How to revive your lawn

When all the snow that blanketed Long Island over the winter finally melted, many homeowners found dead spots and other damage where healthy, green grass once grew. What follows are some techniques from local landscaping experts for reviving the lawn for spring:

1. Diagnose the problem

Frederick Soviero, director of grounds and landscaping for Hofstra University, suggests conducting a pH test on the soil. A pH test will reveal how acidic or basic the soil is, acidic levels being lower in number and basic levels higher. "A pH kit is relatively inexpensive, and it is good for a number of tests, and as long as the pH is close to 6.5, then the lawn is all right," he says. However, if the pH test results are any lower than around a 6.0, it is important to lime the lawn. This will help remove acidity. Soviero suggests using pelletized lime as opposed to powdered lime. "One bag is enough. It is more expensive, but it goes a lot farther than powdered lime. . . . Pelletized is better, stronger and cleaner," Soviero says.

2. Reseed your lawn

"Aerating and seeding the lawn is my main thing on campus," Soviero says. He suggests aerating and seeding the thin spots on the lawn. He also suggests using a slow-release fertilizer (there are organic fertilizers, he points out). Declan Blackmore, owner and president of Summerhill Landscapes Inc. in Sag Harbor, agrees it is important to reseed the lawn but to also select the right seed to use. "The selection of the seed is crucial depending on shade versus sun. We are encouraging people now to use a tall fescue seed mix as an alternative to the blue mix, the reason being that it is much more durable for snow damage and it doesn't require the same amount of care and chemicals that the Kentucky bluegrass does," he says. Instead of just reseeding the patches of the lawn that seem dead, Blackmore suggests reseeding the entire lawn. "By seeding patches, you end up with a patchy lawn. You should reseed the whole lawn to keep it in uniform color," Blackmore says.

3. Use the sand

Sand left behind from winter can be used to help restore lawns. "If you have compacted soil, the roots of the grass need two very important things -- they need water, but they also need oxygen," Blackmore says. "In a compacted soil, it tends to be too wet and lacking in oxygen, and filling the holes with sand improves oxygen content in the soil. You have to rake it so fine that it is like a quarter of an inch of sand, but you rake it in so the grass is protruding through the sand." However, if there seems to be just salt left or if there seems to be any salt in the sand, gypsum can be put into use as well. "In the heavy spots of sand and salt, we use gypsum. We spread it down on the walks and blow it onto the edges of the lawn. It helps to neutralize the salt," Soviero says. Whether or not there is a problem with salt, gypsum can always be used to enrich soil and can be applied to the whole lawn, he says.

4. Cut low

The first cut of spring is also important to how your lawn will recover. Adjusting the settings on your lawn mower will either set the blades lower or higher. "Typically, once you start cutting in the spring, you try to cut at about 2 1/2 inches," Blackmore says. "When you cut lower, you are kind of cutting it down so it repairs itself, getting rid of the ugly grass that accumulates over the winter." After the first cut, readjust the blades to 3 inches, he says.

5. Prepare

It is never too early to prepare for winter, and there are several things that can be done to your lawn before the first snowfall. Tamson Yeh of the Cornell Cooperative Extension in Suffolk County says that for the last cut of the season, the mower should be set to about an inch. This will make it so the grass "doesn't keel over and trap moisture and foster snow molds and other disease," Yeh says. It is also important to fertilize your lawn once before the snow falls (again, there are organic fertilizers). "No fertilization can be performed on turf in Suffolk County or Nassau County between Nov. 1 and April 1," Yeh advises. The last date that fertilizer can be applied to turf is Oct. 31, according to local law. "It is fine to fertilize between Oct. 15 for slow-release products or closer to Oct. 31 for rapid-release ones," she says.