Advice on overseeding lawn

10 years ago

Hello I recently moved into a house in Lake of the Woods Virginia. The yard is in pretty bad shape. There are heavy weeds, and the lawn is very thin. I recently used some of the pennington one step grass seed to see if it would grow in the soil, which it came in really nice, but this was just a small bag and small sample. The lawn has poor drainage in which rocks and debris get washed into the side of the yard. The front yard and right side looks like it has great potential because they get a pretty good amount of sun, the other parts are pretty much shaded. In September I am planning to aerate the lawn to overseed in the fall. What am I supposed to put down after I aerate? The lawn is tall fescue so I guess I should use that grass seed, any ideas on where I should get it from, or what seed brand. Any advice would be greatly appreciated, Thanks, Jake

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Comments (2)

dchall_san_antonio
10 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
September is fall. Don't wait until October to seed. As soon as the nights cool off you can get going on the seed.

No need to aerate. Aeration bring up weed seeds you never knew you had.

I don't buy fescue seed but I do know you get what you pay for with seed. The best seed has 0.00 weed and 0.00 other crop. Read the label.
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HamsterHuey
10 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Hogans sells a lot of excellent TTTF cultivars. Be sure to ask for Sod quality seed (might be a bit more expensive) to guarantee it to be weed and crop free. Check out the NTEP results for various TTTF cultivars to see what grows best in your area. I'd suggest a mix of 3-4 cultivars to cover your bases. Make sure 1-2 are excellent shade performers and try to find ones that are disease and brown patch resistant.

Off the top of my head, some of the good cultivars to look into are Bullseye, Cochise IV, LS1200, Faith, etc. You might have trouble sourcing them at the moment since a lot of the seed suppliers are expecting new stock to only come in sometime in September.

For the seeding, ensuring good seed to soil contact is key. As dchall mentioned, you risk awakening long dormant weed seeds from below the soil surface. However, that being said, many people swear by it because it still gives better results than just broadcast spreading seed due to the improved seed soil contact (especially if you use a dragmat or rake to break down the aerated plugs.

The recommended approach would be to scalp down the lawn as low as possible. You could use a dethatcher/power rake if needed to thin out the grass a bit and remove any excess thatch (again, slightly larger chance of awakening weed seeds, but nothing as bad as aerating as long as the tines don't penetrate deep into the soil). Rake up or use a mower with a bagger to collect all the thatch and grass you pull up with the dethatching.

Broadcast your seed using a broadcast or drop spreader. For TTTF, you want to overseed at approximately 4.5lbs/1000 sq ft. If you do a full renovation, then you would seed at around 9lbs/1000sqft. Don't try to dump all the seed down in one pass. Set the spreader to a low setting and make a few passes along the area till you run out of seed. This will help with a more uniform seed distribution.

If you have the budget and the patience/manpower to topdress your overseeded lawn, then topdress with a thin layer of compost or compost-peat moss mixture. Otherwise, skip that step and rent a roller and use it to roll the seed into the soil.

A combination of the scalped lawn and the rolling helps get the seed down to the soil and to make good contact with it. The topdressing is very beneficial in helping retain moisture during germination. You could also look into products like Penn mulch or Soil Moist seed coat to help in regards to keeping the seeds moist after seeding.

If you don't have access to a roller or can't find one to rent, you could do what I did, and use your riding mower (if you have one) to drive around the yard and press the seed in. Takes a lot longer to do, but it does work in a pinch.

Also, I'd second the advice above about not waiting till October. Very little of what germinates will likely survive winter. With the cooler than usual temperatures this August, many have already put down seed or are putting down seed in the next couple of weeks. I wouldn't aim for any later than the 1st week of September. The warmer soil temps should help with faster germination.
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Advice on overseeding lawn

Comments (2)

dchall_san_antonio

HamsterHuey

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