Leveling and seeding an acre plus. Maybe 2 acres. (Culpeper, Shenandoah: movers, house)

[Bigfoot424]

I have a landscaper that is supposed to work on a field in front of my house that I've slowly cleared of trees and so on. He's supposed to level the mounds, add dirt as needed and remove all rocks on the surface. Then seed and straw the area. This is large enough I will not be able to water it. At which point in our growing season would you consider it too late to expect grass to grow? I really have no clue. In the Shenandoah Valley area.

[Middlin]

I wouldn't seed in the spring. The grass won't have enough time to root before the temps get high and likely kill all of it anyway. I bet you would end up with a ton of weeds/crab grass

[Parnassia]

https://www.greatdayimprovements.com...our-state.aspx

What does the "landscaper" suggest or they just dirt movers? The type of seed you use matters; warm season vs cool season. If you can't irrigate it frequently enough after seeding you probably won't get good germination and all the other seed, roots and rhizomes already present in the topsoil will probably outcompete the grass seedlings. Maybe better off to do this in smaller sections that are more easily managed. Or, take a pasture grass approach (often seed mixes). Why anyone wants 2 acres of grass they will need to mow, irrigate, dump feed or weed chemicals on (or pay someone else to) week in week out all summer every year mystifies me.

[Bigfoot424]

LOL. I have 5 acres with 2 plus already grass and a John Deere tractor with a 60-inch mower deck. I'm retired and I enjoy cutting.

[theminnow]

Bigfoot,


We live in Culpeper Co, and doing the samething. Our property was heavily wooded before the house was built. I would suggest you have the soil tested to see what fertilizer and or lime to apply. Our lawn needed 10lbs of lime per 1000 SF, and 18-46-0 fertilizer at the same 10lbs per 1000SF. I was told I should aerate the heck out of it. I then applied grass seed at the rate for a new lawn. Aerated some more and reseeded at the rate of an established lawn. Did this last October on an area about 3000SF. Watered everyday it did not rain . Took about 30-45mins each time moving the sprinkler. It looks pretty good, but still put down more seed early this spring and fertilized again with the suggested 10-10-10 fertilizer. Putting hay down will help keep it moist. I'm going to work on most of the rest of the yard this fall, like someone said that would be the best time of year to seed.

Sorry for the rambling, but if you get the soil tested, make sure to talk to the people and get their advise. I wasted a year thinking I could figure it out and wasted all that time and grass seed that ain't cheap.
Good luck.

[Bigfoot424]

Good advice theminnow. I'm having this guy come in for one main reason. The field is a mess with mounds and so on making it impossible to consider taking my JD out there with the mower deck. He'll smooth it down and add dirt where needed and also remove a few stumps and rake the rocks out with a contraption that makes it easy. Good old Shenandoah Valley rocks. He'll seed and throw straw down and we'll go from there. I realize I'll have more to do later on but this will at least get me started and for a very reasonable cost. Physically I just can't deal with the condition as it is right now. I used a DR Brush mower on this field recently and this took me forever.