Thinking of replacing your lawn because of weeds or dead patches? Discover how Yard Dawgs helped a Calgary homeowner transform their yard—no sod required.
Client’s Lawn Problem
When you have a lawn care service performed at your home, the difference is tremendous. It feels like your lawn got a haircut and colour. The transformation ranges from a spruced-up lawn to grass resurrected from the grave. Yard Dawgs had a homeowner reach out to us last year with a very similar dilemma. However, before calling Yard Dawgs he began by taking matters into his own hands. With a lawn overrun by dandelions, he was concerned by the appearance of his yard.
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Transform your lawn today
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Transform your lawn today
Dandelions are notoriously challenging to remove. Once the plant has fully established its root, the weeds will come back year after year. Their roots are 10-inches long, and to fully exterminate them you must remove all of it. The quickest and easiest way to remove these weeds from your yard is to spray them with a herbicide that kills the entire plant without harming the grass surrounding it. That is just what our client started out doing. Unfortunately, our client made the critical mistake of purchasing Round Up. This weed killer is deadly to everything it touches. Not only did it exterminate the weeds, but our homeowner’s lawn was taken out as well. Large patches of dead grass enveloped his backyard.
How to Redo a Lawn Full of Weeds?
If your lawn is overrun with weeds, the first step in redoing it is removal. Start by mowing the area low, then apply a non-selective herbicide or solarize the lawn by covering it with plastic to kill the existing growth. After 1–2 weeks, remove dead weeds and thatch, and loosen the topsoil. Adding fresh topsoil or compost will help rejuvenate the ground. From here, you can reseed or lay sod, depending on your budget and time.
Before
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To compensate for the dead grass, our client initially saw himself spending thousands in order to re-sod his lawn. Which is entirely correct, the cost of re sodding is a very expensive process. However, before pulling the trigger and ripping up what was left of his grass, he reached out to Yard Dawgs to see if there was a better solution.
How We Saved the Lawn — Without Sod Replacement
After accidentally killing off large patches of grass, the homeowner assumed a full sod replacement was the only way forward — a solution that would cost thousands. Before committing to that major expense, they reached out to Yard Dawgs to explore other options.
Instead of tearing everything up, we offered a smarter path: our Great Dane lawn care package, which delivers everything a lawn needs to recover and thrive through the season.
What’s Included in the Great Dane Package?
Here’s what helped bring the lawn back to life:
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Season Long Fertilizer
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Fall Aeration
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Complimentary Spring and Fall Seed Bags
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Bio-Stimulant
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Spring & Fall Super Juice
Problems We Diagnosed
Our initial assessment of the lawn proved it was weed prone, the soil was chemically burned and there were many uneven, bare patches.
Uneven Bare Patches
This is often caused by improper mowing, the incorrect use of fertilizer and aeration. If a homeowner excessively waters his or her lawn, this can often be a cause of lumpiness. The water can pool in certain places and when walking on a wet lawn, or mowing wet grass, you’re likely to make depressions in the soil. That’s why we advise people never to mow their lawn while it’s wet. Although that’s not the only reason.
Weed-Prone Lawn
Poor maintenance practices will weaken your lawn, as it did for this homeowner. Fertilization, weed control and mowing will each lead to weed invasions if not completed correctly. When you kill your healthy grass with weed killer, the weeds in your lawn have no competition for nutrients, water, or air. When our client applied Round Up, he killed large swaths of the grass making it much easier for weeds to take over the empty turf.
Chemically Burned Soil
Round Up is a non-selective herbicide, meaning it will kill anything it comes in contact with. When applied too liberally, as was the case for this homeowner, the herbicide will increase the toxicity of the soil in the lawn. Some fertilizers kill plants by making the soil salty, so an over abundance will cause soil acidity. Some substances cannot be washed out by water, and therefore it’s necessary to replace the top foot of soil.
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How We Avoided Sod Replacement
To restore the lawn, each element of the Great Dane package was crucial. To guarantee the lawn continued its growth throughout the season, fertilizer was essentially. Aeration was recommended in order to assist with seed germination. It also opens up the soil to water and air.
To begin, our technician did an application of fertilizer to help stimulate the soil’s nitrogen content and get it back in growing mode. Our fertilizer is a high quality slow-release product, meaning it provides your lawn with nutrients so the grass can feed for a long time. To continue the improvement a super juice application was performed, previous to an aeration. The soil needed access to air and water to continue its rejuvenation.
“Deprived of their basic needs by compacted soil, lawn grasses struggle in stressful situations, such as heat and low rainfall, and lose their healthy, rich colour. Grasses gradually thin and eventually die out completely, for lack of oxygen, water, and nutrients available just inches away. Even a single aeration session can open the avenue for these essentials to reach their mark and put your lawn back on an upward trend.” -Pennington
To keep the process going, there was another application of fertilizer. With the homeowner’s commitment to a regular watering schedule the lawn was starting to make much needed improvements. However, with the lawn returning to normal, there was a cropping up of weeds throughout the grass. When weeds are growing in any lawn they are in constant battle with your grass for water, oxygen, and nutrients. To be able to recover, the grass needed all the nutrients it could get, so an application of weed control was necessary to fully eradicate the weeds. This time, however, the proper product was used. This herbicide specifically targeted the weeds DNA, so the grass was safe. The difference between when Yard Dawgs first came out and how the lawn was recovering was night and day. The yellow and brown burn spots were filling in with healthy grass.
Fast forward to September 26th: The last service of the season was a fall aeration. After combining this service with the addition of our complimentary seed bag, the lawn had fully recovered. By October, the lawn had received months of treatments: fertilizer, weed control, aeration, seeding, super juice and organic soil conditioner. The grass was restored, and the homeowner was overjoyed. In early June, he had planned on hiring a landscaper to rip the old sod, bring in new topsoil and add new sod – a process that would have cost thousands. Instead, Yard Dawgs was able to remediate the issue for a fraction of the price.
How Do I Transform My Lawn?
Lawn transformation begins with a good plan. Evaluate soil conditions, remove weeds, aerate, and decide whether to seed or sod. Adding a topdressing of compost or soil helps level uneven spots and provides nutrients. Then, seed or sod the lawn, water regularly, and maintain with seasonal lawn care services like fertilization and weed control.
What Time of Year Is Best to Redo a Lawn?
The best time to redo a lawn is in early fall (late August to early September) or spring (late April to early June). These periods offer cooler temperatures and consistent moisture, which help new grass establish strong roots. Avoid peak summer unless you're using sod and can water heavily.
After
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So, the moral of the story is this: although the vision of your lawn overrun by weeds or perhaps no weeds but dead patches all over, should not be enough to make you throw in the towel. Don’t give up because with time and patience and the correct application of all the services your lawn needs, you can restore your grass to a plot of healthy green. Remember cultivating a healthy lawn from a damaged one may take a few seasons. Plan on investing time and energy in the project.
You deserve a great-looking yard and with the proper care you can achieve your goal!
