Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
dan_in_nh

Anyone else in So NH?

dan_in_nh
9 years ago

Hey all,
I've gotten my lawn from crap to decent with the help of the internet and suggestions from co-workers, etc, but I need some help come september. Are there any reliable landscapers/services who can dethatch and overseed? Many of them won't even talk to you unless you sign up for their packages. I just need overseeding done in a bad way. I've got back issues that won't allow me to do it myself. Any tips are appreciated. Dan

Comments (3)

  • claga
    9 years ago

    Hi Dan,
    My lawn service provider is recommending plug aeration and overseeding in the fall and to dethach in the spring.

  • Zoe Kendrick
    8 years ago

    When looking for a lawn maintenance service, it's important to look for customer reviews. Since you can't get any info from the actual companies, you'll need to get it from previous clients. Not only will you be able to find out if they provide the services, but you'll also find out if the services are any good. I'm also in the process of finding a lawn maintenance service, and that's the approach I'm taking. I hope everything works out for you, Dan! http://www.prontoenterprises.com

  • dchall_san_antonio
    8 years ago

    Taking care of a lawn is too easy. Overseeding can be done by a 9-year-old pushing a rented broadcast spreader.


    If you need to over seed, then you do not need to dethatch. Those are practically polar opposite conditions. If you had a neglected lawn before you took over, it will not need to be dethatched. Thatch usually comes from too much care, not too little.

    Okay, no matter what your co-workers and other advisors tell you, I've been reading and contributing to the lawn forums for 13 years. The first 3 years were necessary to unlearn everything I thought I knew about lawn care. Back at that time I had had 5 lawns and studied lawn care in university classes. As it turned out after 40 years of practical lawn care, I had no idea how to properly care for the lawn. I had been doing just about everything wrong. Since then, and 2 more lawns under my belt, my lawn life has completely changed since coming to these and other forums. I must be a quick study, because starting in about 2004 I got three offers to moderate organic lawn care forums. My low hassle approach works and will either work immediately for you or can be tweaked to work for you. I wrote the following a couple years ago so I could stop repeating myself all the time. See what you think.


    Basics of Lawn Care

    After reading numerous books and magazines on lawn care, caring for lawns at seven houses in my life, and reading numerous forums where real people write in to discuss their successes and failures, I have decided to side with the real people and dispense with the book and magazine authors. I don't know what star their planet rotates around but it's not mine. With that in mind, here is the collected wisdom of the Internet savvy homeowners and lawn care professionals summarized in a few words. If you follow the advice here you will have conquered at least 50% of all lawn problems. Once you have these three elements mastered, then you can worry about weeds (if you have any), dog spots, and striping your lawn. But if you are not doing these three things, they will be the first three things suggested for you to correct.

    1. Watering
    Water deeply and infrequently. Deeply means at least an inch in every zone, all at once. Infrequently means monthly during the cool months and no more than weekly during the hottest part of summer. Do not spread this out and water for 10 minutes every day. If your grass looks dry before the month/week is up, water longer next time. If that does not work, then you might have to water more than once per week during the summer's hottest period. Deep watering grows deep, drought resistant roots. Infrequent watering allows the top layer of soil to dry completely which kills off many shallow rooted weeds.

    You will have to learn to judge when to water your own lawn. If you live in El Paso your watering will be different than if you live in Vermont. Adjust your watering to your type of grass, temperature, humidity, wind, and soil type. It is worth noting that this technique is used successfully by professionals in Phoenix, so...just sayin.' The other factors make a difference. If you normally water 1 inch per week and you get 1/2 inch of rain, then adjust and water only 1/2 inch that week.

    2. Mowing
    Every week mulch mow at the highest setting on your mower. Most grasses are the most dense when mowed tall. However, bermuda, centipede, and bent grasses will become the most dense when they are mowed at the lowest setting on your mower. In fact there are special mowers that can mow these grasses down to 1/16 inch. Dense grass shades out weeds, keeps the soil cooler, and uses less water than thin grass. Tall grass can feed the deep roots you developed in #1 above. Tall grass does not grow faster than short grass nor does it look shaggy sooner. Once all your grass is at the same height, tall grass just looks plush.

    3. Fertilizing
    Fertilize regularly. I fertilize 5 times per year using organic fertilizer. Which fertilizer you use is much less important than numbers 1 and 2 above. Follow the directions on the bag and do not overdo it (unless you use organics in which case you may overdo it without fear of hurting anything).

    At this point you do not have to worry about weed and feed products - remember at this point you are just trying to grow grass, not perfect it. Besides once you are doing these three things correctly, your weed problems should go away without herbicide.


    Okay, back to me now. That essay doesn't mention overseeding, because that is only a thing in fescue lawns. But annual fall overseeding is very important to keep the density up with fescue. Note that I don't mention dethatching or core aerating. If you're doing the 1,2,3 steps above, thatch will not be an issue. As for core aerating, we have a solution for hard soil which is much more effective than core aerating. There might be another reason to core aerate, but don't let someone talk you into that just so they can make their boat payment.