Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
ken_cross_gw

Help Dchall/tiemco/BPgreen/Others!!! Patchy lawn after 2 weeks!

Ken_Cross
9 years ago

Good morning folks! Long-time lurker, first time poster. I've been gathering up excellent info over the past couple months in hopes of making my first attempt at a lawn renovation in Northern VA/ Zone 7 a successful one! Here is a quick run-down of the steps I've taken up to this point in time, almost all thanks to the wealth of free knowledge to be gained on this website!

Late July- had soil tested. took sample, sent away to Virginia Tech for analysis, soil was sufficient in most items, however a little low in potash. I decided not to till the soil so that I didn't have to deal with the ground settling over next 3 years, and was hoping to remedy the deficiency over the next couple years with fertilizer that is higher in potash.

Late August- lawn was 80% weeds. home built in 2006, owners didn't perform any lawn care, so I decided to kill everything w/ glyphosate.

Late September- set mower on lowest setting, scalped the lawn, bagged all clippings. Then, used verticutter/ dethatcher to both kick-up matted thatch as well as lightly scrape the surface of the ground. Then, hand raked & bagged all thatch. 1 day after a solid rain, Core Aerated the crap out of the lawn (6-7 passes). Next, Used a verticutter again to both pulverize the cores made by the aerator and to further soften the top 1/2" of the ground (after reading thoroughly on this forum, I realize that I probably don't have clay like everyone in their brother thinks, however the ground was ridiculously hard and could only stick a screwdriver in the ground 1" deep in most places).

Sunday 9/28: using a Classen TS-20 Turf Seeder, seeded lawn with what I am hoping was an awesome quality TTTF seed blend which I purchased online (Bullseye, Cochise IV, LS1200. Sod-Quality, 0% weed seed). Seeded at a rate of 8lbs per 1000sq ft. Used a 50lb bag for approximately 5000sq ft of lawn. Then, used what is hopefully an excellent starter fertilizer (19-26-6) with 72% methylene urea nitrogen, 25 lbs used for 5000 sq feet of lawn. Lastly, using a water-filled lawn roller, rolled the seed in the ground for good seed-to-soil contact

Past 2 weeks: I purchased (2) 4-valve digital hose valves and a ton of sprinklers. I've basically got 8 zones of sprinklers covering 90% of the entire yard, and they have been watering approximately 5-8 minutes at breakfast, lunch, and dinner automatically. I've been adjusting the duration every day depending on the moisture of the ground and the rain forecast. Ground has been kept moist, hopefully not too damp.

Today 10/11: it has been 12 days since initial seeding, and I've got a good amount of seedlings in sight! If I were to guess, I've got 70% germination. ***here's the problem***: It appears that there are clear areas where the seed hasn't germinated. I'm not sure if this is due to the fact that in some places, the seed wasn't dispensed properly by the turf seeder, or if somehow the seed in certain places was placed deeper in the soil, but I'm getting nervous that the lawn will look "patchy" in certain places (even after maturing).

SO....... today's October 11 in Zone 7. I know that I'm pretty much outside the "sweet spot" for planting seed, but I've got 2 choices: buy more seed and throw it down by hand in these places (hoping for good seed-to-soil contact without harming the other young seedlings) OR wait for next fall & overseed. I really didn't want to wait for next fall because I know that if these areas don't fill in with grass, they will be filled in with weeds. I don't want to fight another major battle in 1 year.

Which is where the wealth of knowledge from this community of users comes into play..... what are your thoughts, people? put down more seed now, or live to fight another day & overseed next fall? Thanks in advance Folks!!!!
{{gwi:119980}}
{{gwi:119981}}
{{gwi:119983}}
{{gwi:119984}}
{{gwi:119985}}
{{gwi:119986}}
{{gwi:119987}}
{{gwi:119988}}
{{gwi:119989}}

This post was edited by Ken_Cross on Sat, Oct 11, 14 at 11:11

Comments (3)

  • User
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Ken,
    Looks awesome!
    Throw that seed deown now! You have nothing to loose!
    What doesn't come up in the winter, will as soon as the ground warms in the spring anyway.
    Water more.
    It looks like your problem in the front is the incline, or hill.
    You really did alot of work there.

  • morpheuspa (6B/7A, E. PA)
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    For Day 12, that's actually very nice.

    In the locales where the seed hasn't yet sprouted, check the moisture. When seeding, I had the same thing, but increasing the water in those spots cleared them up pretty fast.

    Glancing at your soil test, you have far more problems than you think. Calcium saturation is exceptionally low and bordering deficiency. Magnesium is through the roof. Potassium, as you noted, is low. Boron is deficient.

    While this requires a lot of work, you can't do it right now when you just seeded. It's going to have to wait until next year--by which time I'd get a new test for a new baseline (and I'd suggest UMass or Logan Labs for more information about your soil).

  • beckyinrichmond
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    If you used all the seed in a 50 lb bag on 5000 sq ft, didn't you seed at 10 lb/K? There should be more than sufficient seed. If you used only 40 lb (8 lb/K), you have leftover seed and you could add a little more seed to bare areas. But your coverage looks good to me and there doesn't seem to be a lot of weeds. The grass will thicken up as those little strands turn into clumps. Grass that is sown too thickly can be a problem. It doesn't have good air circulation and is prone to disease. So be careful not to overseed. You likely will not find the products VA Tech was recommending (0-0-50 and 46-0-0) at the big box stores. There are Southern States and Virginia Tractor Supply stores in Leesburg and Manassas and they may have them. Morph is suggesting a soil test from Logan and he could then recommend a course of action for the soil next year. If you can locate 46-0-0, you could use that for your winterizing fertilization later this fall (after grass stops growing and before the ground freezes). For 5000 sq ft, you would use 10 lb. for the whole yard. I don't know if 0-0-50 could go down at the same time then; maybe Morph can advise. That's assuming you can locate the products. Call before you visit.