Anybody do it? Is now a good time in the cities? I was going to wait until spring to overseed until I found a few posts about dormant over seeding. In the front lawn I am not too concerned about germination rates, because I’ll probably just put some cheaper seed down. But I do have a small fenced in backyard that would be nice to build up and make the turn lush.
My lawn was getting thin and just kinda crappy about five years ago. I rented a dethatcher in the fall(not too early) and gave it a thorough going over. Then suck it all up with the bag on the mower and then seed. By early summer it looked like Augusta!
The key was a really good dethatching.
My two cents
I do just about every year some where on my lawn. We cut about 1.5 acres. I try to time it right before the first snow fall that will stay for the season. The snow over the winter and into the spring will push in into the ground.This way the birds won’t steal it. Have had fairly good success over the years. We basically live in an area that is a gravel pit. Maybe 6-7″ of top soil.
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I do just about every year some where on my lawn. We cut about 1.5 acres. I try to time it right before the first snow fall that will stay for the season. The snow over the winter and into the spring will push in into the ground. This way the birds won’t steal it.
This is a good way to go about it, I’ve linked to the U of M Ext article below for those that might be curious. I’ll be doing my final prep for it tomorrow before the rain, dethatch and one last run with the lawn mower, agree that dethatching is the key for success. Good luck.
http://blog.lib.umn.edu/efans/ygnews/2009/11/dormant-seed-now-to-promote-th.html
Agree with above posts:
De-thatch and seed just prior to 1st snowfall or do it in mid September and water the urine out of it.
Then, Winter Fertilizer (W/O No Weed Killer).
Right Now, I would De-Thach, Seed and Fertilize.
Doing this, I usually triple the amount of seed to maintain a thick healthy turf.
In Spring, DO NOT RAKE!
Good Luck & Good Mowing.
Quote:
Agree with above posts:
De-thatch and seed just prior to 1st snowfall or do it in mid September and water the urine out of it.
Then, Winter Fertilizer (W/O No Weed Killer).
Right Now, I would De-Thach, Seed and Fertilize.
Doing this, I usually triple the amount of seed to maintain a thick healthy turf.In Spring, DO NOT RAKE!
Good Luck & Good Mowing.
Yeah, I raked a small area at the lake in the spring years ago and it killed it.
You guys have/rent a machine to de-thatch or use those specialized mower blades.
I was going to say my lawn doesn’t need de-thatching. I know what a lawn that needs de-thatching looks like. My old lawn needed it, it had a good layer of dead grass, leaves and such, but I suppose you do it for losing up the top layer a little?
So should I wait for the first good snowfall being in the forecast and seed and fertilize?
Quote:
You guys have/rent a machine to de-thatch or use those specialized mower blades.
I was going to say my lawn doesn’t need de-thatching. I know what a lawn that needs de-thatching looks like. My old lawn needed it, it had a good layer of dead grass, leaves and such, but I suppose you do it for losing up the top layer a little?
So should I wait for the first good snowfall being in the forecast and seed and fertilize?
I have a de-thatcher “blade” that replaces the mower blade, a pull behind for the rider. I rented one for the time it was bad, $30 for four hours. It’s adjustable as far as height. It does loosen things up nice before laying down the seed.
The box stores have the blade type, it’s basicly a mower blade with nylon tynes. The work ok as long as it’s not real bad.
If you’re at work you should take ill because today is the day! Rain tomorrow and snow late next week.
I have had good luck with seeding just before the first snowfall. No watering, no de-thatching, just let the spring snow melt water the seed and up comes the grass – the lazy way to grow grass. I’ll be doing some seeding this week.
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