how to repair my lawn?

Daria Verfaillie: Buy a truckload of manure, Horse or cow is best, Then buy an Iron rake and a lawn aerator. Begin by aerating, then start raking deep into the ground, do small areas at a time. Spread manure and rake again making sure to cover it in good. The apply grass seed and plenty of water. Hard work for sure, but it will pay off big. Good Luck!

Delora Struzzi: As a person who applauds "green", environmentally sound approaches, I suggest you still learn more about chemical use. Properly selected and applied, they do not present a toxic risk to you or wildlife. In effect, they are completely absorbed into the ground and the plants involved. Using the wrong thing, too much, leaving (dry partical) product all over concrete surfaces, etc., not good. At the least, I suggest using a "broad leaf" selective herbicide once, to burn down the weeds (2 4 D, or a blended product), then drop back to more organic care. It would save you huge time and frustration.Using "farm! fresh" manure or black dirt can actually bring in even more weeds, counter-productive. Instead, getting bagged "composted manure" and lawn soil (not "top soil") at a garden center is better.Oops, back at ya, not to be remiss. Plan B would be to convert the area to all-native plants and forego the "perfect" urban lawn. Nicely done, largely self-maintaining, drought resistant, and truly natural. Some places take a Very dim view on this, however, as it can, wild & free, indeed look like a "weed patch", and reseed all your neighbors with exactly what they've been trying to kill...At least look into more native grasses, perhaps like "buffalo" grass. There, that's better....Show more

August Hubbard: Fertilizer is the first step. If you don't like chemical fertilizer, manure is the way to go. Bone meal, tooThe chemicals are way cheaper though. The worms will do a lot for fertilizing the lawn. Weeds will be tough without chemicals. prying out dandelions with a weeder is a hu! ge chore. Garden places can help. Do some reading online

Russell Mckinzie: Getting rid of weeds and especially old grass is next to impossible without chemicals.. Maybe if no chemicals it`s best you consider a parking lot instead ?? Just being truthfull, no sarcasm intended .

Alexis Reyer: Plan B would be to convert the area to all-native plants and forego the "perfect" urban lawn. Nicely done, largely self-maintaining, drought resistant, and truly natural. Yay! Totally gets my vote.Turf is a terrible thing to grow... creates a biological desert!By encouraging plants that bloom, we help the disappearing pollinators.By avoiding lawn mowers and strimmers, we avoid adding to the peak oil problem, the air pollution issue, and the noise...By growing turf alternatives, we get away from throwing large quantities of drinking water on a useless crop.The fact that you have earth worms... means that nature is trying to help... valuable garden critters...It's possible to get a nice stand of native plants... by doing nothing!Everytime! I create a new garden, I find that there are plenty of natives just waiting for their chance to shine...And those native grasses are pretty!http://allthingsplants.com/thread/view_post/560913......Show more