simpler than you think. Many lawns are just a few quick fixes away from putting thicker, healthier grass in your reach. With a small investment of time and the help of superior lawn care products, these four-weekend lawn fixes yield big returns. When the time comes for those special backyard barbecues, your thick, lush lawn will be ready for the traffic and the compliments it'll earn.
Spot repairs can yield quick results in as little as two weeks.
Patch and Repair
Despite your best efforts to protect your yard, bare spots show up. Outdoor entertaining, playful kids, energetic pets (plus dead grass from dog urine) and a host of other factors can leave your lawn in need of quick repairs.
Delay patch and repair projects if weather is overly hot and grasses are stressed or dormant. On your northern lawn calendar, fall and spring are perfect times for lawn repairs. Late spring and early summer are ideal for southern lawn calendars.
With Pennington Smart Patch II bare spot repair for lawns, you don't need to know why your lawn has bare spots. This product eliminates the guesswork. With Sun & Shade, Dense Shade, Tall Fescue, Bermudagrass and Zenith Zoysia mixes, there's a smart choice for your lawn.
Premium Smart Patch combines water-conserving Smart Seed grass seed, professional-grade fertilizer, mulch and a tackifier that keeps seed where you put it — even when planting grass on slopes and hills. Plus, Smart Patch seeding mixtures contain beneficial microbials to promote healthy soil, help prevent lawn disease and make your lawn whole again.
With Pennington Smart Patch, quick weekend yard repairs are as simple as 1-2-3:
- Prep the area. Remove any dead grass and debris from the damaged area, and rake the soil lightly to smooth and prep the top layer for repair.
- Apply the repair mixture. Spread the mixture over the prepped area wherever you want thick, beautiful grass. For optimum coverage of bare areas, use a rate of 1 pound per 4 square feet. For extended coverage, spread Smart Patch at a rate of 1 pound per 20 square feet.
- Water the area. Keep the mixture moist until the seed sprouts and grass grows to at least 1 inch tall. Notice the mulch is dark when moist. When it turns lighter, it's time to water again.
Depending on your Smart Patch product, you'll see new growth in as little as five days and full results as soon as two weeks. Even with Bermudagrass, Smart Patch delivers visible growth in just one week and full results in 22 days.
You can also count on Pennington One Step Complete for simple, effective bare spot repair. This 3-in-1 repair product includes super-absorbent wood mulch, premium grass seed and fertilizer to nourish seed and start it right. You'll see bare spots turn green in just two to three weeks.
For any bare spot repair, it's a good idea to give new grass another four to five weeks before use. Depending on your growing region and your weather, grass should reach mowing height in two to seven weeks. Limit activity on your quick yard repairs until you've mowed them three to four times. Once you reach that point, grass roots are ready for some traffic.
Thicken and Restore
As lawns age, they naturally get thin unless a helping hand steps in. Lawn professionals depend on overseeding to keep lawns thick and lush. Overseeding means sowing grass seed into your existing lawn, so new seedlings fill in and restore your lawn to its thicker, lusher glory. Early fall and spring are great times for overseeding cool-season northern lawns. Late spring is ideal for warm-season southern lawn grasses.
Overseeding with a premium grass seed such as Pennington Smart Seed improves your lawn in other ways as well. The superior drought-tolerant grasses in Pennington Smart Seed require up to 30% less water year after year compared to ordinary grass seed.
Thicken and restore your lawn with just a few simple steps:
- Prep your lawn for seed. Mow your existing grass as short as possible, then lightly rake the soil to loosen debris and prepare it to receive the seed.
- Spread the seed with a regular lawn spreader. Overseeding only takes about half the amount needed for a new lawn, so check the seed bag for the overseeding rate and spreader settings. Follow the recommendations and don't overdo it. Too much seed will slow down the process, not speed it up.
- Water the area well. Continue to irrigate daily or as needed to keep it moist until seedlings emerge and reach a mowing height of about 3 inches.
Depending on the Smart Seed grass type you choose, you'll typically see results as new seedlings emerge in five to 14 days. New grasses should reach mowing height in about seven to eight weeks. Continue with your regular mowing schedule as they get established, but hold off on heavy yard play or foot traffic until you've mowed them three or four times. After that, your thicker lawn will be ready for use.
Replenish and Rejuvenate
Thick, beautiful lawns depend on nitrogen more than any other nutrient, but nitrogen leaches away with rainfall and irrigation. Keeping grass healthy and nourished means replenishing this essential nutrient. With a premium lawn fertilizer, such as Pennington Full Season Lawn Fertilizer 32-0-5, you can rejuvenate more lawn with less fertilizer and get superior results.
- Prep your lawn for feeding. Mow at your regular mowing height and water your lawn thoroughly one to two days before you fertilize.
- Spread the fertilizer with a regular lawn spreader. Check the bag for the proper rate and settings for your spreader. You can apply Pennington Full Season Lawn Fertilizer 32-0-5 to wet or dry grass.
- Sweep any stray fertilizer back onto grass. Excess fertilizer that ends up on sidewalks or other hard surfaces goes back on grass instead of into stormwater systems.
Pennington Full Season Lawn Fertilizer 32-0-5 keeps feeding your lawn all season long, so one application is all you need. This premium fertilizer includes iron for deep greening to keep your lawn lush, vibrant and green.
Boost and Beautify
Make the most of your precious weekend hours and take the fast, simple approach to boost your lawn's growth, thickness and beautiful color. Early spring and fall are ideal times for this cool-season, lawn grass health-and-beauty fix. With Pennington Lawn Booster, you get pure-bred, lime-enhanced Smart Seed grass seed, premium fertilizer and soil enhancer in one premixed, ready-to-use product. Boost and beautify your lawn in just one application with these three simple steps:
- Prep your lawn for boosting. Remove unwanted weed, then mow your lawn to about 1 inch tall. Rake to remove debris and dead grass and slightly loosen the soil so it's ready to receive the mixture.
- Spread the combination seeding mixture. Use a regular lawn spreader to apply the premixed product. Follow the settings shown on the Lawn Booster label for your spreader type.
- Water the application area so soil stays moist. This is the most important part of all. Water daily, or twice a day if needed, to keep soil consistently moist until seed sprouts and grass reaches its recommended mowing height.
With Lawn Booster's three-in-one lawn fix, soil-enhancing gypsum corrects and improves soil conditions to allow better root growth. Premium fertilizer delivers nitrogen continuously for up to eight weeks, improving seed germination, lawn color and lawn texture. Once established, superior Smart Seed grasses enhance lawn sustainability and stay green for up to three weeks without watering. With Lawn Booster, you save time and your grass grows quicker, thicker and greener than ordinary grass—in just one application, guaranteed.
With the help of superior Pennington grass seed and lawn care products, these four fast weekend lawn fixes put you on the sure path to thicker, healthier turf and a lawn you're proud of. As a leader in the grass seed industry, Pennington has been cultivating the trust of homeowners and lawn professionals for three generations. You can count on Pennington for the products, advice and results you and your lawn need.
Always read product labels thoroughly and follow instructions.
