overseeding the lawn
dido22
My back lawn is very poor quality & I am thinking of re-seeding it.
In the garden centre there are packs of lawn seed which claim to be
specifically for this purpose.
Can I just sprinkle new seed over an old lawn ? (seems unlikely to me ! )
all advice very welcome
KK
R
"dido22" <nos...@nospam.hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:h39udg$6k5$1...@aioe.org...
"General" advice......
Rake the areas to be seeded thoroughly to achieve a softer, debris/dead
grass and moss free(er) surface.
Evenly sprinkle the seed over those areas and *gently* press in with your
foot or a roll very lightly.
Provide a surface layer of either sand or very fine sieved topsoil to hide
the seed and provide a reasonable covering to retain moisture and reduce
direct sunlight.
Water daily until germination is evident.
Gently add a little more sand or topsoil when leaf of grass is around an
inch tall.
Continue to water enough to keep moist.
Provide mechanical protection (small fenced off area etc) to reduce
trampling until fully grown.
That's how we patched the approaches and surrounds on the golf course.
Dave Hill
Give your lawn a good raking with a wire rake to shift debris, mos and
to stand the existing grass stems a bit, let the grass you have grow
to about 1.5 inches, broadcast sow the grass seed all over the lawn
and give it a light rake in with the wirew rake,
If it's dry then water well,
The longer grass will keep a microclimate round its base and hold
moisture, if you are lucky enough to be getting no rain then a light
watering in the evening every couple of days. .
The grass should germinate quickly at this time of year.
Remember you should cut new grass with a cylinder mower as it Curs the
grass rather than slashes it as a rotary mower does.
A rotary mower can pull the young grass out by the roots.
Remember, in nature grass seed just drops to the grownd and doesn't
get planted, except some by worms.
David Hill
bobharvey
> Remember, in nature grass seed just drops to the grownd and doesn't
> get planted, except some by worms.
It's true. But Nature is not setting out to achieve a perfect
monovarietal sward, and as long as one seed in a million succeeds is
quite happy. We are hoping to get at least 50% of grass seeds to
succeed, so a bit of TLC & the elimination of hazards will help this
un-natural desite.
Angela
Look at the long term forecast and pick a long wet, warm spell to do it. If
you do it in a dry spell you'll have to water frequently
Dave Hill
We dont all go into the garden with "un-natural desires"
If just 1 in one million grass seeds grew in nature then we would have
no grass.
David Hill
Sacha
Am I allowed at this stage to butt in, yet again, with Ray's lawn
seeding method? ;-) Well, I will anyway (perhaps NB to FAQ
makers?!): thoroughly mix up lawn seed and compost in a wheelbarrow to
the quantity required. Tip all back into an empty compost sack. Roll
over loosely at the top and leave for a few days. When the seed has
germinated, scatter it where needed. This helps you to see where
you've sown and it helps to keep birds off. Cover the scattered seed
with horticultural fleece and weigh the edges down with stones or
similar. This also helps to repel birds, gives the grass a bit of a
'greenhouse' and gets it off to a good start. When grass is a decent
height, remove fleece. Keep watered in dry spells before and after
fleece removal. Several NT gardeners learned this tip from Ray and
have put it to good use!
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
Shrubs & perennials. Tender & exotics.
South Devon
dido22
RG
"Sacha" <sa...@nowhere.com> wrote in message
news:7btr7vF...@mid.individual.net...
Now included as an FAQ...
http://www.u-r-g.co.uk/faqlawnrep.htm
RG
Sacha
Many thanks. Don't know why I'm seeing some of these posts so late -
I'm getting used to a new newsreader and obviously haven't got the hang
of it yet!
Stan The Man
FWIW, I managed to strip the grass verge outside my house back to bare
earth as a consequence of building works, skips, rubble, etc. The
Highways Officer for the local council came to see me and told me that
I needed to re-seed the verge and reinstate (which I was going to do
anyway). I told him what I planned to do and how I intended to care for
it during propagation and growth. He looked shocked. "Don't bother with
all that," he said. "Just loosen the surface, scatter the grass seed
and then ignore it. Nature will take care of the rest." I voiced my
surprise and he added: "We seed or re-seed hundreds of acres of grass
verge and landscaping every year and this method works just fine." And
it did.
Sacha
It will certainly work but the method I've described is faster and for
re-seeding bare patches in lawns (which are hard on the naked eye for
some people) it's just a very satisfactory way of getting it going
easily. Grass verges aren't usually treated with the tlc lawns usually
get so a less than perfect finish probably doesn't matter quite so
much. One of the things I like so much round here is that the verges
are a great mixture of different grasses and wildflowers, especially
where there are no pavements. By and large, they're left unmown for a
long period and in due season, primroses, bluebells, ox-eye daisies,
foxgloves, campion and ragwort are allowed to flourish.
Sacha
> On Fri, 24 Jul 2009 15:58:37 +0100, Sacha <sa...@nowhere.com> wrote:
> <snip> One of the things I like so much round here is that the verges
>> are a great mixture of different grasses and wildflowers, especially
>> where there are no pavements. By and large, they're left unmown for a
>> long period and in due season, primroses, bluebells, ox-eye daisies,
>> foxgloves, campion and ragwort are allowed to flourish.
>
> There were wild orchids growing on the grass verges in places in N Yorksire
There were some near here and then the owner of a nearby house put in
possibly the ugliest gateway in Devon and must, I think, have got lime
or something onto the grass. We've never seen the orchids again.