The Truth About What Happened To My Lawn And The Final Verdict On Seeding Vs. Sodding

Last September 2014, Trugreen reached out about me working with them to review their lawncare program. I worked with them on a previous campaign in July, for a charity event they do, and they were so pleased with how that turned out, they wanted to work out something again. Being that I have seen Trugreen and action, I was all for working with them. They're known for making the PGA tournament greens, well, green.

The general manager came out, and decided that my yard being 90% weeds and crabgrass, should just be killed and seed a new lawn with Fescue.

The plan was that he would come out and kill the grass, then after a week or two to let the existing grass weeds die back, he would reseed using a power seeder. The machine digs ruts and then shoots seeds into them. The goal was to have the grass back to green within two months and fully filled in by the following spring 2015.

Nothing went as planned.

The weather was horrible with an early snow coming before Halloween. There were also parts of the grass that were not growing, leaving large bald spots no matter how many seedings they got.

By November we had to quit trying.

April 2015, the first seeding went down. We kept fighting the bare patches all over the yard.

Over the next three months, every few weeks, a new seeding would go down on the patches. Around July we had to admit, there was no chance of growing grass in the spots. The air was very hot and sticky humid, with no rain in complete 10-day forecasts.  A typical July in Louisville, Kentucky.

August 2015, I accepted that the patches wouldn't grow. I had watered my ass off for nine months. And I couldn't take it anymore. And so I reached out to Trugreen with my issues. After reviewing the photos of the process, they too agreed that there was definitely something going on with the yard, they took a soil sample, and ultimately decided that it was probably best to just sod the lawn.

And so, here we are with sod.  A year later to the date, Trugreen once again killed my entire lawn, that ironically, was 99% weeds and crab grass by this point. Two weeks later, the most awesome sod team showed up and now my lawn is STUNNING! It's honestly beyond my wildest dreams.

Lessons learned about seeding, sodding, and sticking up for myself over the last 12-months.

1. Seeding and sodding start the same. You kill the existing lawn, COMPLETELY, then rake up the dead grass, then either throw down seed or sod. With both, you water your ass off morning and evening for ten days, then back off slowly until the seed or sod, root very well.

2. I will NEVER seed again. It sucks. The grass grows in in patches, and at least 2-3 more seedings are needed to fill in spots. Which, means more watering... SUCKS!

3. I knew in my heart that something was wrong with the patches. I reached out to my local contact on many occasions with my concerns.  Being that he didn't want to admit the spots were his fault due to overuse of complete vegetation killer, he either blamed me for doing something wrong, or insisted it would take another seeding.  When I finally reached my wits end, I contacted Trugreen corporate, and thankfully, after explaing the situation and sending over photos, they agreed there was an issue, and offered to sod.

4. In the end, I wouldn't work with my Trugreen local branch again, but there is no denying, if they promise to do something for you, they will deliver.