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| My lawn's pretty good, but i'd like to cut it down to 1.5" and overseed it this fall (sept 1 they say works very well here in west mi), I have about 15,000sq/ft to do and was wondering what the best value seed to use would be... i'm just going to apply it with a spreader and water it best I can. I don't want to spend hundreds for seed |
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| You don't want to be penny-wise and pound foolish with grass seed. To overseed 15K square feet with Kentucky Bluegrass you would need about 23 lbs of seed. For a good blend from a reputable seed seller like Rose Agri-Seed, you would probably pay 150 bucks. For the same quantity of mediocre seed from Home Depot you would probably spend about 80-100 bucks. The difference in price is minimal in terms of quality and content. What type of grass do you have now, and what were your planning on overseeding with? Whatever seed you put down, try to keep your seeds moist continually for 2-3 weeks, otherwise your seed might have low germination, and any money you spent would be wasted on that seed. |
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| I believe I have a KBG blend now, some contractor's spread when the house was built 10yrs ago. I'll do my best to keep it moist, I figure i'll bag-cut it down to 1.5' and go spread seed. Attached a pic below taken tonight. Mowed at 3'. Front yard gets a ton of sun so the lighter areas are burned up a little even though I water it 1' a week, fertilize and cut frequently. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Yard current condition
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| That looks pretty nice. If you have KBG, it should fill in any small bare spots this fall, if it's happy. You might want to focus you attention on improving your soil instead of overseeding. Have you ever done a soil test? If not, you should do one now. Get the basic soil test from Logan Labs (www.loganlabs.com), it is 20 bucks. If you still want to overseed this year you can, but overseeding KBG can often times be disappointing. |
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- Posted by dchall_san_antonio 8 San Antonio (My Page) on Wed, Jul 13, 11 at 20:42
| I hate it when that happens. I had a reply in here and my browser crashed...badly - taking me all the way back to late June. But I'm back. I completely agree with tiemco on this. You have a much better than average lawn. I would spend the $20 on the Logan soil test and spend the rest on applying whatever they tell you. With a healthy stand of Kentucky bluegrass, the last thing you need is seed and the hassle of putting it down/watering/etc. Your color is a little off. I believe that is due to a lack of fertilizer. I don't know what your temps are but if the highs are below 85 then you have some options. If they are hitting 85 and above, then you have one option. If you are below 85 for an entire week at a time, then you could get away with applying ordinary synthetic fertilizer (slow release). Hot weather and salty fertilizers can put stress on a lawn so you need it to be cooler. However, if you are warmer, you can apply organic fertilizer any day of the year and expect good results. Here is a picture from mrmumbles he posted here in June. This was his organic fertilizer test.
What he used was alfalfa pellets (Purina Rabbit Chow). Most people are skeptical of the modern grain theory of organic lawn care, but images like this are pretty striking. Note the color and density of his Zoysia lawn with and without the fertilizer. If you are intrigued by that image, go to the Gardenweb Organic Gardening Forum, find the FAQ, and read the last one titled, Organic Lawn Care FAQ. When I wrote that the price of corn was way down and soybean meal was high. Nowadays it is reversed (almost). In any case you get a large bang for your buck using soybean meal this summer. You can get it at most feed stores in 50-pound bags. The application rate is 20-30 pounds per 1,000 square feet of grass. I would definitely start at 20 pounds. When these fertilizers decompose on the lawn you will notice a different aroma. It doesn't stink exactly at the lower rates, but if you use 80 pounds THEN it stinks like sour milk. The more often you use it, the less you will notice the smell. This is because the soil microbes are becoming more populous and can deal with all the food you are giving them. The decomposition of food on the lawn is a biological process that takes a FULL three weeks to happen. You will not really see it coming either. In fact you'll be wondering whether the soybeans had any effect but then at the 3-week mark, it hits. I think when you see that, you will forget all about overseeding. And like I said you can apply organic fertilizer any day of the year. If you want you can apply it again in 3 or 4 weeks to get ahead of the neighbors. If they are using synthetic (like Scott's), they will have to wait until cooler temps to fertilize. There's a guy on another forum who has applied heavy doses of organics every week to speed up the process of improving his soil. It worked so well that his KGB lawn stayed green almost all winter. You might not be in that category of lawn nut but it is pretty easy to slip from simple hobbyist to complete lawnaholic when you see these kinds of results. |
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