Where are you and how many square feet. First Recommendation no Spring seeding

Cool Season Lawn Guide

Cool Season Guide We would like to welcome you to the forum. We are a group of lawn enthusiasts (aka. obsessed) that like to share our knowledge and experiences. This article is meant as the how-to guide to lawn care for cool season lawns. The intent is to provide a high level summary of the...

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Cool Season Overseed Guide

Introduction There seems to be a lot of interest here on the forums for an overseed guide so I'm going to give it my best shot. Keep in mind, this is primarily for TTTF or PRG lawns. Some of these ideas will work with KBG but that's a totally different animal so someone with more KBG experience...

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Kansas. I've got around 7,000 sq feet. Probably 60% shaded.

 

I have lost the battle with shade.
If theres not much growing in the shaded area now turn those areas into rock , moss or shade gardens!

 

Newbie here and my lawn is in bad shape. I believe it's a primarily tall fescue lawn. I rented a power rake and dethatcher 2 days ago.

What I really need to do now is 1)aerate and overseed/seed some bare spots and 2)attack a nut sedge and crabgrass problem.

I bought sedge ender that I'd like to spray for weed control, but the container says that I should wait at least 3 months after application before overseeing.

Heres the question - should I prioritize weed control and deal with the aerating and seeding in the spring? Or aerate and seed now and deal with weeds in the spring? or maybe it's actually ok to do both over the next few weeks??

Thanks!

Read the guides above , tons of info and links
Accepting your level is key

that said looking back at my what I would do seeing you have the rental.
I personally would not be tackling weeds right now and put off seeding until next fall. Plan and budget for next season?

1. Collect soil samples and send out for testing:

I would mow as low as you feel comfortable. My lawn is to rough to go lower than 1.5”
Dethatch - Then aerate

start getting 1” of water a week to your lawn.
Raise your mower blade to 3” - do yourself a favor and actually measure the ground to blade height.

Feed your lawn : I used a seed starter
Fert with pre emergent
Keep notes.
Now just water when needed and mow when grass gets to 4”
Spend the rest of the season learning and planning for next year.

I believe I wasted alot of money/sweat/tears/frustration jumping in full throttle nack in 2018

after I recieved my soil test , learned better watering and mowing practices things really improved quickly.
Still learning.

 

Read the guides above , tons of info and links
Accepting your level is key

that said looking back at my what I would do seeing you have the rental.
I personally would not be tackling weeds right now and put off seeding until next fall. Plan and budget for next season?

1. Collect soil samples and send out for testing:

I would mow as low as you feel comfortable. My lawn is to rough to go lower than 1.5”
Dethatch - Then aerate

start getting 1” of water a week to your lawn.
Raise your mower blade to 3” - do yourself a favor and actually measure the ground to blade height.

Feed your lawn : I used a seed starter
Fert with pre emergent
Keep notes.
Now just water when needed and mow when grass gets to 4”
Spend the rest of the season learning and planning for next year.

I believe I wasted alot of money/sweat/tears/frustration jumping in full throttle nack in 2018

after I recieved my soil test , learned better watering and mowing practices things really improved quickly.
Still learning.

I’m gonna add to this that your seed starter will have some N and that will push your existing lawn to grow.. If you’re dealing with bare spots then that’s okay but slightly thin areas may struggle by the canopy enclosing on the seed.
Look into getting a PGR down or pre germinating your seed. Have fun though and start a lawn journal! Keep us updated!

 

So to clarify you are recommending neither weed control nor seeding this fall? Seems like a wasted opportunity. Although you definitely know so much more about this than me. I will read through the gudes.

Thank you!

 

So to clarify you are recommending neither weed control nor seeding this fall? Seems like a wasted opportunity. Although you definitely know so much more about this than me. I will read through the gudes.

Thank you!

Im not more knowing believe me , but after finding the Guide after I did all the same work ….. yes I would not over seed or weed control this year other than a fall pre emergent for the fall germinating weeds.

Here is why
1. After my soil test results came back I had already over seeded 3 times in 8 years. My PH was 5.2 my P and K levels where low——still are as 2020-2021 was a bit of a wash for improving anything.
So I was tossing seed down on poor conditions. I was not watering enough and definitely mowing to low ESPECIALLY in the summer.
Take the rest of this year to learn about weed control
Pre emergents this fall and next spring will go a long way to less weeds

nutsedge: ugh stuff is pita.
I have found after it has 3-5 leaves its a bear to put down ! I sprayed a out break at road side few weeks ago and it went to seed before wilting. Now theres fresh growth in the area!

 

Newbie here and my lawn is in bad shape. I believe it's a primarily tall fescue lawn. I rented a power rake and dethatcher 2 days ago.

What I really need to do now is 1)aerate and overseed/seed some bare spots and 2)attack a nut sedge and crabgrass problem.

I bought sedge ender that I'd like to spray for weed control, but the container says that I should wait at least 3 months after application before overseeing.

Heres the question - should I prioritize weed control and deal with the aerating and seeding in the spring? Or aerate and seed now and deal with weeds in the spring? or maybe it's actually ok to do both over the next few weeks??

Thanks!

I would spray Quincloroc now for crabgrass control (and other weeds) and plan to put down TTTF where its really bare and thin. Then make sure to water/fert the rest of the lawn through fall, with another planned spray in October for broadleafs. Next year make sure to do your pre-emergent and plan to knock out the sedges in July/August so you can overseed this time next year.

 

Post pictures of your lawn

 

 

Seed now. Crabgrass will die with the first frost.