Lawn Concerns

Question: Hi there,

I have a few questions related to Spring lawn care. We have lived in our house for nearly two years and have noted challenges growing grass. We had been told the prior owner had not been consistent with watering the lawn and therefore when we moved in, we had many large expanses of brown lawn.  We were diligent with watering the lawn last summer and noted some growth again but maybe 50-75% improvement.  This spring, I want to make sure we have a good understanding around lawn maintenance. 1) Our backyard has minimal grass coming in (see picture). It appears to have a matted material over it. Is this normal? 2) We have many small critter holes across the lawn. Any suggestions or red flags with this? 3) When is the best time to lay grass seed down? Is this the solution to the barren areas of lawn?

I really appreciate any insight you may have around our yard. I’ve read many of the U of M extension pages and found them very useful.

responder: Deb Kroon  Replied April 13, 2023, 9:17 PM EDT
response: Hi Christine!  Thank you for reaching out to ask2.extension. The first picture is a picture of sow mold.  It happens when there is a lot of snow. It will go away.  You get it because of lack of air to the area because of the snow. The second picture is kind of hard to see.  Or is the third picture of animal hole?  Do you have trails going through you yard, like something was tunneling right under the soil?  It will be soft along the trail.  If it is like that you have voles.  There is an article on voles if you go to extension.umn.edu and search voles.  It gives good information on how to handle them and how to get rid of them. Now is a good time to put down grass seed, but I would ask what you have for trees?  There is different grass seed for different areas, such as shade, sunny, high traffic.  When you decide on the type of seed, also get a fertilizer for new lawns.  If your yard is pretty compacted it wouldn’t hurt to till the area before putting down the seed.  If not just rake the seed and fertilizer into area and water thoroughly. New lawns need at least an inch of water a week.  If you go back to extension.umn.edu and search renovating a lawn for quality and sustainability, it is a great article for you to read. I hope I have helped.  Let me know if you have any questions.  Thank you!

responder: The Question Asker Replied April 13, 2023, 10:53 PM EDT
response: Good evening-This was very helpful, thank you so much for the ideas and quick response! I had a hunch it may be snow mold so thank you for confirming that. Good to know it will go away.On initial inspection there didn’t seem to be tunneling but I will investigate further and if so, follow up with the vole article. And I appreciate your insight around grass seed. Our backyard is heavily wooded with a variety of trees though overall fairly shaded (large maples, a few birch trees, some pine trees along the side, and we also back up to a forested area) - I imagine the soil is full of roots. I will also look further into the lawn renovation article.Best,Christine On Apr 13, 2023, at 8:17 PM, Ask Extension <<personal data hidden>> wrote:﻿

responder: Deb Kroon  Replied April 14, 2023, 10:48 AM EDT
response: Good morning!  The amount of trees will defined make a difference as to what seed to use especially under the big maples.   If you have voles the damage is easy to fix, but they are hard to get rid of. Good luck and let me know if I can be any more help!