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beckyinrichmond

renovation questions

beckyinrichmond
10 years ago

I'm going to renovate the backyard this fall, which is mostly crabgrass and violets. I put down Roundup today. I have lime (soil test indicates the need for lime), starter fertilizer, and seed (tall fescue mixture). I'm hoping to get the ground prepared the week of Sept. 9 and plant toward the end of that week. The plan is spot spray with Roundup if needed, cut the lawn on lowest setting, rake the dead stuff up, rake with garden rake to loosen soil, put down lime, fertilizer, and seed, and start watering to keep the seed damp. My questions:
1. Is it okay to out the lime down at the same time of seeding and fertilizer? I'm using Solu-Lime from Southern States. If I out it down now, I'm afraid it will sit on top of the thick crabgrass and not make its way down to the soil.
2. Would it be good to use the dead, raked up weeds as a mulch after planting or is it full of weed seeds?
3. If I need to spot spray with Roundup, how long afterwards must I wait before can I cut the lawn low and start raking it up?
4. I don't have a roller but I do have a tamping tool. Would it be good to use that or does it not matter very much?

Comments (4)

  • grass1950
    10 years ago

    1. I suggest you hold off on the lime. You can put it down this Winter or next Spring after the new lawn is established.
    2. There isn't going to be much seed in the raked up weeds-most of the seeds will already be on/in the soil, but rather than topdress with yard debree, consider spreading 1/4" or less of peat moss. It will hold more moisture in the soil and help hold the seed in place.
    3.In my experience, you should allow the RU a week to kill the plant before you scalp.
    4. That's going to be a lot of tamping if you are planting more than 100 sq ft. If you topdress with peat moss or another clean small particled material, rolling/tamping is not critical.

  • beckyinrichmond
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    I checked out peat moss and I don't think I'm going to use it. The bales are too heavy for me, I would need lots of them, and they apparently make the soil more acid, which is the opposite of what I need to do to the PH. The stems of the dead weeds I'm killing should help to keep the seeds in place. Why would it not be a good idea to use the grown up dead weeds which have gone through the lawn mower as a topdressing? If weed seeds aren't the problem, what is? I also looked at some pellets like Pennmulch and though it looks like it would be very good to help retain moisture, it's expensive for the whole backyard. I'm home so I can do the light watering throughout the day.

    One other thing I'm doing in preparation is working on a patch of hard soil where nothing grows (about 9 sq. ft.). I mixed some shampoo with water in the sprayer, sprayed the area, then watered it. I put some dead grass (from the front yard that I've been raking to prepare for over seeding) on top and watered it some more till everything was soggy. I'm hoping to soften up that soil in the next couple of weeks before I plant seed.

  • maplerbirch
    10 years ago

    Dead organic material from the mower is fine to use as a cover for grass seed. Compost will also help, short and long term.

  • beckyinrichmond
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Thanks for the replies. I've decided to rent a roller. Should I roll the front yard too where I'm just overseeding? I'm going to have to do something with the dead material, so if it's not a problem to use it over the grass seeds, I'd like to do that. Otherwise I will have a mountain of dead weeds (the crabgrass was very thick) to stuff into supercans or pile up in the alley. I contacted Solu-Cal about when to put down the lime and got a reply to put it down with the fertilizer and seed. Solu-Lime is the same stuff as Solu-Cal, just Southern States' name for it.