Question
Hello C.J.!

I've got dead patches in my lawn due to a foreign grass that has invaded from my neighbor's yard.  It doesn't turn green until May and even then it still looks splotchy (different blade sizes and growth rates).  I suspect that new sod is the best bet.  So I have a few questions:

1) Am I wasting money putting in sod when a treatment plan would work just as well?  Scott's lawn service came out 4 times last year and it didn't seem to help.

2) If I do sod and want to avoid spending a lot of money on lawn prep, what's the best way to do it right and save some bucks?

3) Will watering and fertilizing the new lawn be enough to prevent the other lawn from invading or is there a more effective solution?

4) I have an option to get 100% Kentucky Bluegrass instead of the typical blend.  Are there any real advantages?

Thanks in advance!
Chris

Answer
Hi Chris,

It sounds like you have a southern type, heat loving grass that goes dormant over the winter.  You'll have to kill it off first, ideally with Roundup. Once you've done that, you'll need to dig out the patches and place some good topsoil in those areas. You can then sod, or seed, it's really up to you.

No fertilizer or chemical treatment over the whole lawn will selectively eliminate those patches. No broad treatments will keep them from infiltrating again.

In the future, you should keep a little bit of roundup on hand and spot treat the patches carefully as they grow in. The roundup will kill every grass it touches, so be careful with it. if you get the patches when they are small enough, you won't even need to re-seed, as the surrounding grass will just take over.

Good luck Chris.

-C.J. Brown
www.TheLawnCoach.com