09/10/2026
🌱 This Week in the Garden: Your Questions Answered, Week of September 7
September is a great time of year to give your lawns some TLC. Check out what you can do in the fall (and throughout the year) with our Wisconsin Lawn Care Calendar: https://hort.extension.wisc.edu/articles/wisconsin-lawn-care-calender/
âť“Question:
Our lawn is not in great shape-with lots of dead spots throughout with the various droughts this summer. This has happened in previous summers, but it has always come back ok. What should we do?
➡️ Answer:
Repeated droughts can take turfgrass plants over the edge, even if they have recovered in years past. In particular, May was extremely dry, which really stressed the plants, and then July again was extremely dry, which stressed the turfgrass plants beyond recovery. Fortunately, there is a pretty easy solution, and this is an ideal time of year to plant new grass seed.
Reseeding can be done this month. The species of turfgrass you plant in any specific site matters! In this case, in this sunny spot, look for more drought tolerant grasses, such as a mixture of Kentucky bluegrass and tall fescue (tall fescue is quite drought tolerant). These mixtures are quite common in garden and hardware stores now (if there's a little bit of perennial ryegrass mixed in there that's not a big deal).
For our typical clay soils in southern Wisconsin, adding compost (organic matter) can improve the soil quality which will improve the turfgrass quality as well.
How to reseed:
You can rent a slit seeder and seed directly into the dead grass or rake it away and loosen the upper layer of soil. Either way gets the seeds down to the soil. Careful watering may be needed to get seeds established, especially on a slope.
Recommendations for adding compost:
Adding one-half to one inch of compost in the spring and in the fall for several years can improve soil quality over the long term. The compost must be shoveled onto the lawn and raked out with a leaf rake. On a very large area of turf, this may be really challenging to do as it is labor intensive. But in small areas that need some extra TLC, this can be accomplished.
đź”— Learn more:
Lawn Establishment and Renovation - https://hort.extension.wisc.edu/articles/lawn-establishment-renovation/
đź’¬ Have a question of your own?
Reach out—we may feature it in an upcoming post!
You can reach Julie, your local horticulture educator by calling 262-741-4958, Text 262-374-4191, email [email protected] or use our online form: go.wisc.edu/PlantQ
đź“· Dry, dead patches of lawn in southern Wisconsin
