Lawn Redo - Which Option to Go With

14 years ago

We are just beginning our design phase for redesigning our entire property. We have 5 acres, and had the bright idea originally of using ALL of it for landscaping, DUMB IDEA. Over an acre of sod, spread out trees, a pond, and lots of time and effort later, we're tired of being slaves to the property.

So, we're pretty much gutting it. We're putting in a backyard living space, integrated pool area (we've had a pool all along), no more pond, etc., and best off all, ELIMINATING 2/3 of the grass! Woot!

Now, the QUESTION is...what to do to improve the rest of it? My prep when I seeded wasn't stellar, I didn't get deep enough, so compaction is an issue. The grass is difficult to water and keep green, full, and weed free. The soil is high clay content, no rocks at all.

I think I have 2 basic options - CORE AERATION with overseeding or TILL IT and reseed/hydroseed.

Tilling it is more complicated because of the sprinklers, but I can work around that. Just want to do it right the 2nd time around, so there's not a third time.

Any advice?

You can see the brown areas in this pic. We're actually removing all of that lawn area, but this is indicative of the problem. We're pulling the lawn just about back to where the grade flattens out. As you can see, the disturbed ground (during construction 7 years ago) has better grass.

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Comments (6)

bpgreen
14 years ago
Don't till. It will settle unevenly and you'll end up with a bumpy lawn down the road.

I wouldn't even bother with overseeding. The grass you've got will fill in bare spots, so the key is to try to keep it healthy. Water infrequently, but water deeply when you do water. Mow high and leave the clippings on the lawn. Fertilize once in the spring and twice in the fall, with the last one being while the grass is still green, but the top growth has stopped.

If the water won't penetrate deeply due to dense clay conditions, water in cycles. For example, if it takes 30 minutes to apply an inch of water, but you can only water for 15 minutes before it starts to run off, water for 10 minutes in one area, move to the next and so on. Return to the first area an hour after the first time and water for 10 minutes again. Repeat a third time. That gives the water a chance to penetrate deeper in the soil. The roots will then go deeper to reach the water.

If you have a timer for the sprinkler system, set it to water in the early morning hours (midnight to 6 AM or so). There's less wind and you lose less to evaporation that way. In some areas, watering at midnight can lead to fungal problems, but I think it's dry enough in Montana that you won't have to worry about that.

For the area that you're taking out of being a lawn, if you want to have grass there, you should consider some native grasses, such as western wheatgrass, streambank wheatgrass and sheep fescue (the first two spread, the third is a bunch grass). A non-native grass that is adapted well to the intermountain west is crested wheatgrass. You can plant it along with the others. Older varieties are bunch grasses, but newer varieties such as roadcrest, ephraim and fairway all spread.

If you want to plant these, you'll want to wait until late summer/early fall if you plan to water or late fall/early winter (for spring germination) if you want to let it germinate with no irrigation.

You can buy seeds separately and mix yourself, or you can use the Cabin Mix from Utah seed (there are other similar mixes, but this one is pretty close to what I use for my lawn).
youth4him
Original Author
14 years ago
Thanks once again bpgreen, great info.

I do have a timer for my sprinkler system, I have 14 lawn zones alone. ;-> We'll be reworking the system as well, and likely moving from a rotor setup to more of a popup for some areas for more uniform coverage. I'm not a fan of the rotors we have. It's definitely dry here, we're at 4500 feet, and it's all I can do to keep the grass watered (again, consequence of too much grass,) I can actually run 2 hours per zone with no run off, but that's not based on volume of water. This might not apply once we correct the sprinkler issues.

We will definitely be seeding with native grasses, most likely spread grasses vs. clump. The rest of the non-lawn area is currently brohm grass i think, or some variation there of (from what I was told.) I'll also check out the crested wheat grass.

Hopefully, we'll make some progress this summer and end up with some nice stuff!
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bpgreen
14 years ago
You're probably already aware, but just in case, I'll point out that the wheatgrasses will probably not stay green with no irrigation. They'll stay alive, but they'll be dormant during the driest part of summer. Once you get some rain, they'll spring back.

Native grasses also take some time to establish. I read something once that said something along the lines that the first year they grow down (roots), then they grow up (blades) and then they grow out (spreading). So you won't see the grass start to fill in as fast as a lawn grass, especially with no irrigation. Also, some native grasses have a percentage of the seeds that stay dormant and will not germinate the first year.

So initially, your stand may be a bit sparse, but it will fill in over time. mowing occasionally will encourage spreading. The flip side of that is that if you let them go, they'll seed and you'll get new grass that way.
youth4him
Original Author
14 years ago
Yes, we actually look forward a bit to the dormant time, it's not green, but not as much mowing! ;->

Thanks for the info on the establishment. I assume that during that sparse time, that spot treating for weed control is advised, right? Where there is bare ground, a weed will grow for sure...
bpgreen
14 years ago
I think most of the broadleaf weed killers that work for traditional lawn grasses also work for the wheatgrasses, but I'm not sure about the bromes. So spot spraying should generally be okay.
Gags
14 years ago
Based on the posted picture, the only brown spot I see is halfway between the pond and the walkway. You said this spot was indicative of other problem areas, but it looks like it's a grading issue - it slopes to that spot from both the pond and house / walkway. But I can't see how much "waterlogged" soil you would get in the dry Montana air, so maybe it's not a grading issue?

Based on the size of that sapling, mulching leaves into the lawn doesn't appear to be an option for another 30 years or so. But adding other organic material such as organic fertilizer (soy bean meal, alfalfa meal, ,etc.) may help turn the clay into a more "healthier" soil, provided you're not looking for instant results for at least a year or two.

Lawn Redo - Which Option to Go With

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Lawn Redo - Which Option to Go With

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