seeding lawn

hi,
as im surrounded by trees, my lawn has become quite bare due to all the leaves , when is the best time to re seed

 

Perhaps it might be best to wait for a month, just in case we get any more prolonged hard frosts. I don't think that by sowing now it will come up any quicker. It would be a good idea to prepare the ground now however. You could spike it, dress with sand, if compacted, and give it a good rake to get rid of the moss, which you're bound to have under trees. Then it can settle for a few weeks before you sow the grass seed.
Chris www.chrisodonghue.co.uk

 

cymro,

did you leave the leaves on the lawn over the winter?

 

im afraid that i did, whith working 4 days a week,12 hour shifts, the leaves soon mount up,with spiking your lawn, how deep do you need to go, a forks depth???

 

Put the fork in about half the depth of the tines and wiggle it back and forth to open the holes. Then move about a foot and repeat. It's a bit tedious but you soon get into a rythm. Depending on the area, and I assume it's not too huge, it shouldn't take long. One of my tasks, once the weather has settled, is to scarify the lawns in a garden I look after. It's only 2 or 3 hundred square metres! :hehe:

 

When you top dress with sand prior to over-seeding, how deep should the sand be?

 

Just sprinkle enough on the surface so that when you brush it in, it fills the holes you've made with the fork. This will help to open the texture of the soil and assist with drainage. It's something we should all do regularly but I'm guilty of serial neglect on our own lawn.. :( However, I do look after my clients' lawns. :thumb:

 

cyrmo,

If the area is shaded by the trees, use a grass seed mix for shady areas and keep the grass fairly high..

You probably only need to aerate if the lawn was growing poorly before.

Quickest way to get up the leaves is to run the lawn mwer over them. It also provides a good mix for the compost