I can plant flowers like nobody’s business. I can trim hedges, not quite like Edward Scissorhands, but well enough that they look professionally done. I mulch my own yard. I eradicate weeds that mistakenly think they can make their home in my flower beds. The day I discovered Preen® is still vivid in my mind. While post-emergent weed killers are effective, pre-emergent ones which prevent the weed from ever growing can be life changing!

But even though I consider my thumb to be greener than green, the lawn beats me every year.  I fertilize. I spray weed killer. But each year I end up feeling like Carl Spackler, the greenskeeper in “Caddyshack”, who works tirelessly to catch the gopher digging up the course.

This year however, I have decided that I will win, even if it means removing the grass and starting over. Well, that was the original plan and then I realized how expensive that would be. So my plan has evolved and become much more cost effective.

I have Bermuda grass and while the builder laid sod in the front, the back is a patchy, weed infested mess. I priced out laying new sod, which would require killing everything that was already there as well as tilling, four loads of soil and four pallets of Bermuda sod. WHOA. That led me to the conclusion that I could seed the patches much more cost effectively. I will admit that the thought of seeding had me intimidated. So I kept researching and discovered that you can buy remnants of sod for patching from local landscape supply companies. PERFECT! Prep the soil, lay some fertilizer, put down the patch and I am good to go. Hmm. Sounded easy enough, but I still wanted to know all my options.

For the following two weeks, everyone I encountered got accosted with lawn questions, which is how I learned about top dressing. Top dressing is a process involving aeration, followed by a layer of compost/soil and sand laid over existing grass. It not only helps to level out your grass and enhance your soil condition, but it deepens the root system of your grass, causing it to spread and fill in any bare spots you may have. While I thought about tackling this on my own, after pricing it, I decided the $250 was worth having a professional take this project on for me.

Having a professional tackle that task frees me up to do the yard stuff I like. (I will admit I like designing much better than implementing when it comes to yard work.) Better Homes and Garden has a free landscaping design tool, where I have laid out the next phase(s) of backyard renovation!

While I will need some help with the patio to be built ( using pavers as they are much more economical), I am excited to do most of the planting on my own.

By Amanda Serra