Looks Like a fantastic restoration!

Looks Real Good!!

I mean now, not the before picture!! WOW!!

Looking good, Paul!

Paul, I'd say your work on clearing/cleaning up the trees/ect was incredible!!! You have things looking great, and it's nice to see grass growing.

Good job, it looks like it was a LOT of work!

Now thats the definition of a "Flip this yard"! Thats what you call sweat equity, you just increased the value of your property. Nice!

Damn. Looks like a "before and after" comercial for weight loss. Only this one is for real!

You should be very proud.

All I can say is WOW! You did an amazing job cutting back the trees and shrubs, and that lawn is going to be stunning (instead of stunned, as in the first photo).

Thank you everyone! Now that my son is a toddler I really want a nice yard for him to play in.

I spent so much time fumbling with those pics and describing my situation I forgot to ask my question!

If you look at the second pic, notice the relatively bare area in the rear around that sprinkler. I have walked out there (along the landscape fabric runway) and can see a few grasslings, but nothing like I am getting everywhere else. And the soil seems to dry out there faster than some other areas. Funny, that area was also the slowest to die off after two doses of roundup.

I sowed (just broadcasted seeds and rolled them in after power raking and removing rounded up debris) 10 days before that photo. I am wondering whether I should reseed that area. My gut tells me to wait, as I know that plenty of seeds were laid down there and there is no runoff or puddling in that area, but first frost is around mid-October here, and I will want to get a few mowings in before then if I can to promote lateral growth and knock down some of the weeds.

SO, how long would you guys wait before reseeding problem areas at this time of year in zone 6b? Like I say, I think that area MAY fill in just fine in another week or two as I do see some grasslings there, but I am not sure as I have never planted only KBG before and don't know what to expect, but don't want to wait too long. I have September 15 fixed in my head as the outside date, but don't know if that is right.

Any advice appreciated!

Thank you,
Paul

Paul,
Did you happen to see my recent thread "Renovation Problem - Advice Needed"? I hope your problem area isn't like mine.

Hey Darius,

I did see that and unfortunately don't have any idea what is going on there. But my problem area doesn't look like that - if anything it drains too fast.

Best,
Paul

OK, I'm glad to hear that you don't have that matting thing going on.

My uneducated feeling is that as long as you are seeing *some* seedlings there, keep a close eye on it each day, and as long as it progresses each day, let it keep going on its own. On the other hand, if it makes you feel better to throw some more seed on that one area, why not?

(You already know that if that area is drying out, water it more often to keep it moist.)

Steve

Could there be a sandier soil underneath there, or more rocks? The Roundup might have taken longer because the roots were deeper. That would also account for the faster water draining. Fortunately, it doesn't sound like it's an issue once the lawn is established.

If so, you could very lightly topdress with a small amount of peat right there after you seed a little bit. 1/8" won't damage the new seedlings and might help hold a little water.

That looks 120% better. Great/hard work

My back yard looked exactly like that when I moved in, I can feel your pain.

about your question. I agree with morph, a light top dressing should do the trick.

It could be the oscillating sprinklers. They do not deposit water evenly within the pattern. Most of the water is applied around the edges of the pattern, the least amount closest to the sprinkler.

I had the same problem. I was trying to get the seed to germinate in the bare spot so of course I thought dropping the sprinkler right on the target spot should soak it good. but that's not the case. Try putting the oscillating sprinkler on the GREENEST spots and allow it to spray onto the bare spots.

Thank you guys. We are getting some unbelievable rain here this morning. My street is a river and I have lots of puddling on the lawn, but that area is just soaking it all up, so I guess for whatever reason it does drain very fast there. I wondered about that sprinkler too, but unfortunately I can't move it anywhere and still cover the whole area. I think I will try running that sprinkler manually one extra time every day and see if that helps. I imagine the massive soaking it is getting now should help for a few days, too. Thanks again!

Wow, I just checked weatherunderground and it looks like we've already gotten 1 1/4 inches of rain this morning, and this is supposed to keep up all day. Grateful for the rain, just hoping it slows down a bit or I will be reseeding for sure.

I just looked at Wunderground too. We got in the .7-1" of rain on the MA / RI border here.

Here is the day 14 update, after the torrential rain on Tuesday.

The questionable spots are shrinking and there is some new germination in those spots that the camera can't pick up, but I will reseed anyway today or tomorrow, then call it done with the seeding. Overall these results are better than I expected at two weeks (except for the weeds...), but I am not sure yet how much it will fill out by the end of the season. Nothing else to do but water, mow and wait I guess.

{{gwi:118463}}

Paul - WOW!! That is some tranformation. You should be very proud of your hard work and effort to where you are today with that yard. Good job.

Thanks jimtnc! There was so much material I ended up burning it (we can still get burn permits here). I didn't have a pickup when I did most of the plant removal and it would have taken forever to get all of that stuff to the dump in the jeep I had then.

I'm so glad I found this site, I feel like I'm finally doing right by the lawn. It has only been a couple of weeks since seeding, and I think things are off to a good start, but it is excruciating to just sit back and wait for it to fill in.