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Joined: Mar 2007
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I recently moved into a house and inherited a garden that hadn't been looked after for at least a yearapart from cutting the grass. I have cut back some very overgrown bushes - Lantana and Firespike to name two - but now I have huge areas of bare soil where the grass died off and has disappeared.
Should I reseed this area or will my lawn eventually creep up and fill it in? Sorry for the dumb questions but I'm new to this and haven't a clue. I think the grass in my lawn is centipede grass, (the owner left a bag of weed and feed for centipede grass in the shed!) Can anyone give me advice on how to green up this part of the garden?

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Since the areas are huge, (grass type doesn't matter) I would take plugs from your healthy areas of grass to put into the bare areas. If you have a tiller, just go over the bare areas with the tiller set at a shallow depth to loosen the soil. If you don't have a tiller, you could scratch it up with an iron rake. If you have a plugger, great, if not you can just take a good sharp knife and cut out small plugs from your healthy grass (shape doesn't matter), place them in your bare areas several inches to a foot apart, gently step on them to ensure good soil contact, water and wait. Of course, don't take all your plugs from the same area--jump around so you won't just create another trouble spot. The little places you take the plugs from will quickly fill back in and when your plugs take root, they will fill in your bare areas much more quickly than if you wait for it to come in from the edges. If you don't get sufficient rain while the plugs are trying to root, continue to keep them watered. And don't feel like you are asking dumb questions--we all have to learn and that's a big part of what this forum is about! We love helping each other :)


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Thanks Marleine, I hadn't thought of doing anything like that. I'll give it a try. Should I add any fertilizer, conditioner or fresh soil to the area to help the rooting?

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I use some Vigoro Root Stimulator on mine when I first plant it (I'm trying to establish grass on 5 1/2 acres so have done a LOT of this!) After that, just keep it watered. When it shows signs of new growth, apply some regular fertilizer and water in or do it before a good rain. And most grasses are pretty tough--I don't add anything to the soil before I plant it and mine is all thriving very nicely.


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Thanks for all the advice, Marleine. My area is tiny compared to yours so it should all be much easier! I'm away on holiday for the next week so will give it a go when I get back.

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Is the area you are trying to cover underneath where the pruned plants were? The grass dies in these areas because it was crowded out by the shrubs. Establishing grass over the rootzones of these plants will be to the detriment of the shrubs. I'd mulch the bare patches and make that area part of the garden. Maybe underplant with some other types of low growing plants.


The secret is the soil.

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