# Best way to overseed a large lawn?



## jumpzakjump (Aug 29, 2019)

You can check out my lawn journal for some more info, but I have roughly 24-25k that I am getting ready to overseed with #100 of TTTF from United Seeds.
I'm just wondering the best way to go about this. I aerated the lawn once last week, it was pretty compacted. It could probably use another pass or two to get the desired amount of holes. Would spreading the seed after aerating and using my mower's tires to roll it in be sufficient? Should I rent or buy a slit seeder? (I'm not opposed to getting one that attaches to my mower since I will probably be overseeding families lawns in the coming seasons as well). I've never used one before, do they work well?
I will spread peat and seed the bare spots separately, but it's not really an option to spread the entire lawn.
I keep the lawn around 3.25 inches normally. I'm planning on cutting it down to about 2.5 or even lower right before seeding. That should help the seed get down to the soil better. I am just worried I'll spread all this seed and most of it won't even make it down to the soil.
Thanks in advance for any advice! Here are some pics of what I'm working with. The white spots are from a tenacity treatment last week. Planning on another treatment in a week or so to kill off bentgrass patches.


----------



## social port (Jun 19, 2017)

With regard to your overseeding effort, it sounds like you are very much on the right track. I think your best option is to use a dethatcher to open up the soil surface a bit (this can be accomplished with a slit seeder as well).
If budget and time are limited, then I would make a couple of additional passes with the aerator. Aeration and seed to soil contact don't necessarily go hand-in-hand, but it is better than nothing.
Whichever route you take, make sure to liberally use those tractor tires to push that seed down into the soil. Do that, and then do it some more.

2.5 should be fine.

Make observations and take notes. Do things differently, if needed, next year. :thumbup:


----------



## Chris LI (Oct 26, 2018)

^+1
Also, I would punch as many holes as possible before dropping seed. Go nuts! After you drop seed, try dragging something to break the cores up, which will help cover the seed. If you're not looking to buy a drag mat, a piece of fencing, wood pallet, door mat, etc. 
will do. I was amazed at how much seed germinated one time when I had the guys go crazy with the aerator at work, and drop seed without dragging the cores.


----------



## Chris LI (Oct 26, 2018)

Also, apply Tenacity at seeding. Pulling cores will also draw weed seeds to the surface. You need the PreM ability to reduce competition with your seed. Tenacity will also take out many existing weeds.


----------



## Ylli (Sep 24, 2018)

I just did an overseed on my back yard - about 5k ft². It was core aerated on Tuesday. On Wednesday I spread out about 30 lbs of seed. Proceeded to work it in with multiple passes of my lawn tractor dragging an unweighted spike aerator. The spike aerator did a pretty good job of breaking the soil surface, as well as breaking up the cores. Seeds should have good soil contact - at least I hope so. Now to keep it moist......


----------



## Babaganoosh (Apr 21, 2019)

One year I ran over my overseeding efforts with the mower on half my lawn. I did it deliberately to test the difference. The side that was ran over had a noticeable difference in germination. It was definitely better. So much so that I bought a roller on the cheap (home depot rental) this year.


----------



## jumpzakjump (Aug 29, 2019)

Wow, thanks for all the replies! Much appreciated.
We're expecting some light rains tonight into tomorrow so I think I'll try and get the seed down early this morning. Here's my game plan, with what's available to me:
- Mow at 2.5" & bag clippings
- Make another couple of passes in different directions with my aerator
- Prep any really bad areas with raking, seed those areas separately and top them with peat
- Broadcast seed
- Roll with my mower's tires (the thing weighs about 1200lbs)
- Depending on the weather I might be able to get Tenacity down today, but if not I'll spray first thing in the morning

We'll see how this works this year. For next year I'll probably save up for a front mounted dethatcher for my ZTR which should help a bit.

Thanks all!


----------

