# Tips on overseeing 3 acres



## 1mjbrierley (Sep 22, 2018)

Hi all,
I live on Ohio and I'm going to overseed 3 acres this year. Looking for tips and feedback on my plan. Spending a small fortune on regenerate, 4th millennium, raptor 3 and amity seed, do very much prefer to not screw up. My biggest question is about timing. I understand that because I have no irrigation I should overseed later, but I don't know when that should be. My other questions is if I can put any nitrogen down this fall because I want to!

First frost is October 10
Seed down is August 20
No irrigation
Reduce hoc to 1.5"
Aerate August 15
Spread seed 4lb per k
Roll lawn for soil contact 
Tenacity on August 20


----------



## saidtheblueknight (Jul 10, 2019)

I would wait until the temps are no longer in the 80s, or just about.

And yes you can put nitrogen down, but I would wait as long as possible to give the seedlings a chance to germinate and grown before pumping the rest of the grass with growth. If you put nitrogen down earlier, you will get a top shoot of the existing grass which may crowd out the seedlings.

Good news is, you have plenty of time to give the new grass a chance to establish while still being able to give your existing grass some nitrogen before the winter.


----------



## Tsmith (Aug 11, 2017)

Hate to say it but without Irrigation you're going to waste a small fortune. The seeds need to stay moist otherwise they will dry up and no going back once that happens.

It will be difficult doing that size all at once even with irrigation so the only real way to do it would be to rig up some irrigation and do smaller sections over the next few years.

The other option would be to dormant seed over the winter which is the better option IMO if you want to do it all at once without irrigation but that can be hit and miss and if it misses you're back to where you started and lost a year.


----------



## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

I agree, do sections because 3 acres is a lot to gamble.


----------



## 1mjbrierley (Sep 22, 2018)

Appreciate the input. Let me phrase this differently. Any tips for someone that WILL be overseeding 3 acres without water? Chunking it out is not an option for me.

So with that said, any advice?


----------



## Alex1389 (May 23, 2018)

Sound advice above... but if you're set on going forward with this, then you'll have to have proper expectations. Seeding without irrigation is probably not going to yield great results, although @silvercymbal did have some luck with it last year/two years ago.

Throw your seed down and try to time it with some favorable weather (low temps and rain). You should prepare for some/most of that small fortune you spent on seed to go to waste, and you may want to consider buying more seed going into winter and doing a dormant seeding as well.


----------



## 1mjbrierley (Sep 22, 2018)

I think I threw people with my statement about a small fortune. I'm hoping to achieve some level of germination. I don't know but maybe 25% would satisfy me.. just looking to do what I can to benefit.


----------



## Tsmith (Aug 11, 2017)

Everyone here knows what seed costs but it really doesn't have anything to do with the responses you're getting as they would be the same if you were buying cheap seed for a 10k lawn.

Good luck


----------



## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

Ok. Maybe learn some rain dance moves? :lol:

Other than pushing the date out and or spending more on seeding mulch, I dont have any other tips.


----------



## 1mjbrierley (Sep 22, 2018)

I had not considered seeding mulch


----------



## 1mjbrierley (Sep 22, 2018)

Tsmith said:


> Everyone here knows what seed costs but it really doesn't have anything to do with the responses you're getting as they would be the same if you were buying cheap seed for a 10k lawn.
> 
> Good luck


 thanks for the advice


----------



## Guest (Aug 6, 2019)

Is this a good scenario to do a dormant overseed?


----------



## seiyafan (Apr 3, 2019)

How will you manage the lawn without irrigation once the grass establishes? TTTF don't go dormant without water, they are dead once turned brown.


----------



## Biggylawns (Jul 8, 2019)

Buy seeding mulch and an accelerator. Rent a water truck and buy a rain gun/hose.


----------



## social port (Jun 19, 2017)

1mjbrierley said:


> I think I threw people with my statement about a small fortune. I'm hoping to achieve some level of germination. I don't know but maybe 25% would satisfy me.. just looking to do what I can to benefit.


It sounds like you want a lawn that is lawn-like (i.e., grass-like) rather than 3 acres of stunning turf.
Add that to the struggle to _maintain_ the grass that you are able to grow via Mother Nature's rain this fall
and I think you get
2.5-2.7 acres of KY31
0.3-0.5 acres of your top TTTF cultivars (your blends looks very good to me). If you have any means for watering the TTTF, devote those resources there.


----------



## Thejarrod (Aug 5, 2018)

I am in a similar position. I'll be overseeding about 40k sq ft with TTTF this fall. Here is my plan.
1. plan on seeding around Sept 1. high temp in my area will be around 80, and this gives me about 8 weeks of growth until my frost date of around Nov 1. 
2. HOC of 1.5 - 2... maybe lower. that will be a game day decision. 
3. power rake or dethatch. after mowing low, I'll rent a power rake. this is possible for my single acre, might be unreasonable at three acres. towing dethatcher might be more viable for you. i think this will greatly increase my seed to soil contact. 
4. Lawn sweeper to remove as much material as possible and expose as much dirt as possible. 
5. seed at 4 lbs / thousand or more in thin spots or more if i can stomach the cost. 
6. experimenting with granular mulch on areas that are very thin. i bought some of this; https://gciturfacademy.com/product/https-www-lawnandpestcontrolsupply-com-products-seed-aide-covergrowrefgci/

i may water some areas immediately around the house, but most of I'll rely on mama nature.


----------



## Babaganoosh (Apr 21, 2019)

Another vote for dormant seeding. It's surprisingly effective.


----------



## 1mjbrierley (Sep 22, 2018)

Babaganoosh said:


> Another vote for dormant seeding. It's surprisingly effective.


Thanks! I am now leaning towards dormant seeding based on my quick google searches. I have zero experience and need more info. Any advice, readings etc would be greatly appreciated!


----------

