How To Fix Bare Spots In The Lawn With Sprigs 

The best way to do this: Use a large screwdriver and poke a deep hole. move it around to widen the hole. insert the stolon- preferably with some roots on it if you can pull the sources. push the dirt in the hole with the added stolon add water and enjoy. you will get pretty much 100 percent success.

Great explanation. I’ve done this for many years and now I take my cuttings and plant them in small pots on trays. Easier for me to water them when all in a small area. Also I place them in semi sun areas. Takes about 2 weeks for roots to reach 3-4” then I transplant them into the bare spots. Success rates are much better but a little bit more involved.

I've tried this before with no luck but you've inspired me to try it again

Brian this definitely works ! tried it a bit last yr and it for sure filled in a bit . Going to do a bit mor this yr , as well . Wanted to ask you, did you end up keeping your rye ? or was it annual rye ?

This is an excellent alternative to seed which can be difficult, time consuming, water intensive, and have a low success rate or sod which can be expensive if you have a large area you need covered. My backyard is 100% sprigged with celebration bermuda it took about 14 weeks for it to fill in entirely (as if sod was installed) but it's not very good quality dirt. I wished I had documented my experience but I split the lawn into 4 quadrants and what gave me the highest success rate was pull the sprigs/stolens at the root, use a screw driver to make a hole for the root, then use a putty knife to "cut" a line in the dirt, lay the rest the sprig in there, then bring the dirt back 1/4" over it and on to the next sprig. It was a bit like laying sod I started at the top and worked my way to the sides and down spacing the sprigs about 3-4 inches apart and watered as if it was sod. That process is more labor intensive but it's not too difficult just stab, cut, shove, cover the process doesn't take long. This quadrant was 100% filled in at about week 9. The lazy method of dumping the sprigs, spreading them, then using topsoil took the longest to fill in but it was the easiest and lowest effort. If I had to do it again I'd probably use the sun joe scarifier to dig in as deep as possible to the dirt, use the putty knife score the scarified soil as needed to go deeper, maybe try some rooting hormone, use some kelp/RGS, and milorganite at sprigging. Some turf farms even sell sprigs for pretty cheap about $4-$8 per bushel (about a cubic foot) of packed sprigs. If somebody wants to try a crazy experiment i heard some turf farms lay down some sod squares, spread them out 3 feet apart staggered, run over them with a tiller, cover it with dirt, then water as if it was sod.

My buffalograss (UCVerde) is coming in strong. I bought them as plugs. I will try this to increase the lawn area. No idea you could do this, you just saved me a lot of money

What’s your thoughts on plugging vs this? I have some areas of Bermuda that I constantly trim and edge and don’t want. Some of it is big enough that I could probably pull 3-4 plugs from it. Also if applied pre emergent earlier in the season (2 months ago) will this impede rooting?

Hello! Please help! After applying sand top dressing (half m3 /100m2) and smoothing it with a leveling rake, I noticed that no matter how I try to level the area, there remain tender, thin and weak horizontally lying blades of grass under the sand. Should I worry about them, or will they come out after a few days? They emerge as a result of a water jet (or water sprayed from half a meter away), but this slightly erodes the effect of leveling because it re-excavates the area filled with sand between the larger clumps of old grass, and can also displace upturned seeds and fertilizer particles. So far, I have applied only half of the planned amount of top dressing, I don't dare to spread more, I would like to wait until the grass grows a little (I cut it into short pieces before aerating the lawn). At the same time, I don't think I can wait too long, because I sowed fast-germinating seeds, and once the new grass comes, it shouldn't be necessary to loosen the soil. What do you advise?

Do you water it at any time to keep from drying?

Wouldn’t you want to put some sort of high nitrogen fertilizer?

Weeds are vigorous indeed.

With all the time effort and money you put into your lawn you'd think it would look perfect. why do you have bald patches up here in the northeast I don't spend a penny or any time other than just mowing and I alone as perfect dark green thick no bald spots at all. It's almost as if the more effort and time in money you put into it the worse it looks.