reseeding lawn

[porthos]

what's the procedure for reseeding my lawn. i live in sw, pa. i am not a lawn person, i hate lawn work.

[Duckiller]

Hire a gardener and let him and his crew take care of your lawn.

[Pipefitter]

Ashphalt pave it and paint it green, then let the landscape guys know that the only thing you will need them for is to clear the snow on the driveway in the winter.

[GregLaROCHE]

It depends on the quality of your soil and what size you are planting. First thing is do your neighbors have nice grass? If so, your soil is probably good enough. Normally it’s a good idea to plant three or more grasses together. One that grows fast to hold the ground, one that’s good for hot dry weather and one that’s good for cool weather. There are a lot of different combinations of seeds out there depending on what you plan to be doing with it. For example walking on it a lot or not or if it is in full sun or shade. The best place to get information is from a local garden center. They should know what works best in your area or maybe a local university can help you. Adding the right type of fertilizer at the right time can always help, especially if the soil isn’t the best quality.

The ground will have to be prepared to mechanically soften it up and remove plants that will compete with the new grass. The best would be if it could be plowed, so plants and seeds are well below the surface. Sometimes a product like Roundup is used to kill everything before planting new grass. It’s use is becoming more and more restricted, so that may not be an option these days.

The fall can be a good time to plant grass, because you normally have more rain, however, it needs to have enough time to get established enough before it freezes. You may be a little late. Again check with people locally to know what is best to do. You might be better off waiting until Spring.

It’s not not possible to give one easy answer to your question. This is an area where local knowledge is important.

[Alstep]

Go to a neighbor farmer and sweep out the hay mow. There's enough seeds on the floor to cover most any area you may want to seed. All local seeds that are well adapted to your area.

[Land Owner]

Call your local Agricultural Extension Agent and ask for a Master Gardener. Tell them what you have and want to do. Follow their advice. You won't go wrong in that.

[William Yanda]

Check out frost seeding.

[GregLaROCHE]

Call your local Agricultural Extension Agent and ask for a Master Gardener. Tell them what you have and want to do. Follow their advice. You won't go wrong in that.

I agree. That’s the best way to go. You expert local knowledge.

[Thunder Stick]

I re-seeded my back yard when I retired about 4 years ago and it came out beautiful. The old yard had died. Previous owners just laid sod on top of the old yard before we bought the place. There was plastic mesh from the sod everywhere that I had to pull up. I Started by repairing the sprinkler system. Then, everything green that was growing in the yard was pulled. I raked and leveled the dirt.

At the local home supply, I purchased some "Pennington Contractors Mix", "Mixture/Blend Grass Seed". The stuff is beautiful, hearty and is green all year. I raked the seed into the yard dirt and watered it twice a day until it sprouted. My yard looks great today.

[MrWolf]

I started to get a nice lawn and had planned on fixing her up this fall. Girlfriend moved in with her German short haired pointer. Those dogs have CLAWS. With his never ending speed he loves running the yard as he has a lot more room. Actually leaves his own "game trail". Not the brightest compared to mine, but very loveable and my constant companion. Anywho I gave up worrying about a lawn

[MT Gianni]

Look for a local hydro seeding business.

[smithnframe]

I'd leave it au natural! I hate yard/lawn work!

[.429&H110]

Pennington contractors mix! Great stuff! Will grow on anything. I bought a sea of muddy rock in NH, and put down Pennington. Yay! Now we can mow it! Then I had the opposite problem once I got to three acres growing hay, trying to mow it. I had thorn apples down one side, sliced me as I rode by, so I mixed a gallon of muriatic with five gallons of water and walked down the line of lawn. Thorn apples loved it, and the grass died, left a four foot burn I did not have to mow. Fine. Moss came up thick the next year. SWMBO set the north lawn on fire for something to do, reseeded it with conservation mix, came up thick with wildflowers, so I didn't have to mow that either. I had fun down the other 100 yards with muriatic, then miracid plant food, darned but the moss kept the grass edged. Ended up planting a line of highbush blueberries to fight off the thornapples growing in moss, all happy in Miracid. I hate mowing lawns. Moved to NoPole AK and SWMBO did the weed and feed thing, drat if I wasn't mowing again. Was permafrost in the northside shade, and she made it grow grass. Here in the Sonoran desert, we have no grass. Was 94F today. Bouganvilla, roses, hibiscus, bush bean flowering, picking zooks, spinach and melons. Anything will grow here, with water and goat poop. Even a golf course, but not in my backyard.

[Land Owner]

In advance of hunting season, I prep and plant wildlife food plots, farming three dozen woodland acres in several states, and have done this for 25 years. Lawns are not farms. Some similar techniques may be employed on a lawn, but wholesale ripping, tearing, turning to bare earth, herbicide on emergent vegetation, smoothing, seeding, covering, and asking for a gentle rain are far and above "routine maintenance" for a lawn.

At a beach rental house, the first year after relocating for a new job, their lawn was St. Augustine grass and so thick that I purchased a High Lift Wheel kit for the walk behind mower. It was STILL HARD to mow as the grass was so deep (not neglect - just THICK). I called the Ag. Center and spoke to a Master Gardener. He suggested that I "digest" the lawn's thatch. Say what? Spray it with a cheap beer (PBR) through a hand held water sprayer and let the beer yeast ferment the thatch. Worked GREAT! Smelled like a brewery for three days! The yard literally COMPRESSED itself as the thatch was "digested", laid down, and fertilized the live grass. The home owner was THRILLED. Me too as my mowing was FIVE TIMES easier and the lawn looked GREAT thereafter.

On another occasion at my owned home, with a healthy and fully mature Naval Orange tree in the front yard (planted as a 3-gallon pot) that refused to flower or fruit, after four years I was about to chainsaw it to the dirt line. I called the Ag. Center and the Master Gardner again. He told me to take a broom handle and whack the tree, not break the bark, branches, or anything quite that severe, but whack the foliage and branches as it had not been "cold enough" here, the tree was dormant, and needed to be awakened?!? I said my neighbors already believed I was near crazy. If they saw me in daylight whacking my orange tree, they would conclude for certain that I had gone over board. He said (I'll never forget), "Then, do it at night!" DOOPH!!! Simple. Direct. Common sense! That tree flowered, woke up(!), and produced the BEST and PLENTIFUL fruit from that point on.

[GregLaROCHE]

Amazing story about wacking the orange tree. Who would ever have thought that? That’s why expert advice often helps. The older you get, the more you realize there is to learn.

[john.k]

No need for whacking here .....I got acreage ,but all the surrounding houses are on smaller lots,and most have an orange or lemon in the back yard......these trees are neglected ,but are always covered in fruit,which falls on the ground and rots......oranges here are around .50c each in the shops,why these people wont even pick them up is beyond me.

[Finster101]

I'm in Florida, what most of you guys call weeds I call a lawn. St. Augustine is some tough stuff. I'm working on getting zoysia grass started around the pole barn.

[GregLaROCHE]

I remember acres of citrus trees in Florida with the fruit falling on the ground. I guess the current market price didn’t warrant the cost of picking them. However, don’t get caught picking even one up for yourself!

[Thundarstick]

Lawns are a strange thing that all depends on what zone your in, warm season, cool season, or the transitional zone. Getting advice from someone outside your zone is like asking your barber to take off that mole while I'm hear for a hair cut! I'll strongly reiterate see your county extension agency if your determined to DIY, if your really not a garden and yard man, just pay someone who is!

[Finster101]

I have to agree with the hire a pro guys. I miss the nice soft grass I grew up with in Kentucky but it just won't grow here. You need to find what works in your area and you can spend lot's of time and money trying to get it right. Hire someone and get it done right the first time.