Will grass spread to bare spots in your lawn?

If you have a problem with bare patches on your beautiful lawn, you may wonder whether you should try to fix bare spots or if the grass will spread to bare spots without your help. In this article, you’ll find all the answers about repairing bare spots on your lawn grass.

The reasons for bare spots in the grass

First of all, you should identify the reason for your problem. What is the main factor that causes damage to your lawn grass? Answer this question and you’ll get the solution to the problem.

One of the general reasons for bare spots is heavy foot traffic. If your children or pets run across your lawn, it will become bald quickly. Kids cause damage by jumping and pulling the grass, and animals dig and scratch the grass. Animal urine can also be hazardous for your grass.

Turf diseases, for instance, fungal or patch diseases can be another reason for bare spots. Also, there are such factors as over-fertilizing, drought, and accident spilling the gas.

If you burn the grass while barbecuing, bare patches can appear as well. Be careful with your lawn mower as it can damage your grass. It’s quite important to be careful during your outdoor activities as you can cause damage without understanding that.

Can grass spread on its own?

One of the most popular questions on this topic is, will grass spread to bare spots itself? The answer is: It depends on your grass type. If there is a rhizome grass, that grows underground from the mother plant, it can fill bare spots.

However, most lawn grasses grow from grass seed, so they will spread themselves on a bare patch. You should know in advance the type of grass in order to be prepared to fix bare spots according to this type.

Here are the general grow styles:

• Rhizomes. This growing style spreads the root system beneath the ground. It reproduces via creating a new plant that will produce its rhizomes and so on.
• This spreading style is pretty efficient, as rhizomes spread quickly. On one hand, it’s a very good option for quickly filling the bare spots. But from another hand, sometimes rhizomes can creep into unwanted territories and spread there even if you don’t want them to.
• Sometimes it may even spread to the gardens of your neighbors. You should control its growth in order to avoid unpredictable situations.
• Stolons. It’s also a spreading style, but it spreads differently. It grows above the surface of the ground and may spread far from the mother plant. Finally, it reaches the soil where it takes a root. Then it creates a new plant that no longer belongs to the previous mother plant.
• It’s also an efficient way that spreads quickly above the ground. But you should watch carefully its growth as well, as it may invade other grass plants’ growth areas. Stolons are dominant, so they’ll take the whole space.

Some grass types have both rhizomes and stolons, while other grasses have only one.

If you want the grass on your lawn to self-seed, you should allow it to grow taller. Don’t mow it for quite a while. The grass should grow until seed heads appear. Consider that the time of maturation can be different: from several weeks to several months.

While mowing your lawn, you better use a machine with a side blower in order to distribute the seeds across the area. If you want to take proper lawn care, cut only a third part of the grass blade. It will provide you with a healthy lawn and normal grass growth.

Does grass spread to fill in bare spots?

When you choose grass seeds for your garden, you wonder: will grass fill in bare spots? Will it replace dead grass successfully? Won’t it damage the existing grass? How to choose a perfect grass type that will solve your problem and fill in bare spots effectively and quickly?

Here is a list of the most popular grass types. Let us look through it, so you’ll be able to choose one for your garden. Consider not only your climate conditions, but also the growth style of the grass type and its ability to mix with other plants.

You can choose only one type for your garden, but experts recommend mixing some types, considering their cons and pros.

Kentucky bluegrass

Kentucky bluegrass types are cool season grasses with dark green color. As they are northern grasses, preferable conditions for them are growing in a cool season, for instance, early fall or spring. Northern climates are perfect for this type.

It reproduces via rhizomes below ground and stolons above ground runners. While taking root, these runners form new plants.

Bermuda grass

Bermuda grass is one of the warm season grasses. The peak growth period of this type is the middle of summer. Its color is dark green and it has sharp pointed tips.

Just like Kentucky bluegrass, Bermuda grass reproduces via rhizomes and stolons. It spreads efficiently, so you won’t have problems with bare spots if you spread these grass types.

Zoysia grass

Zoysia grass is a southern type that thrives in the warm season. Its shades can vary from light to medium green.

Its growth style also includes rhizomes and stolons. In the southern region, this grass spreads quickly and it will cover your bare spots without problems.

Creeping red fescue

If you live in the north, for filling bare spots in your garden, you can choose Red Fescue. It has above-ground and below-ground runners that may help you out to fill bare spots.

You may spread Red Fescue across your existing spreading grass. That will allow you to conceal any bare spot on your lawn grass.

Tall fescue

Tall fescue is one of bunch type grasses types. This means that it reproduces via grass seeds. The color of Tall Fescue is light green and its tips are sharply pointed.

If you decide to fill bare spots with this type, you should consider that Tall Fescue cannot be mixed with other types. Never try to spread other grass types on the existing Tall Fescue lawn, as its form may become clumpy and unattractive.

Perennial ryegrass

Perennial ryegrass is a cool season grass type. The color varies from medium to dark green. This is one of the non-spreading types, so you need to sow the grass seed for growing it.

Perennial Ryegrass is a good option for your lawn as it grows faster than other grass species. You’re free to sow it and fill in bare spots of your garden.

Centipede grass

Centipede grass is a southern warm season type of light green shade. It reproduces via stolons, so it will easily spread to bare spots of your garden. Just remember that this type needs warm climate conditions.

How do I fix bald spots in my lawn?

So, you’ve chosen a grass type and you’re ready to fix every single bare spot of your lawn. What to do now to repair bare spots effectively and make for yourself the healthiest lawn possible?

First of all, as was said above, you should determine the cause of your problem. There can be different reasons for bare spots in your garden.

Once you’ve found the reason, fix it. You won’t be able to repair bare spots until you exclude the hazardous factors. Different reasons require different solutions.

If you have bald patches because of your dogs or kids, do not allow them to run there anymore. If the reason is pests attack, get rid of them. If your lawn suffers from turf diseases, cure them before filling the lawn with new grass. Take proper lawn care before seeding new grass.

Once you’ve solved the problem, you can go further. The most efficient method to cover bare patches is to overseed your lawn. Take into account the cons and pros of the lawn grasses that you pick up.

As it’s said above, mixing several types of grass seed is the preferable way of fixing bare spots. Take into account specifics of your climate, and the current season and make sure that new seeds match with the existing lawn grasses of your garden.

You may also be interested in: Pros And Cons Of Slice Seeding. Using A Slice Seeding

https://youtu.be/gDhtKhDXed4

FAQ

If you still have any questions about spreading the grass to bare spots, we’ll be happy to answer them in this rubric.

 

Final words

Sometimes it’s not easy to understand what steps should be taken to solve the problem of bare spots. We hope that this article will help you to avoid common mistakes.

To sum up, it’s important to identify the problem and fix it before reseeding the lawn. Then you should pick up the best grass seed that will match your lawn. And don’t forget about regular lawn care.

Some people abandon overseeding and prefer the grass that will spread itself. This way is more convenient and requires minimum effort. However, the experts recommend reseeding your soil as it will give a new start to your lawn. If fresh grass grows in the garden, the bare spots will disappear quickly.

Take care of your garden and enjoy a healthy green lawn!