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Northeast fall lawn care help, planting grass / seed, what mix? Newbie

7 years ago

So I have always helped around the house, now I own one and planning on dethatching the lawn and planting some grass. I live in Northern New Jersey and have had a lot of confusion on what type of grass / seed mix to use. I would say my yard 60% sun 40% shade. Any all recommendation is greatly appreciated or any links to seeding 101 would also be appreciated!

THANKS!

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Comments (6)

User
7 years ago
You're not planning on seeding now are you? It's way too late.
Mark D
Original Author
7 years ago
Too late? Two of my neighbors just seeded it will be 70 tomorrow and I spoke w 2 nurseries. All said not too late weather is still good.
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keep calling the extension office, they'll come eventually. you can seed anytime you want to. spring is also a very good time to seed, if that batch doesn't take, keep at it, just make sure you keep it wet so it doesn't dry out and die after germinating. give it a good shot of fertilizer, hand pick the big weeds, consider spraying something on the others if they bother you. are these brown spots from drought or are they bare? if from drought, you might be surprised that some of it may come back if you keep it moist. good luck.
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I was hoping someone would answer your post cause it is kind of interesting. Perhaps it is because you have laid a lot of requirements on simple grass. I'm not sure there is one type that meets all of your desires. You may want to research the hybrid bluegrasses though some say the newer elite varieties of KBG are just as heat tolerant. Mixed with tall fescue appears to be popular with sod producers in the more southern parts of the transition zone. Overseeding bermuda with rye is a traditional southern golf course technique for green winter cover, but is expensive and can be hard on the bermuda. What level of maintenance, cost, and effort are you willing to go to to achieve your desires? The shepherds will wear out the grass if left in a small space. There is no grass that can tolerate that kind of wear without intensive maintenance. You may want to find out what grass is used on football and soccer fields in your area. Chances are that will be the most wear resistant. How do you intend to maintain the turf?
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Scotts premium sun and shade mix. Put starter fertilizer down according to the directions on the bag before or after slit seeding. Water lightly twice a day for four weeks. Fertilize again Thanksgiving weekend. Keep reading here for tips on maintaining an excellent lawn. Bill Hill
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I don't mean to burst your bubble of enthusiasm, but you do realize that "3 large dogs" are going to severely limit your growing successes? How big of a yard do you have? Is the dog area fenced off? Are they all female (burn spots)? The combination of shade and dogs can be lethal for any sort of ground cover. I second the recommendation to check out the composting forum - IIRC, fresh wood chips can quickly throw a piles "balance" out of wack (something about it being a carbon or nitrogen hog, or turning it anaerobic, or c. none of the above) For the raised bed, search on "lasagna" beds in the gardenweb forums - haven't done it myself, but it sounds like people have good success just throwing cardboard and newspapers and leaf mulch / compost down and then adding plants. In the end, you may want to just focus on creating several "lawn zones" - maybe the front for a more manicured area, a more "natural" buffer zone, and then a mulched area (wood mulch, not leaf mulch) for the dogs to run and do their business. Posting a picture may also give us an idea of what kind of shade you'll be dealing with and the size of the yard.
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gomez435
7 years ago
Agreed it's a little to late.
User
7 years ago
Two of my neighbors just seeded it will be 70 tomorrow

They just don't know any better.

and I spoke w 2 nurseries. All said not too late weather is still good

If they say it's too late they can't sell you anything.

For NJ you should have seeded mid-August. Kentucky Bluegrass takes up to 3 weeks to germinate, and even fescue will take ~2 weeks with low temps like this. So that would be mid to late November to see germination, if it will germinate at all. If it does germinate, the chances of establishment before frost hits are slim. Bottom line - it's too late, best thing to do now is to take good care of the grass you have and if it's Kentucky Bluegrass it will fill gaps and thicken on its own.
headmotty
7 years ago
Agree that it is too late. You might get a small percentage to survive, but most of your seed will just end up being wasted. Seeding needs to wait until next fall.

Something you can do now is have a soil test done. Use Logan Labs and just get their standard test. Make sure you take samples from like 10 or 20 different areas of your lawn and mix them together. You can post the results here, and you will receive guidance on where to start next spring based on the test results. Actually, if you get this done right away, you might (if results call for it) be able to get a lime and/or fertilizer application done before winter really sets in to start getting your soil in shape. You can also spend time researching which type/types of grass you want to go with. And by the way, you probably don't need to do any dethatching.
wvudave_charlotte_nc
7 years ago
I live in NC and I seeded one month ago. Too late for up North.

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