How to Bring Your Lawn Back to Life in 5 Simple Steps
Does your lawn look dead and dying or filled with brown grass instead of green? Don't give up hope quite yet. Chances are there's still life in that "dead" lawn—it's just calling out for help. You can answer its cry and restore your lawn to lush, living beauty with 3-in-1 Pennington Lawn Booster and these five easy steps:
1. Understand the Issue
Looks can be deceiving. If you live in a warm climate and your lawn turns brown every winter season, you may have a warm-season grass that naturally goes dormant during winter months. What looks dead should be green again by late spring or early summer.
Lawns in cooler climates are a little different. Cool-season grasses may turn brown and look dead in summer if they're forced into dormancy due to heat and drought. When they're brown in spring, that can signal a tough winter just passed, especially if low snowfall left grass without much insulation.
Either way, your cool-climate lawn needs help. Ignoring these signs can lead to lasting damage. If you've lived with your lawn a few seasons, you'll recognize these changes. If you suspect something more amiss—from pet urine spots to something more—investigate and remedy the problem before you proceed.
Your local county extension office is an excellent resource for spot-on lawn advice, whether you live in a rural or extremely urban area. Extension agents can help you confirm your brown lawn is dormant and ready to be revived into a thick, green beauty.
2. Prepare Your Lawn
Early spring and fall are ideal times for restoring "dead" lawns to life. During these moderate seasons, the grass varieties in Lawn Booster naturally hit their stride for optimal growth, and nature works in your favor.
Start by getting rid of weeds that crept in while your lawn was stressed and brown. Weeds compete for water, light and nutrients, so don't ignore them. Plan ahead if you use weed killers; they inhibit new grass along with weeds. Allow at least three weeks between weed treatments and lawn boosting.
With weeds eliminated, mow your grass to 1 inch tall; then rake to remove any dead grass or debris. Raking loosens and bares soil so it's ready for the next step. Short-tined metal rakes, called garden or bow rakes, work best.
3. Apply Lawn Booster
3-in-1 Lawn Booster combines everything your "dead" lawn needs to spring to life: premium seed, fertilizer and soil enhancer. The choice is easy: you buy one, premixed, ready-to-use product instead of three.
These key Lawn Booster components help ensure your success:
- Pennington Smart Seed grasses. These superior grasses earned the Smart Seed label through decades of industry-leading breeding, research and testing focused on lawn sustainability. Once established, the purebred Smart Seed grasses in Lawn Booster Sun & Shade and Lawn Booster Tall Fescue require up to 30 percent less water than ordinary grass seed. Plus, these non-GMO varieties stay green for up to three weeks without watering. With a Smart Seed lawn, you reduce water consumption and that utility bill. That's year after year, for the life of your lawn, not just for a single season.
- Professional-grade fertilizer. Grass can't live without nitrogen; it's essential to healthy, green growth. But not all nitrogen fertilizers work the same. Stabilized nitrogen in Lawn Booster means less nitrogen is lost to the environment and more of this essential stays around to feed your grass, immediately and for up to eight weeks. You'll see and feel the difference, from improved germination to better color and texture under your bare feet.
- Premium soil enhancer. Soil condition influences how well new grass can root and grow. Lawn Booster enhances your soil's condition and health with gypsum. This naturally occurring mineral works to loosen compacted soil so that grass can take root and flourish, even in heavy clay.
All you need for application is normal lawn spreader like you use for seed or fertilizer. The Lawn Booster label recommends hopper settings for different spreader types. Find yours, adjust accordingly, and you've got the perfect application rate to put your brown lawn on the fast track.
Spread Lawn Booster evenly over your entire lawn. Even spots that aren't brown benefit from the boost this product brings. With just one application of Lawn Booster, your grass will grow quicker, thicker and greener than ordinary grass—it's guaranteed.
4. Water Consistently
Consistent watering is crucial in turning your brown, lifeless lawn into a vibrant carpet of rich green. Grass seed must have consistent moisture to germinate and establish healthy roots, so respect this critical step.
Water your lawn daily so the soil stays consistently moist. If needed, water twice a day. Keep it up until new grass sprouts and grows tall enough for its first mowing—about 3 to 4 inches in height.
Once you reach that milestone, you can gradually transition over to a regular lawn care schedule, including about 1 inch of water per week. Soon, your brown lawn will be a faint memory.
5. Follow Through
With your "dead" lawn thick, green and resurrected, keep it that way with regular maintenance and care. Follow these best practices for the basics and you're there:
- Mow often enough to keep your grass at its recommended mowing height without removing more than one-third of its height in a single mowing.
- Adjust your watering schedule and use to accommodate rain and drought.
- Keep your lawn healthy, green and vibrant with regular feedings of premium lawn fertilizers, and follow tips for fertilizing safely around kids and pets.
- Learn, grow and stay informed with Pennington's online resources and timely email tips.
- Mark your lawn care calendar for next season and boost your lawn again.
When you choose Pennington Lawn Booster, your lawn reaps the benefits of a tradition of innovation and integrity, backed by premium ingredients and the Pennington guarantee. You can take your lawn from "dead and dying" to thriving and green. Pennington is committed to providing you with the finest in grass, seed and lawn care products, and the information you need to succeed confidently.
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