After much research and testing the time has finally come this weekend to get my lawn overseeded. I will share the process and lessons learned for posterity
and anyone else looking to overseed this fall. I have about 10 thousand square feet of lawn and used 50# of tall fescue seed and 50# of starter fertilizer. The whole process took about 10 hours, 80% of which was spend raking and moving thatch off the lawn.
Materials and tools used:
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- 50# of bullseye tall fescue
- 50# of Lesco starter fertilizer
- Cub Cadet 1450
- Craftsman steel blade dethatcher
- Craftsman self propelled mower
- Cardboard box with rope as redneck yard cart
The process:
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Just like painting, it's about 95% preparation and 5% actual seeding. The goal is to obtain maximum seed to soil contact. I cut the grass as low as possible on my 1450 , which tuned out to not be low enough. Did another pass with my push mower on the lowest setting leaving about 1 inch of grass. At this point I had a ton of clippings on the lawn which were raked and removed.I then proceeded to verticut the entire lawn, which pulled an insane amount of thatch and also created shallow grooves into the soil. Again , spent quite a bit of time raking and moving thatch. Verticut once again at a 45 degree angle to the initial pass. Again, spent quite a bit of time raking and moving thatch. At this point, the existing grass had taken a serious beating, but all thatch was removed exposing the soil for the seed. Proceeded to spread starter fertilizer and seed at the recommended rates. Spread some of the thatch that I had pulled off the lawn back on the lawn in really bald areas to prevent the seed from blowing/washing away. On to watering for the next 7 days.
Lessons learned and observations:
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- Seed matters. In my seed tests , I noticed the Bullseye seed grew differently than the Rebel seed , in that it already had about 2 inches of roots after only 5 days, and little to no blade growth. The Rebel seed was not as agressive in root growth but grew blades much faster, so exactly the opposite. Check NTEP tests for your area and try to find a top performer rather than using 20 year old cultivars from big box stores.
- Get a lawn sweeper. It will save a lot of back breaking work.
- When verticutting, it looks like you're destroying your lawn. Don't be afraid to get in there and try to find the depth that removes the most thatch without tearing out your grass.
- Don't dethatch / verticut unless your grass is cut very short. The steel blades catch the grass blade and pull out the grass by the roots if not short enough.
- I don't think I would dare to aerate at the same time , it may be too much all at one time for your existing grass.