Schedule to Fertilize, Seed, and Aerate this Fall?

13 years ago

So I live in the Mojave desert, we get up to 110 in the summer, but lately it's been in the 90's and gradually going down in temps. Our first frost date is usually around mid-November. Winter's are very mild, we freeze overnight for about a month, but only get snow 1 or 2 days out of the year. I seeded from scratch in May Tall Fescue and then threw in some Bermuda a couple months later to fill in the bare spots. It's done pretty good so far...the only fertilizer I've given it was some Scott's starter fertilizer when I seeded in May.

I'm wondering what the schedule of things is that I need to do now or this fall. I need to aerate, because we have super hard clay soil. Some areas have grass have started to die off because I probably didn't soften the soil deeper than a couple inches and they've reached the hard concrete-like layer. I also have some Scott's lawn fertilizer that I need to lay down. And I want to seed Tall fescue (which should live through the winter correct?) and Bermuda (can I seed that now, or what till spring?).

What order should I do things? I hear Labor day weekend is when most people fertilize, should I do it then? I was thinking seed and then fertilize (and water it in) in the same day. Then maybe wait a couple weeks and aerate...does that sound good? This is my first lawn, so I'm not sure when to do things, and what time of year to do them.

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Comments (7)

bpgreen
13 years ago
I think it's a mistake to mix Bermuda and tall fescue. Tall fescue is a cool season grass and Bermuda is a warm season grass. What you'll end up with is a lawn that has splotches of green fescue mixed with brown bermuda in the winter and green bermuda mixed with brown fescue in the heat of summer.

Also, Bermuda thrives when it is fertilized with 1 lb of N per 1000 sq ft per month during its growing season and it does best if it's mowed really short (like an inch or less) and may need to be mowed several times a week.

Fescue only needs about 3 lbs of N per 1000 sq ft per year and most of that would be best applied while Bermuda is brown. And it should be mowed tall.

You're growing two different grasses with very different requirements so it's tough to tell you what to do and when to do it.
jordanz
Original Author
13 years ago
Yeah, I was just reading online how to fill in all the holes that were inbetween fescue (since I couldn't seed more fescue in hot weather). I probably won't be adding anymore bermuda, just stick with the tall fescue. Which is wierd, if it's a cold season grass, then how does it grow so good in this zone 9 110 heat? Shouldn't it be the opposite? I noticed it goes somewhat dormant, and doesn't grow hardly at all for about a month when it's over 100...but it stays nice and green! I mow at about 2.5" and the bermuda doesn't seem to mind. The bermuda grows good too, but I like the way fescue looks better...and it's about half the price. I'll probably stick with fescue since it'll be green in winter too.

So what schedule should I use if I'm going to stick with my fescue mix? Should I aerate, seed, or fertilize first?
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bpgreen
13 years ago
The new seeds can't use any fertilizer until they start growing, so fertilizing before the new seeds are growing will just cause the existing grass to grow faster and make it tough to wait on mowing until the new grass is up. I'd mow as short as possible, core aerate to expose more soil, then seed.
jordanz
Original Author
13 years ago
Okay, so I'll mow short, then aerate, then seed with tall fescue mix all in the same day. Should I do it now (while it's in the high 80's during the day, 50's overnight), or wait until it gets a little cooler? How close do you aerate, like how many holes per square foot? I just have a little 2-hole handheld aerator (my lawn isn't that big so it won't take too long).

Then I would fertilize maybe 2 weeks after aerating/seeding? How long should I wait then?
bpgreen
13 years ago
If you can water enough to keep the seeds moist you can water now. If not, you can wait. Fescue germinates pretty quickly so you only need a month or so before a freeze.

As many holes as possible.

Fertilize when the new grass starts coming in.
jordanz
Original Author
13 years ago
Very cool, is it okay to seed right after aerating, or would that not be good because of the 4" deep aerator holes? Should I seed first, then aerate in the same day? Last question about this, almost got it narrowed down! Thanks for all the help.

Got it, I'll be fertilizing a few weeks after I do the seeding/aerating.
bpgreen
13 years ago
Aerate first, then seed. You can seed as soon as you're done aerating.

Schedule to Fertilize, Seed, and Aerate this Fall?

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Schedule to Fertilize, Seed, and Aerate this Fall?

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