Overseeding problem...

Hi
Am new to the forum and just gotten into gardening for the past two years

Have just overseeded my lawn which is the of a two year process of applying nitrogen and removing weeds that had taken over the lawn. I firstly dethatched with a rake and scalped the lawn then applied topsoil. I spread the seed and raked into soil. The problem is that I only had enough topsoil for 3/4 of the lawn and didn't want to make the lawn look uneven so applied seed to all of it. Will the seed thats not on topsoil have a chance of germinating? It includes areas of bare patches. Have been watering regularly and had fairly decent weather

Thanks in advance

 

Yes, it should do. Its a bit late in the season to be doing it, so your greatest risk is high temperature / dry weather which very young seedlings won't appreciate (even if you water daily the surface will dry out quite quickly, and the seedlings won't have much in the way of roots [to enable them to draw water from lower in the soil]).

But fingers crossed it will be fine.

 

Hi

thanks for the reply
just had a look at the seeds while watering and can notice quite a bit of shoots from the seeds that arent even on the topsoil. it creates so far a nice thin layer on the bald patch will many more seeds still to germinate(only seven days after spreading)
Loks like the qualcast coated seeds were not a expensive waste of money.

Thanks alot for the advice

 

Hi thanks for the help. Ive surprisingly had significant growth on bald patches and areas with no topsoil . On the other hand had much slower growth with area spread by topsoil, any reason why this might be?
Ive also been swarmed by pigeon which i estimate have eaten over a kilo of seeds so will have to reseed when i apply new topsoil
any tips appreciated
sorry accidently started a conversation with you kristen
Thanks

 

Is the growth from bare patches existing turf, previously scalped by the mower, now regrowing? That would happen more quickly than seed germination.

Prickly branches, e.g. Holly, scattered over the area can help. Or thin twine / cotton stretched between sticks criss-cross. Or sow some seeds for the birds, and some for you. I sow grass seed at well below the recommended rate and it forms a nice swarth, given a bit of time, so perhaps not worry too much about the birds eating some.