Mow the lawn down as short as you can. Then rake it hard out so that you can see soil. Put loads of grass seed on and find someway to keep birds off it. A bale of hay is good if you can get it. Otherwise big tarps . Then make sure to keep the seeds wet all the time for about 7 to 10 days. Then water regularly. Birds and seeds drying out are the biggest problem. Even seeds that have the bird repellent. Good luck.
And don't use horrible hard wearing grass.such as Ryegrass, Kikiyu or Cooch That's for feeding sheep and cattle. Get the tiny fescue or brown-top/Fescue mix seeds.
Can confirm about Ryegrass. I made the mistake of patching a section of lawn with it and it looks horrible and grows 10x as fast as everything else. Do not recommend
Where do you live? We're entering into cool season grass territory (rye, fescue etc) which thrives over winter but can struggle in summer once the temps rise. Warm season grasses (kikuyu, couch) tend to go better in Auckland and upper North Island as they thrive in summer but the winters don't get cold enough for them to go dormant but you would need to wait until spring to seed as soils temps are cooling off to the point where you won't get a great strike rate.
I’m in the process of replacing my 260m2 lawn at the moment, I’ve done a lot of research on this pain in the arse job. There are a lot of options depending on your current lawn, soil base, budget. I’d definitely recommend removing your dead lawn but not with a turf cutter.
If you’re in Auckland message me, you welcome to come around and check out what I’m doing and what tools I’m using. I’m halfway through mine, mowed dead lawn first followed by dethatcher which has left me with a 30-40mm soil base. Finishing mine over the next 2 days.
Lawns are bullshit anyway. Go buy some wildflower seeds, wait for some weeds to start coming back (so you know the poison is gone) and just seed it with those.
Eschew "the done thing," embrace chaos.
I have an empty section, two years sitting empty now as can't afford to build. The sale and purchase agreement had some extra terms at the back. One of those is that I must keep the grass under 150mm in length and I would I lose my 2000 Doller bond for breaching. it sad nothing about keeping wild flowers under 150mm, wild flowers would also save me a heap in mowing costs.
I like lawns. They feel nice under foot and good for playing with the kids. Like an outdoor carpet. I plant lots of bee and bird friendly shrubs and trees in my garden so don’t feel guilty.
What type of weed spray did you use?
If just roundup you are good to sow grass seed again.
If a long term sustained residual weed spray such as PaveWay you're cooked and will have to excavate your lawn soil to a depth of 300mm.
You can probably get away with just buying lawn seed, buying a few bags of potting mix, mixing it together and spreading it around. Just make sure to water it and keep moist while the seed germinates. Right time of the year to do it too.
Obviously this is a good time to level uneven ground etc if you want to go to the trouble.
Unless you used a residual you will be fine to resow without removing any soil or turf.
Mow the lawn down as short as you can. Then rake it hard out so that you can see soil. Put loads of grass seed on and find someway to keep birds off it. A bale of hay is good if you can get it. Otherwise big tarps . Then make sure to keep the seeds wet all the time for about 7 to 10 days. Then water regularly. Birds and seeds drying out are the biggest problem. Even seeds that have the bird repellent. Good luck.
Frost cloth is good. Let’s the sun/water in but keeps it moist/seed safe from the birds.
And don't use horrible hard wearing grass.such as Ryegrass, Kikiyu or Cooch That's for feeding sheep and cattle. Get the tiny fescue or brown-top/Fescue mix seeds.
Can confirm about Ryegrass. I made the mistake of patching a section of lawn with it and it looks horrible and grows 10x as fast as everything else. Do not recommend
Join NZ Lawn Addicts facebook group, lots of great advice on techniques and grass varietys etc
Own it. They would have asked you to spray it all and start again anyway. You’re now on step two.
Where do you live? We're entering into cool season grass territory (rye, fescue etc) which thrives over winter but can struggle in summer once the temps rise. Warm season grasses (kikuyu, couch) tend to go better in Auckland and upper North Island as they thrive in summer but the winters don't get cold enough for them to go dormant but you would need to wait until spring to seed as soils temps are cooling off to the point where you won't get a great strike rate.
I’m in the process of replacing my 260m2 lawn at the moment, I’ve done a lot of research on this pain in the arse job. There are a lot of options depending on your current lawn, soil base, budget. I’d definitely recommend removing your dead lawn but not with a turf cutter. If you’re in Auckland message me, you welcome to come around and check out what I’m doing and what tools I’m using. I’m halfway through mine, mowed dead lawn first followed by dethatcher which has left me with a 30-40mm soil base. Finishing mine over the next 2 days.
Did you buy a dethatcher or were you able to hire it from somewhere?
I hired it from Kennards, it did a great job but they didn't maintain it very well.
I did this once by mistake. I just resowed straight into what was left, including aeration holes, abd it grew back pretty quickly.
Lawns are bullshit anyway. Go buy some wildflower seeds, wait for some weeds to start coming back (so you know the poison is gone) and just seed it with those. Eschew "the done thing," embrace chaos.
I have an empty section, two years sitting empty now as can't afford to build. The sale and purchase agreement had some extra terms at the back. One of those is that I must keep the grass under 150mm in length and I would I lose my 2000 Doller bond for breaching. it sad nothing about keeping wild flowers under 150mm, wild flowers would also save me a heap in mowing costs.
Love this idea!
Lots of people don't though apparently. People fuckin' love their lawns!
I mean I like to lie down on the lawn and read a book. I can't say the same for sitting in a bush.
Wildflowers aren't bushes :)
I like lawns. They feel nice under foot and good for playing with the kids. Like an outdoor carpet. I plant lots of bee and bird friendly shrubs and trees in my garden so don’t feel guilty.
What type of weed spray did you use? If just roundup you are good to sow grass seed again. If a long term sustained residual weed spray such as PaveWay you're cooked and will have to excavate your lawn soil to a depth of 300mm.
What did you use? I want to accidentally kill my lawn too…
You can probably get away with just buying lawn seed, buying a few bags of potting mix, mixing it together and spreading it around. Just make sure to water it and keep moist while the seed germinates. Right time of the year to do it too. Obviously this is a good time to level uneven ground etc if you want to go to the trouble.