I should add that the lawn is flanked by trees on two sides, paved driveway on one, and house on the other. The trees are a mix of Hemlock, White Pine, Oak, Maple and Birch.

I think the watering issue is going to make this a difficult decision for you.

To clarify the watering issue - I get 3 hours of water from one heavy duty rotary sprinkler and a 3/4" hose before the well runs dry. I have never had good luck measuring how much water that actually is though. What I normally do is water with 2 light duty yellow plastic rotary sprinklers for 30 minutes per section. I normally get away with 3 sections staggered between 4am and 8am (on a timer) before the wife beats me with a frying pan for turning the toilet water brown...

With 16K square feet and limited water in NH, you're looking at a long, hard haul.

Rye kind of looks crappy in the heat of summer and you don't see it under the snow, so I'm not sure I'd recommend it.

Fescue has deep roots and is drought-tolerant, but eventually it will give up the ghost in an extended drought.

KBG is shallow-rooted and not all that drought-tolerant, but will go to sleep until conditions improve. It looks crappy when it does that, and it will die if it gets no water for too long.

I'd still be tempted to go with KBG for its self-recovery abilities and ability to estavate during the summer if conditions are poor.

All require that the seed bed be damp, watered twice a day if possible. Once a day will do in a pinch but you will lose some germination on the seed.

In your shoes, I'd split the lawn into four parts. Do one this year, and either one each year for the next three or try to frost-seed the second in March. Again, were I to fit your shoes, I'd do one quarter each year in late August--you'll do a better job.

Thanks morpheuspa. Unfortunately the 16k feet is all one yard - my front yard - and it's all dead...I have to replace it all at this time.

To further clarify on the water situation: The well refills itself 8 hours after running dry. So I can repeat my water ritual a couple times a day if I choose. So there is never what I would consider an extended drought - but maybe I don't understand what an extended drought is...

So there is never what I would consider an extended drought - but maybe I don't understand what an extended drought is...

More or less, a period of time where your grass gets no water (or not enough to matter). A few years ago we had a complete watering ban, 100+ temperatures, and no rain for eight weeks. Lots of lawns didn't recover too well from that.

With at least some ability to water, that doesn't sound like it's going to be an issue for you.

Here's a recommendation that'll gather me some heat around here. Do your seed bed watering in the evening near sunset. The ground should stay damp well past sunrise the next morning and not really dry out until at least noon. It'll limit the dry time without overtapping your well too badly or creating demands when you need the most water.

Yes, that's exactly wrong (I irrigate my current seed bed starting mid-morning and the last is enough before dark for the new seedlings to dry off and go into evening hours without water on them). Germinating seed isn't going to know the difference, I hope.

If you can do a second watering late morning, at least on weekends, that would be great.

The instant germination is over (up to 21 days for bluegrass, shorter for the others), revert to a morning watering. If you notice white, threadlike patches on the new grass, change over to morning watering immediately regardless of what day it is.

The rest of you may yell at me now. :-)

Here's my two cents: the well is going to run dry, any day now. It might take a month, and it might not happen until next spring. But you're out of well.

When they come around, these well guys, take it up to the next step: if a 'normal' well costs 3K (and it will) tell them you want the next step bigger pipe running up from the ground, and you want to go another twenty feet deeper. You won't regret it.

But you're outta well, man. It's gonna happen soon.

Nope - the well has been the same since I drilled it 7 years ago. We hydrofractured it and everything. It has been very consistent with a static pressure of 1.5gpm for 7 years. I am at 465 feet already - this gives me my 600 gallon capacity. Drilling deeper on this well is an expensive gamble at this point.

When I drill, it will be for a new well - I have a new spot picked by a dowser. Unfortunately I have to move my underground propane tank to utilize this spot, so I'm looking at a $10k investment...I'm in no hurry to make this move.

Bestlawn - any input from you as to a seed choice? I'm spreading loom today and tomorrow - I'll be ready for seed soon.

Scott, I'm a little confused about the watering/well issue, but I'm hoping you'd be able to keep the seeds moist for at least a month. Also a little confused about the trees issue. I would not recommend this blend for even light shade but you say your lawn is all sun. I take that to mean daily rotation still provides plenty of sunlight despite the trees on both sides. Very possible, so I wanted to make sure shade is not an issue for several hours a day.

Midnight
Princeton
Kingfisher

You can purchase from
Pawnee Buttes Seed pawneebuttesseed.com
800-782-5947 ask for Glenn
Tell him you want sod quality seeds
You only need about 2 pounds/1000 sqft
A little more to have some left over
It hurts to know you're planting these seeds into a mixed lawn. LOL

1. Get a soil test (scroll down for info). Call your nearest county extension service for a test kit and sampling instructions. It will likely take two weeks for results. If you need to apply sulfur, lime, or any other amendment per test recommendation (that is not applied in Step 5), you can do it after seeding if you don't get results back in time.

2. Mow to within one and half inches, but mow it down gradually. Cut off 1/3 the grass blade and another 1/3 three or four days later. Repeat if necessary.

3. Rake it up

4. Core aerate or cheat and apply Nitron A-35 to relieve soil compaction.

5. Fertilize

6. Sow seeds (slit seeding is best)

7. Topdress 1/4 inch layer compost, peat moss, or clean straw (weed-free). (One cu. yard/1000 sqft).

8.
water 15-20 minutes twice a day for two weeks
water 20-30 minutes once a day for one week
water 30-45 minutes once a day every other day for one week
water 30-45 minutes once a day twice a week for one week
move into deep irrigation, increasing the time to provide 1 inch of water all over and decreasing the frequency to just once a week.

Starting off, the schedule supplies roughly 1/4 inch of water, then increases that amount while decreasing frequency of application at the same time. Like practically everything that concerns lawn care, this schedule is a general guideline and should be modified to accommodate your specific conditions. The lengths of time should be modified if you have an automatic sprinkler system since that will not take as long to provide adequate moisture. So, decrease amount of water (time) but maintain frequency as is. The tuna cans test is recommended. If it is still especially warm, you may want to irrigate 3 times a day (10-15 minutes if necessary) for that first couple weeks. Your objective is to keep the upper 1 inch of soil moist and not let the seeds dry out.

9. First mowing is when the new grass reaches two inches. However, the existing grass will be considerably taller. To prevent damage to the old and new grass, you'll have to mow down gradually again to the point of mowing 1/3 off the new grass. You do want to get the new grass mowed early at this time in order to promote tillering. Then, you want to gradually raise the mowing height to desired length of 2.5 inches. Higher if you prefer.

Thanks Bestlawn - to clarify on the trees - they are on the northwest and northeast sides of the lawn...I suppose that's why the don't create much shade. In the dead of summer, 90% of the lawn has sun from 8am - 8pm...this is why I say it's all sun.

As for the water, I should have no problem keeping up the schedule for the first 5 weeks - it's when I have to get into deep irrigation. I don't think I have enough water to do a 1" watering per section every week (assuming 1" = 1 hour of watering per section). The total lawn size if 40,000 sq ft, so that translates into a lot of sections.

Just to reiterate, I'm considering this a new lawn seeding. I burned the existing lawn to the point of killing it. I am bringing in enough loom to cover the existing dead lawn (which I have mowed down at the lowest setting and then aggressively ripped up with my tine dethatcher) with about 1" of loom.

I hope this makes more sense. Thanks for the seed recs - I'll look into ordering them tonight or first thing in the morning.

The 16,000 sqft you call the lawn could be irrigated over a 2 or 3 day period. It doesn't all have to be watered on the same day. That's still a lot for a lawn and could perhaps be minimized to just a portion in front of the house of 5000 or even 10,000 sqft. Up to you though.

Since it's new establishment, you need more seed - 3 lbs/1000 plus a little more for areas you missed.

Thanks very much Bestlawn. I am on the Pawnee Buttes web site now - the only one I can't find listed is Kingfisher. I will call Glenn first thing tomorrow morning to see if it's just not listed. I assume I 33% mix of each variety?

Thanks again for the help you have provided me and everybody else on this site!

They began selling Kingfisher because I asked them to back in '04 or '05 (don't remember which), plus there are some on the website they no longer carry. They just haven't updated the website in a couple or so years. That also includes the prices, for they have increased in the past month. Be prepared for that.

Forgot to say "you're very welcome."

Scott, I just realized something. You said you're putting the loam over the existing lawn (although it is dead)? NNNNNNot so sure about that. What is there is firmly rooted into the soil and could easily create a barrier. That sounds like 2-3 inches on top of it, right? You'd have to thoroughly break it up first, not just dethatch. An impractical suggestion because then you'd have a grade problem to deal with. Of course, you could use the blade to level it. Not being able to till makes life a little difficult, but tilling would too, and it's really not good for the soil.

Something else is the peat moss. I prefer it as a growing medium, but it's somewhere around 4-5 times more expensive than compost. Did you know that? Because you need so much, I thought I'd bring it to your attention. Whichever one you use, be sure not to spread it thicker than 1/4 inch over the seeds.

I see your point about the barrier - the existing lawn is very firmly rooted. I do have a rototiller. Is that my best bet? I assume I should be careful not to till below my 3" of top soil (so I don't bring up the sand)? If so, should I spread the 1" of new loam before I till? And if I till, do I still need to core aerrate or put down A-35 Nitron?

Thanks again!

And if I till, do I still need to core aerrate or put down A-35 Nitron?

Nitron if you want, but you don't have to core aerate at that point as long as you're tilling up the first three inches. A core aerator isn't going to go much deeper than that anyway.

A good dethatching would be just fine. While you're keeping that seedbed damp, you're creating the conditions that bacteria and fungi just love. Those roots will rot. Fast. They then add a bit of organics to the soil, helping to condition it, and happily give their stored resources to the new lawn.

In my case, a fully developed lawn, killed, and three weeks later the soil is soil. Except it's dark brown to black instead of the pale tan I started with two years ago. Remaining roots are fairly rare.

Hmm...my roots are still very solid. If I cut a slice and pull it up, I can continue tearing and it comes up like carpet. Maybe it's not as dead as I think it is? (in which case I am just going to shoot myself and end this misery)