ᐅ Improving Patchy or Poor Lawn Areas – Reseeding and Tilling

Hello...

About a year ago, we planted our 450 sqm (4,840 sq ft) lawn. On a Saturday, someone came with their equipment (rototiller, rotary harrow, and lawn seeder) to quickly and efficiently prepare the area. Unfortunately, the grass seed we had (Compo Play and Sport) was not enough, so we had to buy Play and Sport grass seed from GFG at the Plaza DIY store.

The DIY store seed germinated and grew very quickly, but it turned out to be a very straw-like/stiff grass, which is uncomfortable on bare feet. It also stands out a lot on the lawn (see photos, the light green strip about 2 m (6.5 ft) wide) and is quite patchy, with more weeds growing than grass. It seems like seed meant for agricultural use, prioritizing quick growth and yield.

Now we want to improve this strip, but what is the best way? I noticed that Compo offers overseeding grass seed for reseeding, but I imagine this might also look different. Or should we use Compo Play and Sport grass seed to overseed the existing lawn, or would that just die off anyway because of constant foot traffic (dog, cat, child) and regular mowing? Or should we till and reseed completely (of course, the most labor-intensive option)?

What do you think?

Have you already fertilized the lawn this spring?
Our lawn looked very similar to yours after the winter, and now, after fertilizing and trimming, it is lush green again and looks great.

It is fertilized, yes... but what’s growing is just thick, tall "grass" that doesn't fill the gaps...

To encourage the new lawn to spread out, it needs to be mowed regularly (at first, cut no more than one third of its height but mow more often until the desired height is reached).
Alternatively, you could try letting the lawn grow tall enough to reseed itself naturally.

Dindin schrieb:

Otherwise, you could also try letting the lawn grow tall naturally until it reseeds itself.

That is nonsense!
Not all lawns are the same. This one will grow tall and develop a pasture-like character.
From the pictures, it looks like the mix consists of forage grasses. These are often offered in cheap, unbalanced blends.
At first, the difference is small, but it will become more and more noticeable over time. Weeds can spread easily because these grasses do not form dense, underground runners.

Based on experience, I recommend starting over. Lawn seed purchased in sufficient quantities from a specialist supplier will produce a thick turf.

Depending on the forage grasses, the stuff also looks different...

When we reseeded back then, we were initially happy because this no-name cheap seed lawn grew much faster and looked nicely lush green compared to the expensive Compo, but that changed within the first two months...