2nd Year Overseeding & Aeration - too Heavily Compacted?

15 years ago

Hello.

I planted my bluegrass/fescue mix lawn last labor day weekend. This are going quite well. I'm battling alfalfa (any hints with this), but overall the grass is looking good. I do have some crabgrass, but hopefully I can take care of that, too.

My plan is to core aerate and overseed this fall, perhaps in the second week of September. There is an area to the side and back of my house where the guys who installed my patio ran the turf over with the skid loader. Very very compacted, and the grass does very poorly. Mostly brown and sparse with lots of weeds.

Can a simple core aeration get the soil in shape to grow grass better? My plan was to ask them to make more than the usual passes over the area, then I'll overseed a bit heavier in that area.

Also, as I mentioned, I do have some grabgrass (not a lot) in the lawn. I'd like to supress this, but I'm not sure of the timing as far as the overseeding. Any hints?

Thanks, you've already been a big help.

Kris

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Comments (7)

formicburn
15 years ago
I would reseed the areas that are compacted, but I wouldn't overseed the entire yard if it consists of kbg/fesuce. It will fill in by itself. A KBG yard doesn't need to be overseeded.
eriocaulon
15 years ago
I also agree with formicburn...just overseed the compacted areas. Don't worry about the crabgrass as it is a summer annual--apply crabgrass preventer in the spring (late March in my area) when the forsythias bloom. I am a big believer in core aeration as a cultural practice for maintaining a healty lawn.
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kachinee
15 years ago
I have some compaction near the street curb which is a few hundred feet long. I am going to dig a bit of the dirt out and put some better black top soil in there, plus some KBG see.

My lawn was originally seeded from scratch by a builder with who knows what grass seed. I over-seeded with straight Midnight KGB two years in a row (Late August core aeration/seed/starter fert.) and it really improved the lawn.
I am very happy with that procedure which seems to have made my lawn into a much higher density KGB lawn than it was before. I am also hoping that the lawn is more resistant to rust than it has been in past years.

This Fall I plan to just aerate and put down starter fertilizer without seed because (other than teh curb area) it looks like the Midnight took over very nicely.
eriocaulon
15 years ago
gotta love Midnight KBG!
kpfeif
Original Author
15 years ago
Hi, and thanks for the response. We had a little family thing happen and I didn't log on for weeks.

It's late August here in Wisconsin, and my core aeration guy is set for the first week in September. It's been very very very dry here. I think I'll still overseed where there's the severe compaction and very sparse areas.

Meanwhile, the weed pressure - especially from crab grass - is starting to hurt me a bit.

Any other advice to offer?

Thanks,
Kris
bmw5mt
15 years ago
Where can you get Midnight KBG and will it work well in Zone 7?

Thx
bpgreen
15 years ago
Zone 7 covers too much of the country and too many different climates to be able to know whether KBG will do well where you are.

People think the zones mean much more than they do, but they really only tell you how cold it can get in the winter.

Where do you live in zone 7?

2nd Year Overseeding & Aeration - too Heavily Compacted?

Comments (7)

formicburn

eriocaulon

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2nd Year Overseeding & Aeration - too Heavily Compacted?

Comments (7)

formicburn

eriocaulon

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