What are my plans for next season for my sparser areas?

16 years ago

OK, so my front yard came out great, with lots of watering, tender care, and so on. I'm very happy with it. There are a few thin areas where I went a little wide with the slice seeder but overall there is nowhere where I think won't fill in quickly with a little tillering, the biggest sparse spots are about five inches wide and a few feet long, and do have some grass in them, just not a lot.

My concern is my backyard and side yard. I know it's now too late to plant grass because it just wont have time to germinate before the first frost. Some of the areas (particularly in the backyard) are pretty good, but the side of the house (about 10' by 30' and the strip next to the driveway opposite the front yard) are very sparse. I think a large part of what happened is that the compost that I laid down had a lot of little sticks and twigs which I did not sift out, and some of the lower lying areas are almost entirely comprised of them. Do you think I should replant in the spring in those areas? I was planning on using a pre-emergent but maybe I should just skip the pre-emergent in these few areas and put down new KBG in teh spring?

I won't be renting a slit seeder as these areas are probably a cumulative total of 1000 square feet and I just can't spare the expense again for that small bit of grass.

Thoughts? I just don't see them coming into any kind of decen shape this year .

Also, I plan on adding soil next year to the backyard and expanding the backyard by about 3,000 square feet up a hill. Because of legal issues with the builder I couldn't get it done this year.

Is spring really that bad of a time for planting? I know I can expect a battle with the weeds.... but I don't want to wait untill next fall to finish the backyard.

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Comments (8)

bpgreen
16 years ago
The weed battle is only part of the problem with spring seeding. And there are products that suppress some seeds but allow desirable grass to grow (I think the product is either siduron or tupersan--one is the product name and the other the chemical).

The other problem is that the grass doesn't have enough time to get well established before the heat of summer. Depending on where in MA you are, the summer heat may not be that bad. I seem to recall that some parts of MA stay fairly cool during the summer as a result of ocean breezes.

Another option is dormant seeding, where you wait until it is too cold for the seed to germinate (but not when the ground is covered in snow) and put the seed down. The freeze/thaw cycles and the melting snow help with seed to soil contact and the seeds sprout as soon as it's warm enough. The freeze/thaw cycles may also help some seeds to germinate (I think the process is called stratification). Some people dormant seed in November, but others wait until February so they don't get germination followed by a freeze in case of a January thaw.

You lose some to birds and insects and some to germination followed by a hard freeze, but the grass that germinates gets somewhat of a headstart on grass that is seeded in a "normal" spring seeding so it has a better chance of making it through the summer.
billhill
16 years ago
Parafly, you will be surprised how much KBG fills in. What looks like the thinnest areas right now will be a great lawn June first. If you want a safety net, then dormant seed the thin areas. Skip the pre-M in areas that you dormant seed. Bill Hill
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User
16 years ago
Parafly, you will be surprised how much KBG fills in

+1 Billhill. Areas of mine that were sparse are now full, areas that were blank are now sparse. The really empty areas are still extremely sparse, but even there the spread is beginning.

It's almost done for the year, but next spring it should take off again.
zhotster
16 years ago
I have a similar situation to morph and parafly. My front lawn is really solid, but still has 3-4 small blank spots. I originally seeded my renovation on September 1st and had good luck. I overseeded in mid to late September to get things rolling and they DID! My side yards and back yards have seeds still germinating and the weather here has not frozen up yet. I hopefully will get another week to have more seeds to sprout and more growth for the little ones! I think I'll hit some spots if I get a chance in February (if snow melts!). It's Oct 16th here, the average frost date is Oct 1st to the 5th, so I'm crossing my fingers for 2 more weeks of good weather!

Hang in there and hopefully KBG will fill in!
toomuchtodo
16 years ago
Would a crabgrass preemergent laid down in the spring destroy any chances of the KBG filling in?
User
16 years ago
Would a crabgrass preemergent laid down in the spring destroy any chances of the KBG filling in?

Yes and no. It won't stop tillering of the existing grasses. It will stop new seed from germinating (or at least reduce the numbers and strength of the seedlings).

If you frost-seed, skip the pre-emergent next year. If you don't and are relying on the grass filling in, go ahead and use it.
rcnaylor
16 years ago
I think the answer to your question is that a lawn is always a work in progress.

You can dormant seed those areas and see how that progresses. If not quite good enough, then try spring seeding. After the summer, you can see how that progressed just in time to do the fall seeding again next year for areas that need to be just a LITTLE bit better.

And then you get to start the process all over again.

Ain't being a lawn whacko grand! ;)
bpgreen
16 years ago
"Would a crabgrass preemergent laid down in the spring destroy any chances of the KBG filling in?"

Most preemergents will stop KBG seeds from germinating as well as crabgrass seeds. Preemergents like Tupersan/Siduron (I think one is the brand name and one is the chemical name) will stop crabgrass but not KBG. They'll all allow KBG to spread via rhizomes.

What are my plans for next season for my sparser areas?

Comments (8)

bpgreen

billhill

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