My yard was probably the worst looking yard in the neighborhood. Last year we paid someone a lot of money for a yard makeover and sadly we didn’t get what we paid for. By the beginning of the spring the yard was a nightmare to look at and a even a little embarrassing. You don’t want the deserted looking ugly yard friends which is why I did this post for my amazing $30 yard makeover.
I decided to transform the yard myself as sort of a DIY project which leads to my $30 yard makeover.
Overall I spent $30 on the seeds, fertilizer and topsoil. I dug out the old dry grass and left the good patches intact. The process isn’t that difficult but it’s labor intensive depending on how big your yard is. I’ll go over what I did for my $30 yard makeover and hopefully you can try it out on your yard and save tons of money. For reference I am a petite female so do not be daunted by this DIY.
Table of Contents
My $30 Yard Makeover Tutorial
Dig out the Old Grass
This will probably be the hardest part especially if the ground is hard. You can either use a garden tool similar to this one or rent a digging machine from Home Depot or your garden store. My yard isn’t very big so I used the garden hoe slowly but steady.
I spent two days doing this because I did it in the evening when it was cooler and after work. I dug out the dead dry grass and then leveled the ground. On the second day when I finished digging up the weeds, pulling out dead grass and leveling the yard I watered the ground. This was to prep for planting and I did this for three days.
Make sure you gather the dead grass and weeds from the yard into trash bags. Don’t leave it on top of the yard and try as much as you can to level up the yard. I used this rake or similar for that.
Planting
I bought seeds that had fertilizer in them as well as topsoil for the areas that needed it to kill two birds with one stone. Make sure you wear gloves because of the chemicals in the seeds. Planting the seeds in the evening is a great idea to avoid the seeds being exposed to the sun too much and the birds from eating them.
The process is really easy and I used the guidelines on the seed planting manual. Use the tool linked here to ensure that you spread the seeds evenly and also to avoid touching the seeds to much. I walked over the front and side of the yard with the seeds. Afterwards I watered the seeds and crossed my fingers.
Watering
Water the seeds twice a day for the first two weeks. In about a week and a half I started to see the grass sprouting out and it made me so happy. It felt like my baby or project that I was watching grow. It’s critical to water the grass everyday for those first two weeks if you can.
Re-seeding
After the first two weeks I went over the yard and checked for areas that were struggling. If you don’t have any problem areas that’s great. If you do you can reseed these areas. I ended up buying an extra bag because I wanted my grass to be thick which turned out great. Also I was still within the $30 yard transformation which was a bonus.
Maintenance
Keep watering the grass and watch out for weeds and such. It was important that I keep the grass watered to avoid having the same problem again. Remember the grass is greener on your neighbors yard because they water it :).
Related Post: First Time Home Buyer Tips per Dave Ramsey
