How to Make Your Lawn Thicker: Pro Tips for Better Grass in WI & MN (2024)

Just like Double Stuff Oreos are better than the regular ones, (don’t bother to argue with us about this) thicker grass is better than thin.

Thick grass crowds out weeds, stands up better to pests and disease, and looks way better hanging out in your front yard.

Will grass thicken on its own? Nice try, but no.

Here’s how to make your lawn thicker:

Fertilizer for Thicker Grass

Fertilizer is food for your hungry lawn.

Just like pizza, nachos, and ice cream make you thicker, fertilizer makes your lawn thicker.

And just like you don’t stick to just one meal a day, fertilizing is a continuing process.

The first round of fertilizer and weed control should be applied by Memorial Day. Three more applications should happen throughout the summer.

It’s easy to forget about your lawn in the fall, when it kind of seems like lawn care season is over.

But those turf roots are still hungry. Fertilize in the fall and you give those roots nutrients to grow nice and deep now, with some leftover for a healthy start — and thicker grass — next spring.

Bonus Pro Tip: Always opt for granular lawn fertilizer. It will be more expensive, however, it breaks down slowly giving you consistent benefits.

Look for blends that also contain organic nutrients, which give your lawn that beautiful, deep green color and help your soil.

Make Your Lawn Thicker with Aeration and Seeding

Maybe you feel like you’re doing everything right, but your lawn still isn’t thick.

It might need aeration and seeding.

When your soil becomes compacted, your lawn can't breathe. Its roots can't take in water or nutrients. It’s trying to be thick, honest, but it’s spending too much time gasping.

Aeration is a process in which a machine is used to pull out plugs of soil, creating spaces so that air and water can penetrate, which leads to healthier roots. Healthier roots make for a healthier, thicker lawn, better able to resist pests and diseases, and tolerate summer’s heat and drought.

Aeration is often followed by overseeding, as the holes created by aeration are perfect new homes for the grass seed.

It’s a great one-two punch to make your lawn thicker.

Test Your Soil pH

No matter how much fertilizer you give your lawn, if your grass doesn’t have the proper, balanced soil pH, it won’t do much good.

Important nutrients for grass are available in soil when the pH is at the right level — not too acidic, not too alkaline.

If your pH is off, your grass won’t get the nutrients it needs, no matter how much you fertilize.

If your soil’s pH level is out of whack, we can add the right soil amendments to bring it to the right level, setting it up to be the luxurious thick lawn you want.

How to Make Your Lawn Thicker? Weed Control

Maybe you’re looking out at your lawn and thinking, you know, it looks pretty thick. It’s fine.

Wait. Those are weeds. Ugh.

When weeds take over your lawn, there’s not enough room for your grass to grow nice and thick.

The trick is to battle weeds before they appear. It’s called pre-emergent, and it’s a crucial part of weed control.

Pre-emergent weed control is designed to target the weed seeds before they sprout.

Crabgrass is a great example of the need for pre-emergent.

It’s crucial to apply crabgrass pre-emergent in early spring to target those weed seeds as they germinate and take root in the soil — so they don’t become more seed-producing plants.

But weeds are sneaky and tough, and some sneak through despite your best efforts.

Enter post-emergent products. They kill weeds once they already exist in their dastardly leafy form.

Weed control isn’t a one-time thing. It’s actually a continuous process.

Different lawn weeds here in Wisconsin and Minnesota are active at different times of the year. Many of the peskiest spring weeds actually germinate in the fall.

That’s why you need a complete, proactive lawn care program that includes both weed preventative and curative treatments from early spring to late fall.

Make Your Lawn Thicker with Proper Mowing

Mowing is about more than making your grass shorter. The way you mow has a big impact on the health — and thickness — of your lawn.

If you mow too short, it actually hurts your grass.

When you mow, you’re removing a portion of the leaf surface that creates food through photosynthesis.

Take off too much, and you’re starving your grass.

No more than a third of the grass blade should be removed during a single mowing.

Bonus Pro Tip: Keep your mower blade sharp.

A dull blade “rips” the top off a blade of grass, leaving a jagged edge that invites pests and disease.

A sharp blade makes a nice, clean-cut, which helps the grass to heal faster and helps it grow thicker.

How to Make Your Grass Thicker? Proper Irrigation

Watering your lawn the right amount at the right time helps it become healthy and thick.

Follow these irrigation pro tips:

Don’t Water Every Day

Water deeper, longer, and not as often. That encourages deeper, stronger roots, which means thicker, healthier grass.

If you water too often, it encourages roots to hang out near the surface, where they get all the water they need.

That’s nice and easy for the roots, but you don’t want it to be easy. You want those roots to head deeper into the soil to search for water.

Shallow roots can’t handle the stress of a sudden drought or a summer lawn disease as well as deeper roots can.

Water Early

Wrap up your watering as close to sunrise as possible. If sunrise is at 6 a.m., you should be done watering at 6.

Wind typically picks up as the day goes on. You don’t want your precious water droplets to blow away. Also, the sun will cause your water to evaporate before it can soak into your soil.

Update Your Controller Timer

Don’t just set your controller timer in the spring, then ignore it.

Your lawn’s water needs change with the changing seasons and temperatures. It needs more water in the baking heat of July than it does on a cool spring day.

Remember to update your watering schedule.

Be Proactive to Make Your Lawn Thicker

There are a lot of things going on out there in your yard that can keep your grass from reaching its thick, healthy potential.

Weeds. Bugs. Disease.

Pros know how to diagnose lawn care problems before you even notice anything’s wrong.

When our lawn care technicians are out there spreading seed, or applying fertilizer, or treating for weeds, they’re looking at your lawn’s total health.

They might notice signs of Japanese beetles, grubs, or lawn diseases.

Our technicians are trained professionals, so they catch things early — before they turn into worrisome and expensive problems that can keep your grass from being as thick as possible.

How to Make Your Lawn Thicker? Trust RainMaster

There’s a lot of stuff to stay on top of to get your grass nice and thick.

To be honest, it’s pretty tiring.

We know what you’re thinking: Will grass thicken on its own?

That would be great! But, no.

So, you could spend your hard-earned weekends fertilizing, aerating, seeding, weeding. Fun, right?

Wait, here’s an idea. Let us do the work.

At RainMaster, you choose from three different levels of lawn care programs, based on the results you’d like, how fast you want to see results, and your budget.

Then, watch your lawn get thicker from your lounge chair.

When you’re ready to put your trust in us, we can’t wait to meet you — and help you make the best choices for your lawn.

Ready to make your grass thicker? Request a quote today! We’ll review your lawn care options together so you can make a great choice. Then, you can finally enjoy watching your lawn transform and stop worrying about it.