Hi group,

I live in Zones 9-10 in Southern, CA. I have included some pictures of my
backyard grass. I have used Scotts Enriched Lawn Soil, but it didn't help.

I have 2 small dogs who use the yard, but I don't think their urine/feces is
the cause. The grass has always been like this since I bought this house a
year ago. I do water well, I followed the tips offered on this group.

As you can see in the pictures, in some areas there is nice thick grass
growth, in others barely any. What are some low cost/good for the enviroment
(is there such a thing) steps I can take to improve the grass? Should I put
some manure? I notice at Home Depot they sell some products labeled "Grass
repair" or "Bare spot repair."
Should I buy those?
Also, can anybody tell by the pics what type of grass I have?

http://www.dodgetrucks.org/home/emil/Garden%201.jpg
http://www.dodgetrucks.org/home/emil/Garden%202.jpg
http://www.dodgetrucks.org/home/emil/Garden%203.jpg
http://www.dodgetrucks.org/home/emil/Garden%204.jpg

Thanks,
Emil

Emil wrote:

Hi group,

I live in Zones 9-10 in Southern, CA. I have included some pictures of my
backyard grass. I have used Scotts Enriched Lawn Soil, but it didn't help.

I have 2 small dogs who use the yard, but I don't think their urine/feces
is the cause. The grass has always been like this since I bought this
house a year ago. I do water well, I followed the tips offered on this
group.

As you can see in the pictures, in some areas there is nice thick grass
growth, in others barely any. What are some low cost/good for the
enviroment (is there such a thing) steps I can take to improve the grass?
Should I put some manure? I notice at Home Depot they sell some products
labeled "Grass repair" or "Bare spot repair."
Should I buy those?

It looks alot like some areas of my lawn. I've got a dog too. Everytime I
sent my dog out to the yard, he does a circuit along the perimeter just to
check out "his" territory. He's worn quite a nice path in some areas.

I didn't notice any kill spots on your lawn so I'm guessing you water
frequently. That would certainly explain the lush green patches. You could
try aerating and then spot fertilizing on the less than lush areas.

I didn't see a dog house in any of the pictures so they might just be
napping against the nice cool block wall. Build them a doghouse or lean-to.

As for fixing the bare spots, don't bother buying any specialized products.
I've found they're a waste of of money. On larger dead spots that I want to
fix, I just flood it with water, rake it vigourishly, seed it and then
cover it with peat moss. After that, just water it daily and keep traffic
off of it until it's well established.

Lastly, don't worry too much about your lawn. It will take some time for it
to get better. With dogs around, it will never be perfect but I prefer the
company of my dog more than a perfect lawn anyway.

--
And the beast shall be made legion. Its numbers shall be increased a
thousand thousand fold. The din of a million keyboards like unto a great
storm shall cover the earth, and the followers of Mammon shall tremble.

"knowbodies" wrote in message
. ..

Hi knowbodies,


I didn't notice any kill spots on your lawn so I'm guessing you water
frequently. That would certainly explain the lush green patches. You could
try aerating and then spot fertilizing on the less than lush areas.

Yeah, I think I water enough, that's why I get those patches of nice grass.

I didn't see a dog house in any of the pictures so they might just be
napping against the nice cool block wall. Build them a doghouse or
lean-to.

I should have been more specific. My dogs are house dogs. They only go onto
the lawn to do their business. 1 of them has cancer, so we are putting him
to sleep this week. The other is an 11 year old mini pinscher with diabetes.
LoL, nice combination of sicknesses, eh? :-)

As for fixing the bare spots, don't bother buying any specialized
products.
I've found they're a waste of of money. On larger dead spots that I want
to
fix, I just flood it with water, rake it vigourishly, seed it and then
cover it with peat moss. After that, just water it daily and keep traffic
off of it until it's well established.

Lastly, don't worry too much about your lawn. It will take some time for
it
to get better. With dogs around, it will never be perfect but I prefer the
company of my dog more than a perfect lawn anyway.

The lawn has always been that why, it was worse when we first bought the
house a year ago. I agree, I prefer the dogs over green grass. I just wanted
to make the grass look a little bit better. I'll take your advice about
attacking specific spots on the grass.

Thanks,
Emil