Calling all lawn care pros...

Snowhunter11 said:
Last you the rest of your life..

For a homeowner that washes once a year might last 20 years 🤷‍♂️https://a.co/d/iiZ669v
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I saw that one, and my over the shoulder seeder is from the same company. That looks like a pretty stout unit for sure. They have a couple others with larger capacity that are cheaper, but they have the plastic wheels that don't always roll the best on bare dirt compared to the rubber. I may have to cry once on this one or a similar unit. Scotts has an "elite" spreader that has dual agitators/spinners that looks pretty nice as well. Seems like for a large yard and food plots a guy is gonna spend $100-200 for something decent.
 
Don't overthink it....it's just grass. The biggest thing you need to worry about is water. If you spend a bunch of money on seed and don't water (or get it from the sky) your seed won't grow. If your current yard is mostly weeds then I would spray round up, wait 7 days, then spray it again. From there I would scalp it, level it if it needs it, and put your seed down. I've used peat moss as a cover but you would need a ton of it. Apply starter fertilizer within a couple days and water, water, water. Scotts has a starter fert that has a pre-immergant weed preventer that will still allow grass seed to come up.

I would recommend turf type tall fescue. Check out United Seed (Omaha,NE I think), they've got a bunch of seed varieties to choose from. I've ordered from them a few times without issue. It will probably hold up the best and takes less maintenance than rye or kentucky bluegrass. Also, look into pregermanating your seed. That could be difficult with the area you're trying to cover though. Grass seed will grow in concrete cracks so don't overthink it too much. Spring is a tough time to seed in some areas due to the new seedlings getting hammered by the heat of summer. You could try to do now then plan to overseed again this fall if there are some areas that didn't grow in. Or start getting it prepped now and just wait until the late August/September to do it.

Plenty of info on youtube that will go step by step through this process. It's not going to be perfect right away and could take a season or two to really fill in. Keep that in mind.
 
Man, I sure don't miss cutting and planting grass. Lawns look great but they are lots of work. We've been in drought for years. No end in sight.
 

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Haggin said:
SE Nebraska location for me, same drought conditions

I'd follow Snowhunter's advice but wait til the fall. Weed pressure should be less, temps should be cooler for less watering, and you don't have to deal with it over summer trying to keep it alive. Get a seed that had one grass that grows up quick and another that spreads from a local supplier. I use Miller Seed in Lincoln, NE. Early May is a NE/IA brand, so I'd check there too. You should get some good growth right away that will cover some of the other seed to help it along. Prep the bed, seed, rake lightly to get some soil over it, then roll it with a lawn roller if you have one (I use my ATV), then put out the straw blankets.

The erosion control blankets (net type with straw somehow attached under) are great. Though, I'd caution against assuming they covering the full 8' by 112'. We added a lean to on our barn last year with a lot of new dirt and grading all around the building, and used them to help the grass get established. I'd bet I got 70% coverage versus the measurements, even if I stretched them tight, but I'm definitely not a pro. You can install it by yourself, but having help is a plus. I bought the 16' wide ones and definitely needed help. One can stake while the other unrolls and keeps it tight. Buy way more stakes than you think you need.

For water, I bought some cheap sprinklers at Walmart that I could daisy chain three or four together on the same hose and put them out for best coverage. I used every hose I had around the place, and bought a few shorter ones, but it was better than moving sprinklers around every time. I watered 3X every day, because it was August and hot. Just enough to keep it wet with no runoff.
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I found the 8x112 blankets at Menards, and I believe they're actually like 7'6" wide. I'm gonna get 2 of them and cut them to fit the largest area, and I should have plenty of extra for the second largest area.

I found the 4" "Green Stakes" biodegradable stakes at a sod company in Maryland. They're about $25 cheaper than the same box of 500 stakes on Amazon and don't charge tax.

I have a couple of sprinklers already including some of the pivoting models and a rainbow type. I also have a couple hundred feet of hose and a dual head for the spigot, so I should be able to water both pieces simultaneously.

I'm calling the local seed company today for insight and pricing on good varieties for this project. I also have a call into a local ag company for bulk starter fertilizer. I need some for food plots anyway and sound like they will be less expensive than a standard off the shelf product. They have some that has trimec built in for pre-emerge control of broadleaves and some other garbage.

I have a 5' tiller that's going to do the hard work behind my tractor, and a couple landscaping rakes to level it all off.

Finally, I also gotta spread mole control granules at this time to keep those nasty buggers from tearing it up (again). I had good luck with grub-x last year after several months of failed trapping attempts.
 
If money isn't an option.

Just tear it all down and put down new sod. I have messed around with seeding bare areas, trying to keep the dogs out, watering, fertilizing, etc. It's more of a pain in the ass than anything and never really looks good/full/plush like fresh new sod that is grow by the professionals. My neighbor used one of those green sheets from Menards and the lawn doesn't look good. It is patchy and doesn't blend with the existing sod. It's a cheaper option, but cheap options can give cheap results. I just go to my local sod farm when I have a bare area or a dead patch, clear the area, cut it to correct dimension, throw it down, and give it a few weeks of semi heavy watering until the roots take. If you don't have a sprinkler system...I encourage it. It is worth every penny. Hand watering is costly and inefficient (too much water or too little water and uneven watering). Any lawn will not do well without a proper watering and fertilizing regime. I water every day in the spring, and every other day morning/evening from June to September. I put down fertilizer around Easter, Memorial Day, 4th of July, and Labor Day Weekend. Spraying for weeds consistently through the spring to early fall is a must too. I pride myself on my lawn and it takes a decent amount of work and money to keep it looking dark green, healthy, and weed free.

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TandKHunting said:
If money isn't an option.

Just tear it all down and put down new sod. I have messed around with seeding bare areas, trying to keep the dogs out, watering, fertilizing, etc. It's more of a pain in the ass than anything and never really looks good/full/plush like fresh new sod that is grow by the professionals. Now I just go to my local sod farm when I have a bare area or a dead patch, clear the area, cut it to correct dimension, throw it down and call it a day.
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Roger that man, and that may be the route we go if we can't get this to take.
 
TandKHunting said:
If money isn't an option.

Just tear it all down and put down new sod. I have messed around with seeding bare areas, trying to keep the dogs out, watering, fertilizing, etc. It's more of a pain in the ass than anything and never really looks good/full/plush like fresh new sod that is grow by the professionals. My neighbor used one of those green sheets from Menards and the lawn doesn't look good. It is patchy and doesn't blend with the existing sod. It's a cheaper option, but cheap options can give cheap results. I just go to my local sod farm when I have a bare area or a dead patch, clear the area, cut it to correct dimension, throw it down, and give it a few weeks of semi heavy watering until the roots take. If you don't have a sprinkler system...I encourage it. It is worth every penny. Hand watering is costly and inefficient (too much water or too little water and uneven watering). Any lawn will not do well without a proper watering and fertilizing regime. I water every day in the spring, and every other day morning/evening from June to September. I put down fertilizer around Easter, Memorial Day, 4th of July, and Labor Day Weekend. Spraying for weeds consistently through the spring to early fall is a must too. I pride myself on my lawn and it takes a decent amount of work and money to keep it looking dark green, healthy, and weed free.

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Nice lawn! To get a golf course looking lawn you need to do what golf courses do..

Irrigation is a must(properly set)

Planned seeding in spring and/or fall

Weed and feed applications

In my soil type aeration

My 2c
 
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I’m seriously thinking about going with turf. Easy clean up after the dogs, no water, no mowing, no weeding = more time shooting, camping, scouting, and fishing 😏
 
Following up on this thread. The large area by the house turned out great.
  1. Tilled to bare dirt
  2. Packed 2x with culti-packer
  3. Sowed seed, 12x12x12 (slow release), and gub-x individually with the Earth Way seeder
  4. Covered/staked with erosion blanket
  5. Watered, watered, watered...
The seed I used is called "Tough Turf" and has a broader blade. It's great for high traffic areas (dogs) and is drought resistant.
 

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Snowhunter11 said:
Nice work!
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Thank you and I'm trying to figure out how to hit the south half past the maple trees efficiently. You can see the line where the new and old start.

I was thinking if I hired a guy to spray the broadleavees and aerate this large area this fall and then sowed seed, 12x12x12, and grub-x it would be prepped and ready for spring. With winter rain and snow, I'm hopeful grass would emerge in the spring and possibly save me some watering cost.

I would also apply some crab grass preventer and a broadleaf treatment post-emergence when the grass was 4-6" tall.

I'm not looking for perfection on that large area, but there is very little grass today. This would be an attempt to get the grass started while working on the broadleaves (purslane and dandelions being the worst).

Thoughts?
 
The nicest lawn I’ve seen was killed dead as a door nail in the fall about every 3 years, leveled with a rolling fertilizer spreader, sealed with a simple broadcast spreader and lightly raked. A pre emergent weed preventer keeps weeds at bay until the grass is tall enough to take care of itself. Water was simple old school sprinkler heads screwed to a few boards - sprayed as much and often as necessary to keep ground moist. The owner was the most ocd guy and his lawn not only looked perfect from a distance, but even up close. No straw. No burlap. No erosion mats. Dirt with direct sun grows grass.
 
TaperPin said:
The nicest lawn I’ve seen was killed dead as a door nail in the fall about every 3 years, leveled with a rolling fertilizer spreader, sealed with a simple broadcast spreader and lightly raked. A pre emergent weed preventer keeps weeds at bay until the grass is tall enough to take care of itself. Water was simple old school sprinkler heads screwed to a few boards - sprayed as much and often as necessary to keep ground moist. The owner was the most ocd guy and his lawn not only looked perfect from a distance, but even up close. No straw. No burlap. No erosion mats. Dirt with direct sun grows grass.
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Agreed, just can't have 3 dogs going out in bare dirt mud for weeks and coming back in the house. ;)
 
What part of the country are we talking? Snow in the winter or just cold?

If you get snow you can cleanup the weeds as you described. Then aerate just before freeze up and broadcast seed. If possible try water to set it in and freeze it down.. then pray like hell you get good slow spring rains. If you don't snow cover throughout the winter hang tight and wait for spring.
 
Do a pre emerge in the fall, then another application in the spring time. If you over seed, you need to figure out when the pre emerge is not usable anymore, and you can't spray your grass with a herbicide typically for about 30ish days depending on the product before over seeding.

If you really want to nerd out on the grass, I'd start doing foiler application for fertilizers and herbicides. Grass looks good.

This is my mother's lawn I did a lawn make over on last year. Pure Kentucky blue grass. Got some random grass I need to take a paint brush with roundup to and kill.
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Snowhunter11 said:
What part of the country are we talking? Snow in the winter or just cold?

If you get snow you can cleanup the weeds as you described. Then aerate just before freeze up and broadcast seed. If possible try water to set it in and freeze it down.. then pray like hell you get good slow spring rains. If you don't snow cover throughout the winter hang tight and wait for spring.
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I'm in Western IA, and we typically have snow cover periodically through the winter. We get most of our precipitation every year in March, and its a mix.
 
I've fought hard with two in-ground sprinkler systems and I hate them with a passion. They are ******* terrible. Maintenance nightmares. I would 100% rather irrigate above ground than run those stupid cheap PVC pipes and fittings underground. Again, ******* terrible.
 
We use poly pipe for residential installs now. It works much better then the cheap pvc they installed 30 years on residential. Also having a competent company is key to adjustments , repairs, and blowouts (if needed).
 
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