Laying Loam/Growing Grass

[Goose]

I do this for a living, sad I know but somebody's gota do it. This is how I would do it. Rent dethatcher, they are used to get up dead grass and debre but in this case your going to cultivate the soil.

First cut the exsisting grass as low as you can with a mower.

Rack it clean.

Lower the dethatcher as low as it'll go, you will feel it want take off on you HOLD IT and it cultivates. If you are going over an area that has good grass simply raise the machine so it doesn't rip it out.

Again rake it, you want to get up all the dead roots and grass.

Spread your loam, 2" is fine.

Grade it

Seed Lime/ starter Fertizer...

With the (back) of your leaf rake, gently pass over all the area , do it as though you are raking leaves.

Useing a roller is best, don't fill it, just fill 1/4 of it. just enough weight to press the seed to the soil.

Water when nessesary and let Mother nature do the rest.

Useing tiller much more work ect.. I've done countless jobs that you have
described. Fall is the best time to reseed....no weeds. If you do it now expect to see some weeds.

[justplugit]

You really got some good advice from alot of knowledgeable people.One last thing that will make the difference between so so, and full germination. Don't let the seed bed dry out.The first week is critical. Each day water until it starts to puddle up. Do that 3-4 times a day until it's up 1in or so. From that point on deep water 3x a week to get the roots to grow deep. If you have any sloping areas where run off could be a problem you can put a covering of Penn Mulch on top to hold the seed. Hope that helps.

[Raven]

if you have any willow trees near you ....you can take like 50 cuttings....say
20 inches long and let them soak in a five gallon bucket full of water...for a week....the cuttings will release their own growth hormone rooting agent into the water and that will increase your root growth one hundred times.....

or you can "buy" a product called super thrive (pricey stuff) which is a vitamin b1 suppliment
only one drop makes a gallon of "mix"...or "super thrive water" and that will increase root growth 100 times...theres a venturi style mixing valve sold that can siphon out of a 5 gallon bucket before your sprinkling hose or sprinkler so you can fertilize or root stimulate as you water.

grass seed grows best when it has firm contact with the soil....so i second the idea of using a rented roller... where as most people have the grass seed laying on the surface after the first rain exposes it...and then let it dry out. an automatic watering timer - is a great thing to have!

[Gloucester2]

So is it green yet ?

[Sgt_Nutz]

Hire Goose to do it and go fishing!

[TheSpecialist]

For the last 2 days I have been hard at work in the yard. I ripped out a dozen shrubs that were a lost cause. I ripped out 125 square feet of 3" thick concrete, and a big cinder block grill that was falling apart. I cut down a 40' tree, and removed about 10 massive limbs from 3 other trees. I stripped the whole backyard lawn, and 2 front lawns. I dug 200' of trench for a sprinkler system, and a new 60 amp sub panel in the garage. Lay the conduit, sprinkler pipe and back fill over the next couple of days, and build a 6' x 40' raised bed garden for my tomatoes while I am at it. My buddy is going to hydro seed the whole thing sunday.

[Karl F]

Bill... very nice... but dude... Go Fishin'!!