Lawn Maintenance

I'm thinking of renting an aerator from home depot.... the wider one that you pull with a tractor is cheaper to rent than the walk behind.... unless you have tight areas to get to, is there any reason to pay more for the walk behind??

Walk behind
http://www6.homedepot.com/tool-truck-rental/mobile/PRO_Aerator/554918A/index.html

Towable
http://www6.homedepot.com/tool-truck-rental/mobile/Towable_Aerator/TA10/index.html

Also plan on throwing down some grass seed (my back yard didn't come in well this year, but have a service doing lime/fertilizer/insecticides/etc now).... should I put the see down right after aerating or wait a week or two?
 
The walk behind probably costs more to rent because it is powered by an engine. The towable is ground driven(your tractor pulling it produces the drive). No need to rent walker if they both make nice aeration holes.

Put seed down right after aeration and try to rake or drag seed into aeration holes. This will help ensure seed to soil contact. Afterwards water seed regularly to help germination.
 
Ok two more quick ones...

Was planning on aerating & seeding this weekend but it's going to rain the next few days.... Probaby need to make sure the ground is relatively dry for the aerator to make good holes right?

And should I cut the grass low before I do this?
 
sk1er18 said:
Ok two more quick ones...

Was planning on aerating & seeding this weekend but it's going to rain the next few days.... Probaby need to make sure the ground is relatively dry for the aerator to make good holes right?

And should I cut the grass low before I do this?
Click to expand...

The optimum conditions for aerating and seeding is to have a moist soil which allows for aeration tines to penetrate the soil but not so wet that you bring up mud. You want to make sure the seed drops into slits of shallow holes to ensure seed to soil contact.

Cutting the grass low can help with the seeding and aeration process. Depending upon the machine it can perform better with less topgrowth to cut through.

The ideal would have been to get the seed in the ground before we get this expected rain.
 
Thanks for the reminder... Time to get out there.. I love the Geese poop like lugs it leaves all over the lawn... Kids like to have dirt bomb fights with them.
 
IMO I would wait until next fall and seed closer to mid-late August. You're pushing it now with the amount of time new seed will have to establish itself and survive the winter. Likewise in the spring, new grass will struggle to survive the summer.

Everyone will tell you you're crazy to seed before labor day, but with the proper watering (which you'll need regardless) it'll work. Also the newer thinking is that disturbing the soil (aerating, slit seeding, etc.) stirs up a lot of weed seed that's sitting on your lawn and allows it to grow. Water it well for a few days before hand so everything is soft. Then mow it low, seed, and lightly rake it in to get seed down to the soil. Then roll it in and water, water, water. Start it short and frequent (don't let the seeds get dry) then taper off to deep & infrequent to encourage root growth as your seeds sprout and grow. This will be your friend for watering.

This was seeded August 15, pictures from 9/25 (41 days). There were (are) some problem areas mostly caused by poor sprinkler coverage, but the overwhelming majority came in great despite the hot/dry weather since I put my seed down.

IMG_20150925_165858324.jpg


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BTW this was a complete kill (roundup) and re-seed, not overseeding.

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I have some significant bare spots so I have to put down something. A lot of it is fresh seed from August of last year (had the yard graded & fresh topsoil) that didn't quite make it. I would have done it sooner but wanted to wait until after my daughter's baptism last week since I knew it would get trampled between my other 3 kids and neices/nephews/friends kids running around and driving power wheels.
 
So about that grass seed that I put down about 10 days ago and have been watering. .... with this early frost we're getting, what's the game plan? Haven't seen anything sprout yet (not unexpected considering the cool temps we've had over the past week). Do I continue watering when the temps come back up later this week or cut my losses and see what grows come spring?
 
I'd give it a shot for another week, it's supposed to warm up. However you wont have much root development and it'll be a long shot for anything to survive the winter. Look up dormant seeding, basically throw down some seed the day before the first snow and just let it do it's own thing come spring time.
 
Thanks for the advice. I do have some seed left.... so if there's not much activity I'll give the dormant seeding a shot on the bare/thin spots and see how things go in the spring.

Appreciate the help. 🙂
 
Lol I think I'll avoid it then..... I'm trying to find the balance of getting grass to grow vs going crazy with the science of how/why to do certain things for the perfect lawn.

Weeds were so much easier to maintain. ....
 
haha then DO NOT CLICK!!!!! Otherwise you'll be spraying roundup on your yard next July.

On the dormant seeding, just remember where it is come spring so you don't drop halts etc. on it and prevent it from germinating.
 
Did i just mow for the last time this year?

Double cut the front, and it looks good!

IMG_3799.JPG
 
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