overseed, or tear out and start over?

11 years ago

I bought my home this past spring (March).

It has over an acre of land, and is in Central Ohio near Columbus (for purposes of anonymity, I won't get any more specific).

The turf appears to be tall fescue, and my neighbor says that's what it looks like to him as well (he also has turf-type TF in his yard) - I'm new to TTTF as my previous home was KBG. The lawn was planted last summer by the builder (it was new construction but sat empty through the winter due to the builder going bankrupt), but appears to have not been taken care of, despite there being an inground sprinkler system. I've been irrigating this year, thankfully, but the heat is taking it's toll - we've been in the 90s 20 days or more and over 100 a couple times already this summer. I am doing infrequent, deep waterings (I put about an inch in a single cycle once a week if it hasn't rained) and some parts look good, but I have large bare patches in the front (where it gets sun all day) with a lot of weeds. I have fertilized organically twice (April and June) this year with blood meal and a storebought organic fertilizer. I'm not opposed to chemicals but prefer to stay organic if possible.

I'm trying to determine if I should just overseed, or replant the whole thing, at least in the front - the back, which has shade for about 40% of the day for most of it, looks a bit better, there are a few bare spots but not many weeds and the bare patches are smaller. I don't see any signs of it being a pest problem like grubs or fungi.

The soil appears to be well drained and is darkish in color, and doesn't appear compacted to any major degree.

Should I:

-core aerate and overseed in late Aug/Early Sept

-rip the whole thing out and reseed or re-sod

-rip the front out but overseed the back

I'll probably stay with the tall fescue since it looks good in the areas it's healthy, and I like the lower maintenance aspect. I'm looking for a green lawn that has few weeds, but I don't need a golf course!

Comments (6)

joeschmoe80
Original Author
11 years ago
I'll try to post pics later FYI.
dchall_san_antonio
11 years ago
1. Read the Organic Lawn Care FAQ in the FAQs on the Organic Gardening Forum. It's at the bottom of the list. That will reorient your thinking on organics. Blood meal was probably not the best thing to use because it is too strong.

2. Put some tuna or cat food cans out around the yard. Be sure to put some where the grass is doing well as well as come where the grass is always dry. I suspect you might need a tune up on the sprinklers. If you are getting a full inch on the dry spots, you need to water even longer in that area. An inch is not enough.

3. Stop mowing fescue during the heat stress. Longer grass can withstand a lot more heat and less water than short grass.

And you said an acre of land...in Central Ohio...near Columbus!!! I think I know exactly who you are!!! You thought you could hide behind specifics like that??? You are not fooling anyone around here. And the whole GW lawn forum is coming over for a party on Labor Day!!! Actually I did have a super sleuth track down my home in San Antonio many years ago. I had posted pictures of the house and mentioned I was 3 streets south of a major shopping center. I think he was checking to see if my lawn was as nice as it ought to be (it isn't). As a matter of fact, he may leave a comment on this very message. But anyway you can be a lot more specific and, first of all we don't care, and secondly, nobody is going to hunt you down. The reason we need to know about where you live is to help you decide what to do. Central Ohio near Columbus is close enough unless you want to know where the nearest feed store is.
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hairmetal4ever
11 years ago
Haha dchall, I think you found our OP! I'll bring the beer (even though I'm 6 hrs away!)
joeschmoe80
Original Author
11 years ago
Well, I'm in Liberty Township (close to the city limits of Powell). I'll narrow it down a little.
dchall_san_antonio
11 years ago
Naaah. You're not the guy. But thanks, that helps.

I noticed on another thread that you know all about the tuna can test. Have you done that around the various parts of your lawn?
joeschmoe80
Original Author
11 years ago
I have, and it seems to be reasonably distributed.

Now, I looked again last night literally walking up and down (as if mowing) the entire yard.

I could probably get away with a little RoundUp to kill off weedy areas, and just reseed those bad spots individually in the fall...and see how it looks after that.

Does that make sense?

overseed, or tear out and start over?

Comments (6)

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overseed, or tear out and start over?

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joeschmoe80Original Author

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