[Timmers]

Hello, new to the forums but I have had quite an infatuation with lawn care my whole life since my late father instilled it into me at a young age. I recently purchased a home last summer and thankfully the previous owner did a decent enough job with the lawn and I'd like to improve upon that. However, I took out two trees, put in a fence and my area (NW PA) received ~200 inches of snow this year from November-April; so the lawn has taken a beating since moving in.

The fence took five weekends to complete so wood + tools were sitting on the grass in the main bare spot you see off of the patio. The two trees were a very large, overgrown arborvitae and a smaller tree that bloomed/dropped leaves constantly (unsure of type); they were located in the big bare spot along the rear of the fence. The stumps were grinded out by a friend but some small roots do remain.

I was planning on aerating, dethatching, top dressing and seeding now but after reading posts here, it seems the advice is against anything in the spring, plus I wouldn't be able to begin until May 19/20 - which is super late? So it looks like a full fall renovation would be smarter/more cost effective, however everytime I sit on my patio I get anxiety looking at these bare spots!

Is there anything in the interim (until the reno), to salvage the look of the back yard?




Another reason for my desire to get these bare spots taken care of, she loves the mud and digs along the base of the patio. Also, ignore the one post that sunk down in the winter after settling, fixing this weekend!

 

[j4c11]

I'd say start watering - something will grow. Get an early start on fallowing.

 

[jessehurlburt]

Here's what I think.

It's a bit late for a spring seeding if a fall reno is your plan. By the time whatever you planted gets established you'll enjoy it for a month or 6 weeks then it will be time to start killing the lawn to prep for the renovation. That seems like a lot of work for little enjoyment. If you were on the fence about a renovation (full kill of lawn first), and might consider a renovation (leaving the existing grass and overseeding into it) giving seeding a try now wouldn't seem like the worst idea.

If you do want to try a spring seed, get moving and think a lot about how you will irrigate all summer as new seedlings can die in the heat easily.

What's your plan for the dog when you're seeding? Are you willing to keep that area closed off for at least 2-3 weeks?

 

[Timmers]

After looking it over a little more yesterday evening, I was thinking about going with a quick renovation (overseeding/top dress) on the most exposed spots and seeing how that works out. If it's not super successful, then oh well, at least I'm trying something. I did this with 2 spots in the front yard a week and a half ago, and am seeing some results now (front is looking great btw).

After some rain this week some of the other bare spots are showing signs of filling in, so if I take j4c11's advice on watering a little bit more, I can get things to a manageable level for the next 3-4 mos. before starting the kill.

As for the dog, I plan on using some temporary snowdrift fencing to cut the yard in half to keep her off the big spots, and the front yard which is about 3,000 sq ft as well so she'll still have some room.

 

[Wolverine]

Looks like mostly rye grass so no spreading like ***. I would live with it until nuke time.