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The grass patch I ignored for 8 months came back after 3 weeks. Did I get lucky or is that normal?

OK so I have this patch in the corner of my yard near the fence, about 4 feet by 3 feet, where the soil is basically all clay and rocks. Last summer it just turned brown and crunchy, I figured it was dead dead, so I ignored it. I mean, I watered the rest of the lawn, but that spot I just let go. Then last month I finally got fed up looking at it, so I raked off the dead stuff, threw down some cheap fescue seed from Home Depot ($8 bag), and watered it every morning for like 10 minutes. Three weeks later it's thick and green, like it was never gone. My neighbor says it's because the roots were still alive underground, just dormant. But my buddy thinks I just got lucky with the rain we had in early April. Which is it? Has anyone else seen a dead looking patch bounce back that fast? And should I bother doing anything else to it, like aerating, or is it fine to just leave it?

2 comments

2 Comments

jade_hernandez2d ago

Hell yeah, that's pretty normal honestly. I had the same thing happen with a strip by my driveway last year. It looked totally dead, like crispy brown dirt, but I dug down a few inches and the roots were still white and alive. Just threw down some seed and watered it daily for about two weeks. It came back way faster than I expected. The rain probably helped too, seeds need moisture to sprout and you had consistent damp soil. You're probably fine just leaving it as is. Don't bother aerating unless the ground gets hard and water pools up. If it's growing thick and green now, just keep watering it through the summer and it'll stay.

hayes.tara1d ago

Last year I would've told you that patch was toast and you'd need to dig it all up and start over. I killed a section by my back gate the same way and swore it was gone for good. Then I grabbed a handful of the dead grass and pulled, and the roots came up with actual dirt stuck to them, not just dry brown mush. So yeah, that grass was playing dead the whole time. Yours probably did the same, the seed just filled in the gaps while the old roots woke up. Leave it alone, save your money on the aerator.