This is a simple post. There are two things I want to show you.
1. A Kentucky Bluegrass seed germinating
2. The new Pennington Smart Seed sun and shade mix grass seed popping up through the compost I put down last week
Boy, they aren’t kidding when they say that Bluegrass seed takes over four weeks to germinate. I planted most of the seed near the beginning of September and a lot of it is just coming up now. That’s just crazy, but I do enjoy it when I look outside every day and the grass looks slightly more green and full each time. I over seeded the entire property and it really is showing. I can’t wait for Spring to come so I can give it another layer of seed. I am going to give this a shot because I don’t want to put down any weed and feed. From now on, nothing but fertilizer. No herbicides or pesticides. We’ll see if the saying is true…”a nice thick lawn will crowd out weeds.”
Also, it didn’t take long for the Pennington Smart Seed to start growing. I watered it a few days ago and it got drenched last night. I woke up this morning to find parts of the compost actually lifted off the ground. It was like someone poured soil on a shag carpet. The new grass growing underneath the top layer of compost was lifting the whole thing up. When I put my hand on top of it, it felt like I was pushing down on a sponge.
Here are some pictures.
Kentucky Bluegrass grass seed germinating
Pennington Smart Seed sun and shade mix early growth – germination
This is a project that I have been waiting all year to do. It’s called, “Overseeding the lawn” (the correct time of year).
Every time I have put down grass seed, it was during the hottest, driest time of year. The seed didn’t do much because there was nothing much to do. Eventually, I think it actually grew, but that was months later when things cooled off and the rain returned.
They say to overseed your lawn in early September. This is because, like I said above, the Summertime drought is most likely over and rain falls more frequently. Unfortunately for me, the ten day forecast shows ten perfectly orange pictures of sunshine. Only me.
The reason I did the whole lawn dethatch, aerate and overseed the day I did was because of the rain we got the previous two days. In order to properly aerate, you need moist soil. If the soil is too dry, the aerator can’t get down into the dirt deep enough and you won’t pull a substantial plug. I got plugs that were about one and a half to two inches long. I would offer a picture, but it’s been about a week since I did this job and the plugs are all dried up and not very attractive.
I thought I would breeze through this particular project. In actuality, it took longer than expected. First, I dethatched the grass. I did this by towing the dethatcher I bought at Home Depot around the yard. Since grass and thatch kept clumping up in the tines, I had to stop frequently to clean it out. After that was done, I put the bagger back on the mower and mowed the grass at a height of three inches. I know the general advice is to mow at one inch or less when overseeding, but I just didn’t have the heart to scrape the dirt when I had no guarantee of rain in the future. I am not about to water 11,000 square feet of grass either. Mother Nature is going to have to take care of this one.
After I dethatched and mowed, I pulled out the tow behind plug aerator and did my thing. I did a few passes over the lawn to make sure I roughed up the dirt enough. I did a good job, but I still think I should have done more. It’s just that while doing this kind of thing, you want to get it done. Driving around in circles isn’t all that entertaining.
Okay, so once the aerating was finished, I filled the seed spreader up with my custom mixture of Kentucky Bluegrass and Perennial Ryegrass. I chose these two types of grass because the Kentucky Bluegrass is just awesome looking and it is supposed to spread to fill in bare spots. The thing is, it takes forever to germinate. The Perennial Ryegrass is a good looking durable grass that germinates much faster and will fill things in while waiting for the Bluegrass.
As I said above, it’s been about a week with no rain and there isn’t much action out there. I have been watering certain areas with my sprinkler because I have no illusions that a huge thunderstorm isn’t going to come and wash all the seed off the front hillside. I want to get that grass sort of anchored in there before that happens. Otherwise, I will have to let nature take its course and wait for the grass to grow on it’s own. I also have some seed left over to spread out if need be.
Here are some pictures for you.
Bare spot in lawn with hole from tow behind plug aerator
Bare spot in lawn with Kentucky Bluegrass and Perennial Ryegrass grass seed
Bag of Scotts starter fertilizer
Oh yeah, I also bought two bags of Scotts starter fertilizer. Each bag is supposed to cover 5,000 square feet. I haven’t applied this yet because the directions say to water in immediately after application. Since I can’t water the entire lawn, I am going to wait for right before the next rainfall to spread this stuff around.
I am eagerly awaiting September 1, so I can overseed the lawn. I know I have mentioned this on more than one occasion, but I guess I’m just excited.
I went over to the Depot today to look for a new lawn spreader. Actually, I went to Sears first. No luck at either place. They are all plastic garbage. I already have one of those green seed / fertilizer spreaders, but the reach isn’t as far as I would like it to be. I have been considering a tow behind spreader, but all the reviews I have read practically everywhere tell me they are junk too. Apparently, the little doo-hicky that opens and closes the area that the seed comes out of is made of plastic and doesn’t do its job very well. I am looking for a nice quality spreader, so if anyone has any advice, I’m listening. I am also willing to give up my current spreader after I get a new one, so you just stay tuned.
While I was at Home Depot, I thought I would stock up on some grass seed for my upcoming overseeding event. I did all my research and decided upon Kentucky Bluegrass. This type of grass spreads and fills in bare spots and thin grass, so that’s what we need. Also, it has that nice dark green color that everyone loves so much.
It’s amazing, I created a few bare spots in the lawn early on in the Spring and they haven’t filled in yet. I guess the current grass doesn’t spread on its own at all. I really like the spreading quality of some grass, so that’s what I had my heart set on.
Scotts Kentucky Bluegrass grass seed mixture
Scotts Kentucky Bluegrass grass seed
I opened one of the bags this afternoon because I couldn’t wait anymore. I was surprised to see such tiny little grass seed. This is the stuff with that “water technology” something or other. My goal was to sprinkle a little on some bare spots that are close to the garage. I want to see if anything happens before I go all out and do the whole lawn.
I roughed up the bare spots with a pitch fork and put a really small amount on each area. Then, I roughed each spot up again. I’ll give it a few weeks and report back what happens. From what I have been reading, it takes a good long time for this grass seed to germinate. With the cooler Summer and all the rain we have been having, I’m not concerned with the Summer heat doing a number on this seed. Also, the reason I only put a small amount of seed on each spot is because this seed was crazy expensive. I am going to use it very sparingly so it will cover the entire lawn.
Okay, the guy from Scott’s Lawn Service here in Hartford just called to schedule our grub control application. We went over the stuff and I told him that I had a few questions. I asked when I am supposed to plug aerate and apply an overseeding of grass seed. He told me that I should do the whole thing in early September. Then, I asked what type of grass seed I am supposed to put down. He told me to apply a grass seed with “Thermal Blue.” This is a Kentucky Bluegrass hybrid or something like that. It is really green grass, durable and survives hot and cold. Oh yeah, it also spreads to fill in bare spots, which is good.
I wanted to do a little more research on the grass seed, so I went over to YouTube and found a really neat video that had nothing to do with what I just wrote. I wanted to share it with you. It’s how they grow and roll up turf grass over in England (I think). If you are a grass guy like me, you’ll like this video.
