Thick grass crowds out weeds, stands up better to pests and disease, and looks way better hanging out in your front yard. Will grass thicken on its own? Nice try, but no.
Some grass grows laterally and will naturally fill in bare spots on the lawn. These are either Rhizome grasses or Stolon grasses. Rhizome grasses grow with spreading root systems underneath the soil.
Some varieties of grass will fill in bare spots if the roots are good and healthy (don't scalp your lawn). If you put down more seed be sure to cover it with a light blanket of top soil. Grass seed germinates far better when covered even slightly by soil.
Mowing regularly will help promote lateral growth. It is this lateral growth that helps your lawn become thicker. Mowing regularly at the same height will allow for consistent nutrients within the grass, keeping it healthy. We recommend mowing regularly enough so that only removing one-third of the leaf with each mow.
Does Putting Grass Clippings on Bare Spots Help Grass Grow? While leaving grass clippings on the lawn during mowing (grasscycling) can offer benefits like nutrient recycling and improved soil health, it's not the most effective method for directly promoting grass growth in bare spots.
By applying grass seed over an existing lawn, you can help fill in bare spots and reinvigorate your lawn. It's an easy and effective way to strengthen your lawn and thicken your grass to help naturally protect against weed problems.
Irrigate
Once lawns get established, they generally need about 1 inch of water per week, whether that comes from nature or your irrigation system. Deep, thorough irrigation encourages the deep root growth thicker lawns need.
The solution is annual aeration, overseeding, and topdressing. This practice breaks up the soil and enables the lawn to breathe. Also, those small holes aeration creates can provide the perfect access for overseeding in thin, bare areas. An additional topdressing application then further boosts soil health.
Turfgrasses in the lawn get thicker primarily by spreading using above or below-ground runners or stolons. If the grass is allowed to go to seed, energy is diverted away from spreading and towards flower and seed production. This causes the stand of grass to become less dense because it is not growing and spreading.
Very Small Patchy Areas: For tiny bare spots (think a few inches in diameter), throwing a small amount of seed and keeping the area moist might suffice. However, even in these cases, lightly raking the soil to create some seed-to-soil contact can significantly improve results.
Mowing actually helps make your grass grow thicker because the tip of each blade contains hormones that suppress horizontal growth. When you cut the lawn, you remove these tips allowing the grass to spread and grow thicker near the roots.
Overseeding can help you get back to the thick, lush, green lawn you're looking to achieve. By spreading grass seed over your existing lawn, you can thicken up the thin areas and get your lawn looking terrific again. (This is different from reseeding, which is when you start over and plant a completely new lawn.)
While grass clippings themselves won't sprout new grass, they can play a significant role in supporting new grass growth and even contribute to natural reseeding under certain conditions.
Aftercut Lawn Thickener Feed and Seed
Lawn Revive is a one step natural solution for a greener, thicker and lusher lawn. It feeds the lawn, giving green results and a nutritional boost, and also enhances soil for long term health and improved soil foundation. At the same time adds new seed to your lawn to thicken.
Does Grass Spread on Its Own? It depends on the type of grass. Kentucky bluegrass has runners that help it spread on its own. But many northern grasses are bunch-type grasses which don't spread, so seeding is needed to fill in bare spots.
Mowing short – If you mow short (not too short), your grass will learn to grow thicker with more lateral growth. If you leave it too long, once again sun can't penetrate as easily, and you end up with a patchy lawn, particularly when you end up cutting off more than a third of the leaf to bring the level back down.
Water Wisely
Many of us water too often and too long. Most lawns need to be watered no more than three days a week in the spring as well as in the summer and two days a week in the fall. This watering schedule is recommended under normal water supply conditions.
How to Make Grass Thicker and Fuller. Mow High: Keep your grass at 3-4 inches to encourage deep roots. Aerate: Aerate your lawn annually to improve soil and root health. Fertilize: Apply a balanced fertilizer in spring and fall.
Generally, the depth of grass roots mirrors the height of the grass. Thus, when grass isn't as healthy (for example, in periods of drought), it is better to let grass grow taller and, in doing so, to strengthen the root systems.
We know what you're thinking: Will grass thicken on its own? That would be great! But, no. So, you could spend your hard-earned weekends fertilizing, aerating, seeding, weeding.
Most homeowners should fertilize their cool-season turf in March, then May, then from September to October. However, UC IPM recommends that lawns in the Sierra area should be fertilized from May to June and August to September.
Apply Scotts® Turf Builder® Thick'R Lawn® Bermudagrass with a Scotts® spreader. Water daily, or as needed, to keep soil surface moist for the first 2 weeks until seedlings germinate, then water regularly to maintain seedling growth. Resume mowing when lawn reaches desired mowing height.