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Can I topdress over dead grass?

16 years ago

Last winter, my front yard was overgrown with weeds. My lawn was about 60% lawn and 40% weeds. I spot treated the problem area with Round Up and boy...did it kill everything. Now of course, I have brown spots all over my yard. I have every intention of reseeding that's why I eradicated the weed population with Round Up. The area is not too big nor it is small. But to rake the areas with the dead turf is a very gruelling endeavor! Would it ok to just top dress over the dead grass with out raking them off and then reseed? I hope this is not sounding like a silly question. I'm new to this home owning businesss :-) Just bought my first house :-D Thanks to anyone who can help me!

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Comments (3)

User
16 years ago
Yes, that's fine, and it's definitely not a silly question. There's nothing coming back, so there's nothing to smother. The dead grass and weeds will decay away very happily under there, providing some nice organic material, too.

You might get an irregular spot if you add too much, so a sugar coat to 1/8th of an inch would be fine. If those areas eroded a bit and you want to raise the height, even better.

If you want, you can put peat moss over the top instead. It'll eventually (a number of years) rot away and return the height to the same as it was. Seeding under 1/4" of peat works pretty well, too. Penn mulch is more expensive but will do the same. Compost, ditto.
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jeannie7
16 years ago
I happen to disagree. The dead grass clumps wont do a thing for the new grass coming in. Its dead, there's nothing for the seed to grab onto.

It may well be grueling, but the old dead grass should be removed prior to any topdressing and reseeding.
You can rent sod cutters at the local rent-all and remove it that way.
Give the area a good raking to remove any debris ..dead clumps of grass, pebbles and any loose grass that will in any case not regenerate. Level the area, look to its drainage and topdress, levelling again by raking and then if you decide, roll it and fill in any depressions or other areas needing fixing.
After the seeding, you may wish to roll again...lightly to put the seed in better contact with the soil.
Water accordingly and your lawn should come in very well.
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Not correct, GG123 I've installed sod over dead, round up killed grass. It it can just be dropped right on top of dead grass, but the success rate goes way up of you can get the sod directly onto soil. That's where roots want to be. That's why I recommended removing the dead grass. Original poster, scalping down to bare dirt is all that's necessary. Running a dethatcher over the area like suggested above will also work great. Tilling and adding topsoil is not necessary. At all. Sod can be laid even the day after roundup application. I've heard of people spraying round up and seeding the same day.
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joepyeweed
16 years ago
I totally disagree with jeannie. Her scenario is for how to encourage weeds to grow.

Overseed into the clumps, the seed will work its way down into the soil with a little bit of rain fall. The dead turf will act as mulch, (similar to covering a seed bed with straw), and will eventually decay.
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