DIY Network

Repairing Your Lawn: Seed or Sod? Ahmed Hassan offers lawn-repair advice and addresses the burning question — to sod or to seed? From "The Dirt On..." episode DTDO-101

Host Ahmed Hassan discusses the basics of lawn repair.

If your lawn has bald spots due to poor drainage or heavy foot traffic, it's not a lost cause. There are some tricks to quickly turning those bad patches into bright, healthy turf without having to start from scratch.

First, Get the Grass Right!

Your first step is to identify your grass. Take a sample of your lawn to a nursery or do some research online to match it up. You don't want to repair it with the wrong kind of grass. That would be sort of like patching a hole in your berber carpet with linoleum!

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If you put a cool season grass in a hot climate it won't work and you'll have to start all over. Cool season grasses grow well in high elevations and mild, dry coastal belts. Warm season grasses like hot summers and mild winters.

Once you've figured out what type of grass you have, it's time to decide if you want to repair your lawn using seed or sod. What's the best method? Well, they both have their pros and cons. And for both, the secret to success is in the technique. Read through both options to consider which will work for you.

Repairing Lawn with Seed

For successful lawn repair, you can't just throw down any old lawn seed and expect it to find fertile ground on its own. It takes a little forethought and prep work. Follow these basic steps, and the seeds will do the rest.

• Picking the right type of seed is a huge step toward success. You'll need to read the box carefully, making sure to choose a perennial ryegrass seed mixture. If the box says "Quick," "Instant" or "Fast" it probably contains annual ryegrass — which only lives one year so you'll have to keep replacing it. You'll also need to look at the percentages on the box or bag to find out the percentage of seed that will actually sprout. Choose a seed with at least a 75-percent germination rate.

• The success of seeding depends on making sure the seed makes direct contact with the soil. If you have completely bare spots there's no problem but if your lawn is thinning, mow it as closely as possible. Then, scratch the soil vigorously with a metal garden rake or dethatcher to create a good garden bed.
  

  	Figure A
  	Figure B

• Lay down your seed either by hand or with a spreader for larger areas. Make sure you get enough down there so it covers the soil without piling the seeds on top of each other (figures A and B). Be careful not to spread seed to the flower beds or grass will start popping up everywhere!

• Cover the seeds with a thin 1/4 to 1/2 inch layer of either a "seed topper" or finely ground compost. This will keep birds from eating the seeds and it will hold the moisture in, which will result in better germination.

• Keep the area moist until your seed germinates and allow the grass to reach its maximum height, about 2-3 inches, before you mow.

When it first grows in, it will be thin but it will get thicker each time you mow. Seeding will actually give you a stronger lawn in the long run but it does take longer than patching it up with sod. If you want instant results because you're hosting a party or just don't like waiting, your best bet is sod.

	Figure C
	Figure D

Repairing Lawn with Sod

You can find most sod in warm and cool season varieties and you can install sod at almost any time of the growing season. Here's how it's done.

• Remove the grass around the bare spot about 6 inches out. It helps to cut sections in rectangles (figures C and D) because that's the shape the sod comes in.

• Prepare the soil by removing any weeds or debris. If the soil is heavy clay or sand, add a little bit of compost. You want a nice garden bed so the sod will root.

• Level out the soil and tamp it down with a tamping tool.
  

  	Figure E
  	Figure F
  	Figure G

• Cut pieces of sod to match the size of your bare spot. A soil knife works well for this (figure E).

• Butt the edge of the sod against your existing grass line, laying it as tight as you can (figure F). Be careful not to stretch the sod though.

• Water regularly to keep your new sod moist.

• Tug on the sod after a week to see if it has grown in enough to attach itself to the soil. If it doesn't lift up when you tug on it (figure G) you can mow it. If it does come up, wait another week before pulling out the mower.

Watch your new lawn carefully. The edges of the sod strips are usually the first to dry out if you don't keep it moist.

Go to next article in DIY's "Gardening Basics" series.