When to repair your lawn
Spring or Autumn are the best times to make repairs to your lawn as they will make a faster recovery and look better throughout the summer.
It’s also ideal in the cooler months because you’ll have to wait for your repairs to bed in before you use your cordless lawnmower - three weeks for new turf and four to six for reseeded patches.
What causes lawn damage?
Any number of things can cause damage to your lawn and cause bare patches or an uneven surface. Shaded areas or a natural slope can affect the health of your lawn, but other factors such as heavy traffic from children’s games, the family pet, or even a fungal infection.
Larger areas might be more convenient (and cheaper) to reseed than repair with turf, though it boils down to personal preference.
Repairing your lawn with turf
Garden tools you’ll need
- Cordless lawn mower
- Turf
- Spade
- Half-moon edging tool or cordless lawn edging tool
- Fork
- Rake (optional)
- Sandy top dressing
- Hose sprinkler or watering can with rose
Process of repairing using turf
- If perennial weeds have occupied an area, dig them up at the root to prevent them coming back.
- Mow your lawn. If it’s the first mow of the year, leave it a little longer and also leave the cuttings out - these provide nutrients for the grass.
- Use an edging tool to score into the damaged turf and use a spade to lift it out.
- Use the garden fork to turn over the soil in the bare area.
- Lay turf over the area and cut to size using your half moon edging tool.
- Brush a sandy lawn top-dressing between the joins and press down the edges with your feet or the back edge of the rake.
- Water it in. You should water the area daily for the first two weeks until the roots become more well-established. After three weeks you can drop down to every other day. In week four twice a week, depending on the weather.
Repairing your lawn with seed
Garden tools you’ll need
- Cordless lawn mower
- Grass seed of a similar type to existing grass
- Spade
- Half-moon edging tool or cordless lawn edging tool
- Fork
- Rake (optional)
- Compost
- Hose sprinkler or watering can with rose
Process of repairing using turf
- In the days before, ideally give the area a good water. You can help water penetrate deeper into the soil by pushing a screwdriver in several times.
- Follow steps 1-4 above.
- Sprinkle top soil or compost into the bare area to bring it up to the right level.
- Scatter the grass seed according to the instructions on your seed packet.
- Birds are a menace to this type of lawn repair, so conceal your grass seeds with a light sprinkling of compost or top soil.
- Water it in. You should soak the area twice daily (morning and evening) for the first two weeks until the shoots appear. However, you can reduce this if there is rainfall. After three weeks you can reduce the amount of water. By week four, depending on the weather, you can reduce watering the new grass down to once a day.
Mowing your lawn after making repairs
After a new turf repair
- You can mow your lawn after three weeks (weather dependent).
- Check your turf has established itself by gently tugging the turves that cover the repaired area.
- Ensure your cordless mower blades are sharp.
- Set it to its highest cutting height.
After a seeding repair
- You can mow your lawn once your grass shoots and roots are established, usually from four weeks but it might be longer.
- Mow when the ground and grass are relatively dry.
- Ensure your cordless mower blades are sharp.
- Set it to its highest cutting height.
Cutting height
Depending on which model of EGO cordless lawn mower you have, cutting heights range from 20mm to 95mm. This gives you all the flexibility you need to be able to properly manage your mowing.