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Hmmm... I overseeded this past weekend and put down starter fertilizer to the entire lawn for a quick boost to the seedlings. Hope that I didn't jump the gun, but I had all of Labor Day to spend in the yard.
By no means. Just be sure to keep the seedlings damp each morning and then gradually back off of it as they germinate. Heats should be subsiding this weekend then follow it up with a higher nitrogen fertilizer after about two cuttings in 6 weeks.
Which seed and fertilizer did you go with?
Quote:
Originally Posted by qtbrye
Hmmm... I overseeded this past weekend and put down starter fertilizer to the entire lawn for a quick boost to the seedlings. Hope that I didn't jump the gun, but I had all of Labor Day to spend in the yard.
Last edited by movin2Reston; 09-07-2016 at 09:14 AM..
I went with the Pennington Smart Seed Bluegrass/Fescue mix bought at Lowe's (yeah yeah i know i know), since I re-seeded with that blend last year and I really like the colors this past spring. Lesco starter fertilizer like you suggested
Now is the tough part--watering and waiting.
Quote:
Originally Posted by movin2Reston
By no means. Just be sure to keep the seedlings damp each morning and then gradually back off of it as they germinate. Heats should be subsiding this weekend then follow it up with a higher nitrogen fertilizer after about two cuttings in 6 weeks.
Fortunately temperatures should be breaking by this weekend so you should have the weather more on your side until then.
Quote:
Originally Posted by qtbrye
I went with the Pennington Smart Seed Bluegrass/Fescue mix bought at Lowe's (yeah yeah i know i know), since I re-seeded with that blend last year and I really like the colors this past spring. Lesco starter fertilizer like you suggested
I went with the Pennington Smart Seed Bluegrass/Fescue mix bought at Lowe's (yeah yeah i know i know), since I re-seeded with that blend last year and I really like the colors this past spring. Lesco starter fertilizer like you suggested
I'm getting ready to hit my yard hard with a few new items for me, and a few old items that have worked very well for me in the past. As some might know already, this is our first year in this house, so now I know what I'm dealing with. First off, the weeds and fungus.
In the past, I've used Caravan G to hit the bugs and fungus. Did that in the spring for this house and it's what the yard needed. But can't find Caravan G this time, so I've used its sister Heritage G in the past (just fungucide). But I've decided to step away from the granular and going with the spray route instead. Bought a backpack sprayer this weekend, and will be using Drive XLR8 and Tenacity later this week to wipe out the mountain of crab grass and numerous weeds in the yard. Also bought a fungucide safe for the trees and shrubs. I had the yard looking great this spring, but this heat and a water problem in the back yard (had to relocate gutter runoff to edges of yard, we becoming a swamp), has wiped out the Grass in the back with fungus and weeds, and the front, which slopes and sheds, got hit badly by crab grass and other weeds. So, going to mow today, wait two days, and then spray it all with the Drive, Tenacity, and one other fungucide (can't remember name at the moment). Then I'm waiting for the aerator to come and hit the yard.
After the aeration, I'm putting down enough tall fescue seed to cover over 20,000SF of land (yard is probably 7,500sf of grass surface.) Then I'm immediately putting down 200lbs worth of soybean meal and 200lbs worth of alfalfa meal. Then I'm going to start spreading out the compost soil I bought in the areas that are thin already. Bought roughly 20 cubic feet of that too. Hopefully by spring, we'll be nice, lush, and weed free throughout the entire yard. In the spring, I'll overseed again and hit it all again with the soybean meal and alfalfa meal.
In my last house, which was new construction, the spec builder totally screwed up The lawn. Didn't properly prepare the area before installing to sod. By end of summer, I'd say a total of 50% of the entire yard was dead. Had a sprinkler system installed the following spring, put down the Caravan G, and the seed / soybean / alfalfa mix. Did that in May. By July, I kid you not, I could stand a golf ball on the top of the grass. It looked immaculate and complete blew my mind how well it all came together. Had neighbors all over me asking what I did. They too went the soybean and alfalfa route, and theirs took off like a rocket too.
My understanding is the soybean has the protein needed for the seeds to germinate like crazy, and the alfalfa has the nitrogen. Neighbor had a new back yard installed after bulldozer liked it al off while they had a screened-in addition built. Sod was dying off in the edges almost immediately. He put down the alfalfa after the yard was basically on its last leg. Completely turned it around and was looking perfect in about 3 weeks. It's also my understanding that DC National Parks uses alfalfa to keep the grass healthy at the tourist sites downtown (mall, monument, whitehouse).
I agree with the poster who said to skip the Home Depots if you can. I now shop exclusively at Southern States Coooperative. Someone once told me that if you want the good stuff, ask a farmer. So I did.
I'm about a week post germination. Some pretty decent coverage in most of the yard. I've got 15,000 SF of lawn area, so it was a bit tough to get good total uniform germination. Seedlings in part of the lawn are already 2" tall and growing pretty thick, in other parts of the yard (where it sees full sun all day) I'm just now getting 1" sprouts from mostly the aeration holes only. These were areas of bare dirt/weeds, so it looks like I should get 50% coverage by the end of the fall. Ill add some more seed to this area over the winter, and in the spring to try and get it to fill in more next spring.
I have more seed, so I might go back and redo a few areas I want to get going. When I can focus on 500-1000 SF, I can give it a bit more attention than when I was trying to get 15K SF aerated, seeded and raked. .
If anything, it will take me a few years to really get the lawn to come in good. I'll see what I can get to grow this fall, and then focus on weed control next spring/summer. Considering what I started with, which was no lawn, I like my results so far.
12 days later, I had disappointing results so this past Saturday I manually de-thatched the front yard and overseeded again. The lack of rain is brutal, I couldn't keep up with the watering in both the front and the backyard. I'm counting on today's precipitation to jump start any seeds from the first overseeding as well as the new batch.
Also, there's a patch where crabgrass sprouted up like crazy. It's definitely competing with the grass seedlings that's germinated, and I'm considering spraying with Bayer crabgrass killer. Should I just let it be? I don't want to murder the nearby fescue seedlings as well.
I've resorted to hand pulling as much as I can without going crazy. 5 mins here and there is starting to add up. Once I clear an area, I've been manually adding seed to it.
You're not going to get it all, but the more weeds you replace with good grass just means less opportunity for weeds to take over in that spot later on.
Impressive, very detailed and thorough...keep us posted as things progress.
Quote:
Originally Posted by NC211
I'm getting ready to hit my yard hard with a few new items for me, and a few old items that have worked very well for me in the past. As some might know already, this is our first year in this house, so now I know what I'm dealing with. First off, the weeds and fungus.
In the past, I've used Caravan G to hit the bugs and fungus. Did that in the spring for this house and it's what the yard needed. But can't find Caravan G this time, so I've used its sister Heritage G in the past (just fungucide). But I've decided to step away from the granular and going with the spray route instead. Bought a backpack sprayer this weekend, and will be using Drive XLR8 and Tenacity later this week to wipe out the mountain of crab grass and numerous weeds in the yard. Also bought a fungucide safe for the trees and shrubs. I had the yard looking great this spring, but this heat and a water problem in the back yard (had to relocate gutter runoff to edges of yard, we becoming a swamp), has wiped out the Grass in the back with fungus and weeds, and the front, which slopes and sheds, got hit badly by crab grass and other weeds. So, going to mow today, wait two days, and then spray it all with the Drive, Tenacity, and one other fungucide (can't remember name at the moment). Then I'm waiting for the aerator to come and hit the yard.
After the aeration, I'm putting down enough tall fescue seed to cover over 20,000SF of land (yard is probably 7,500sf of grass surface.) Then I'm immediately putting down 200lbs worth of soybean meal and 200lbs worth of alfalfa meal. Then I'm going to start spreading out the compost soil I bought in the areas that are thin already. Bought roughly 20 cubic feet of that too. Hopefully by spring, we'll be nice, lush, and weed free throughout the entire yard. In the spring, I'll overseed again and hit it all again with the soybean meal and alfalfa meal.
In my last house, which was new construction, the spec builder totally screwed up The lawn. Didn't properly prepare the area before installing to sod. By end of summer, I'd say a total of 50% of the entire yard was dead. Had a sprinkler system installed the following spring, put down the Caravan G, and the seed / soybean / alfalfa mix. Did that in May. By July, I kid you not, I could stand a golf ball on the top of the grass. It looked immaculate and complete blew my mind how well it all came together. Had neighbors all over me asking what I did. They too went the soybean and alfalfa route, and theirs took off like a rocket too.
My understanding is the soybean has the protein needed for the seeds to germinate like crazy, and the alfalfa has the nitrogen. Neighbor had a new back yard installed after bulldozer liked it al off while they had a screened-in addition built. Sod was dying off in the edges almost immediately. He put down the alfalfa after the yard was basically on its last leg. Completely turned it around and was looking perfect in about 3 weeks. It's also my understanding that DC National Parks uses alfalfa to keep the grass healthy at the tourist sites downtown (mall, monument, whitehouse).
I agree with the poster who said to skip the Home Depots if you can. I now shop exclusively at Southern States Coooperative. Someone once told me that if you want the good stuff, ask a farmer. So I did.
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