[phil]

Hey everyone,

My super awesome tall fescue blend is on its way, and I'll be overseeding this Friday.

(surely I'm not the only one here who takes vacation days to work on the lawn!!)

I'd like a sanity check on my plan for the day since I'm still learning and also don't want to waste a few hundred dollars in seed and labor.

1. This Thursday after work I'll be mowing a little shorter than usual - about 2.5inches - and bagging clippings.

2. Friday morning I'm power raking and then aerating.

3. After that I'll be spreading a few yards of topsoil a few inches deep in a couple large low spots.

4. Then I'm dropping seed at 4lbs/1,000sq feet except for the couple areas with topsoil which will get double that.

5. Next I'm applying Scott's Starter Fert with Weed control at the bag rate followed by Milorganite also at the bag rate.

6. Water!

I've heard recommendations both to topdress with peat and also not to bother with topdressing. Any time I've dropped seed in the past it always seems to do much better if I topdress lightly with peat moss. Thoughts?

Let me know what you guys think!

 

[Sinclair]

Not many things hold water like peat moss. It isn't necessary, but it is insurance. My KBG renovation is humming along way ahead of expectations. I scalped, spread compost, Ringer, seed, peat moss, in that order. I watered it 2x a day, water only for 10 days. Just gave it a first app of liquid starter fertilizer last night.

If you're spreading soil, it will be easier if you mow lower.

 

[Fronta1]

Sounds like you got that extra seed, that's great! Couple things:

1. I agree, you could go lower than that. I would go as low as possible.

2. I think you should aerate and then rake, you don't want seeds falling into holes.

Peat moss will almost certainly improve germination, use it.

 

[GrassDaddy]

Why don't you want seed in the holes? When we aerated and seeded at the church the only place the grass came in was in the holes. It was actually funny cuz it looked like we planted mini plugs!

 

[luderiffic]

Why don't you want seed in the holes? When we aerated and seeded at the church the only place the grass came in was in the holes. It was actually funny cuz it looked like we planted mini plugs!

I think that's what we don't want...something looking funny. I too am concerned regarding this. I just overseeded last weekend and left the holes. Nervous nothing will germinate but the holes.

 

[RockyMtnLawnNut]

Hey everyone,

My super awesome tall fescue blend is on its way, and I'll be overseeding this Friday.

(surely I'm not the only one here who takes vacation days to work on the lawn!!)

Ha! I did exactly that when I overseeded mine. I used peat on the places that were more bare after I did the verticutting. I really didn't notice a difference in germination between those areas and the rest of the lawn that wasn't topdressed. I think if you're seeding into bare soil, it's definitely a must do. Otherwise, I'm on the fence about it. I think your watering schedule to keep it moist is probably more important. If you do topdress, make sure to water the seed in some before putting the peat down. I've found that if you try and put the peat down first, you have to water a ton to get it to get down into the soil area. Just my two cents. Good luck!

 

[phil]

Thanks! Because of the rain this week I've had to postpone until tomorrow (of course I still took the day off today though). When I topdress with peat I go *very* light - barely more than a dusting. Tomorrow at 8am I crank up the mower for the low cut and get this party started!

Really my only major concern now is that since it's already September 9 tomorrow, I have only a month or 6 weeks of good weather before it starts to get really chilly at night. Hopefully the 65 degrees + holds out for me.

 

[vnephologist]

Good luck! Hopefully everything went well for you today.

 

[phil]

Wow what a day. Started at 8am and worked straight through to 8pm. Super low cut, core aerated, power raked, filled in two areas with 6 yards of top soil each (yes that's 12 yards wheelbarrowed in by hand), overseeded, fert, milo, and then, last but not least, hand spread a dusting of peat moss over the entire lawn.

And then, after a long sunny day, and just as I went in to take a shower, the heavens opened and a gentle rain moistened everything.

I have a ton of pics and video that I'll post in a new thread tomorrow.

 

[pennstater2005]

Looking forward to the pics!

 

[RockyMtnLawnNut]

Awesome work! It will pay off.