Sometimes there are physical or mechanical problems in a lawn that cause it to look unhealthy. These conditions are usually permanent or repetitive, and they’ll continue to cause trouble until you locate and correct them. Make sure to fertilize & water your lawn properly.

Here is a list of physical problems that can produce lawn troubles:

* Applied Chemical weed killer or pesticides - If spots appear in your lawn after chemicals  have been applied, check whether the shape of the spots bears any relationship to the course you traveled with the dispenser or spreader. Spots that appear as streaks,squares,, or half moons are probably chemical burns. Water the areas heavily to leach the excess chemicals into the ground. The lawn will eventually recover.

* Spot persisted through all the season - sight across the bad spots of the lawn to see if there are any high or low spots. Either of these physical features can bother grass too much water in a low spot or too little water in a high spot.

* Does water stand on the surface or run off? - Compaction by traffic, a build-up of thatch beneath the grass, or just plain soil contrartiness can be responsible for this conditio. Open up the compacted area with a soil corer or aerator.

* Sprinkler system - always check your sprinkler system if it gives enough waterto the area.

* Bad Spots in shady area - If the shade comes from the trees, then thin out the branches to let more light for the grass to grow better. Feed lawns growing under the tree at least three times a year to replace the nutrients taken by the tree. Some trees are moisture robbers. Try watering the grass around the tree more than the rest of the lawn and cut higher grass under trees.

* Female dogs roaming around the premises - They can be responsible for little dead spots often surrounded by a ring of very green grass. Soak the spots with water and grass should begin to grow, if not, ressed the area.

* Something might be wrong underground - Use a soil corer or auger, a soil sampling tube, or a spade to dig down and find the problem. If there is some debris below, remove it. If there is a layer of hard clay, dog it out and replace it with good soil that is similar in texture to the soil above and below the clay layer. After you finish,make a seedbed over the area, sow new grass seed, and treat the spot like a new lawn until the new grass is up and growing.

Reducing or eliminating moles/ ground vole problem in your lawn would take a lot of patience and time.

Lawn moles are animals that live underground. They are about the same size as a chipmunk. They are typically six to eight inches long (about 15 to 20 cm) and weigh only three to six ounces (about 85 to 170 grams). They don’t eat the grass as people think but the burrow tunnels below the soil surface as they forage for grubs worms, earth worms and insects. They destroy the root system of lawn. First signs of lawn moles are the small mountains and pathways they form on the surface of ground as they create and burrow tunnels near the surface.

In the South area, Moles are called as Voles. You can reduce their food source by placing a long lasting grub preventative in your lawn during summer so their activity would reduced too. But this will not guarantee moles to leave but this could definitely help. In addition, you can also try to use mole repelling treatments for your lawn. Designed to drive moles away from lawn.

lawn moles prefer to stay deep underground where their tunnels are not evident from the surface. A lawn that is over watered, however, will cause the insects to move to toward the surface. As a result, the lawn moles will build new tunnels that are closer to the surface in order to hunt for food. Keeping the lawn properly watered helps keep lawn moles far below the surface, where they can benefit the yard rather than damaging it with tunnels.

Stripping is pushing the grass down in one direction then the other as you mow your lawn. Then you can see the effects in two different shades in alternate. In shades of light and dark green. Stripping a lawn could add up a dramatic and attractive effect just like a golf course. Alternating patterns by 90º or 45º adds up to the aesthetic and is good for the grass

How to do it?

A finely tuned reel mower is needed for a bold stripping of a golf course. This mower has rollers in the front and back, first roller sometimes grooved and helps in lining up the grass for an even effect. The reel cuts in a way for the grass to be lining up for an even reel and pushes the grass down in one direction and the rear weighted roller pushes the grass down a final time. Those mowers in golf course and ball fields are commercial reel mowers that creates a more bold stripes and very high tech machines.

Getting it Stripes..

Striping kits are being attached to the rear of the mower or right behind the mowing deck. This can ranged from a weighted back roller assembly to the firm rubber flap to lay the grass down. Another alternate for stripping is the home made attachment made of lumber that could also be used for stripping your lawn. Striping also depends on the grass you have for your lawn. The low growth habit and coarse leaf blade will not allow it to lay over. Bermuda grass may be difficult to trim for stripes since it has a low growing warm season grass.

A video about renovation of your lawn to attain a green healthy lawn. The key to a successful renovation is ensuring that new seedling has enough opportunity to grow healthy and not be damaged.

Scarifying your lawn during Mid-Spring or Autumn is important To remove debris from your lawn. It forms a cover of mulch over your lawn, stifling emerging grass. To allow air to reach the soil. Lawns with only a thin layer of thatch will not need treatment, this thinner layer actually helps to conserve moisture and help the lawn absorb hard wear. Scarify your lawn at least twice a month for a greener lawn.

How? - Either you can borrow or hire a scarifying machine, or you can scarify your lawn by hand using a spring-tined rake. Draw the rake over the lawn in short sweeps, digging the tines into the top level of the soil. Work in one direction across the lawn and then again at right angles to your initial sweep. Once you have completed the scarifying process, mow the lawn, collecting the clippings, to remove the thatch and even up its appearance.

Scarifying machines are essential for larger lawns and they will usually pick up the thatch for you. Mow after scarifying to even the appearance of the lawn, collecting the clippings. If you have a great deal of moss in the lawn, you may wish to consider applying a moss killer If you garden organically and have a problem with moss, this usually results from inadequate sun or poor drainage. Consider the viability of lawns in shaded or damp ground.

Pointers that may help you solve any watering problems you might encounter:

- The best time to water your lawn is early morning or late at night when there’s no wind and when water pressure will be high.

- If you live in an arid climate where water shortages could occur, but you still want a lawn, consider planting more drought-tolerant grasses. If you live in a coll-season area, try tall fescue varieties. In a warm-season area, plant Bermuda grasses, St. Augustine or zosia grasses.

- If you have a water runoff problem due to heavy clay soil or dry subsoil, you can have the lawn aerated with an aerator that removes plugs of soil. but spiking soil is not recommended since the spikes are  compact the soil around the holes they drive.  Other solutions to runoff problems include slowing down the delivery rate of your sprinkler so the soil can absorb the water, or selecting a sprinkler that emits water more slowly. Another good solution is to run sprinkler at full rate until runoff starts, shut them off for a half hour so the soil can absorb the water then repeat the process.

- An observant turf gardener may be able to judge when lawn needs water by its appearance. Grass shows its need for water first by loss of resilience. When you walk accross it, the grass doesn’t spring back. Next, the color changes from fresh green and takes on a dull, gray green overcast. Then grass tops turn brown and die.  Once you can sense this timing, try to water just before the loss of resilience. Don’t let your lawn get to the brown stage, it will take considerable time to come back from the crowns.

If you are willing to accept a lawn that turns brown in winter consider the Bermudas, St. Augustine grass and Zoysia grasses - Three types of subtropical grasses that are very drought tolerant.

All subtropical grasses do best in  warm climates. They survive temperatures down to 20 degrees F. and thrive in summer highs of 110 degrees. Fertilize all of these grasses with a high nitrogen fertilizer at least once in fall and once in winter. In summer, fertilize at 6-week intervals.

The Bermuda - These grasses need the least amount of water because of their deep roots. Plant either by sod or stolons (4-6 bushels of stolons per 1,000 sq. ft.) Mow the bermuda grass as low as possible.

St. Augustine Grass - Plant from sod, stolons ( 6 bushels/ 1,000 sq. ft., or plugs. To plant plugs from flats, use 10 flats/ 1,000 sq ft., placing 2 inch plugs in rows about 10 inches apart. Keep the ground moist until grass is established.

Zoysia Grasses - These grasses need warm nights for best growth. They are commonly planted from plugs or stolons. Allow 10-14 months for grass to fill in.