When/how to seed grass in dead areas?

curls00

Just bought the house and sometimeb between our inspection and the closing date, the previous owner went a little crazy with RoundUp and killed grass (not just the nasty weeds) in little 10" circles throughout the yard. He churned the soil to prepare for seeding but never did get to seeding it before we took posession.

Is mid-July an OK time to try and plant grass seed in these areas, considering we're in Ottawa (think upstate NY climate) -- HOT, HUMID. What type of regiment should I attempt to repair these rather unsightly areas?

Thanks!
Eric

Jeekinz

Has ther been any dogs in the yard lately? Dog urine will produce 10" round dead spots.

If it was from a chemical, flush the areas with water....I mean really soak it. Do this a few times a week. After a week and a half to two weeks you can plant seed or patch with sod.

I burned my lawn once with Weed and Feed. I'll never use that stuff again. I stick with Scotts Turfbuilder.

mcvane

Hi there.

We're in Toronto and unfortunately we've put some grass seed and some lawn food, the lack of rain has really killed the grass. A few days of scortching sun without watering did it for our lawn this year.

If you don't have much weeds, lay a good layer of topsoil throughout the yard if you can...and mix the grass seed in there. Then water a good amount over the next few days/weeks. Little baby grass blades will grow and I would let it mature until probably next spring. At that time, I might put a touch of lawn food to keep the grass in good shape.

Note: I'm not an expert, but this is what I did last year and it appeared to be fine.

Good luck.

curls00

The previous owner had a small dog but he even told me that the spots were from a weed killer spray (he said he went a bit nuts by accident). It was about 2-3 weeks ago at least, since he did this. It's rained a LOT this past week so I think its fairly flushed now. I'll try loosening the soil with a small garden claw thing and then putting down some regular grass seed I guess. Can't hurt, and it's "dirt" cheap. (boooo, bad pun!). I guess just water it (mist, not jet) a few times daily and hope for the best!

Jeekinz

No nozzle, just lay the end of the hose over the dead spots.

curls00

I meant to hydrate the seeds, not to flush the weed killer out -- I'm assuming that's basically already taken care of thanks to mother nature lately (it's rained an awful lot lately).

curls00

I picked up some CIL "Lawn Repair" which supposedly is made for this task. It has 2-4-2 (I think) fertilizer as well as lawn seed in it, in a convenient shaker-bottle. I raked and loosened the areas that I planned to seed, then soaked the area until just before the saturation point, and then shook on as directed (or as close as I could eyeball it). Just so happened that I JUST finished the last patch when the jug ran out.

We'll see how it goes -- the main thing according to the label is to keep the area moist at all times, so that's my plan.

Cheers all.
Eric

Dusty

If you have a lot to do, take a look at the fat grass recipe. It's supposed to be really good to revitalize a lawn and I bet on a smaller scale to do patches. http://www.cityline.ca/homeandgarden...goryName=Lawns

Otherwise if you soil is good, you can sprinkle seed on top and then some peat moss (I think that keeps it moist and hides it from the birds). You need to water every day until the seed sprouts to ensure the ground stays moist.

I can tell you (since I just had to go buy my second bag of seed) that it seems that top dressing of peat moss is important. The birds around here got a feed I can tell you.

Oh yes, buy enough seed to throw over your entire lawn because if you buy a seed that is different from the grass you have it will be noticeable. At least getting some mixed into the existing stuff should help prevent that.

HiFi

yeS i HAVE SEEN THE FAT GRASS RECIPIE BEING USED VERY EFFECTIVELY AND SUCCESSFULLY u CAN GO FOR IT.It is highly recommended(srry for th caps guys)