Lawn Renovation

[RubyTuesday49]

I have just top-dressed my lawn with silty-loam from my sideyard reno. I filled any little dips and lightly spread the topsoil over all of the lawn. I'm planning on seeding, raking then spreading compost over all and . . . watering of course!! I would love to hear any input as to what lawn seed you like or don't like. I'm Zone 6 - hot dry summers. In the spring I bought some High Density coverage Sun & Shade seed (perennial rye grass & red fescue). I'm not looking for fast results, but I want the grass to be somewhat drought tolerant. - apparantly Kentucky Blue Grass requires more water.

[kelly_m]

If you can stay away from the "names" you will probably be better off....most likely getting a mixture that is more beneficial to your conditions.

What you really want is a Fescue mix....there are 3 common fescues, red creeping being one of them, Hard fescue I think it's called is another. There is a Tall fescue or even an RTF which is a rhizome fescue. Best description I heard was, instead of one seed putting up one blade of grass, the RTF will put out more than one....Any mixture of these is best for sandy soils and for Drought resistance3.

Fescue mixes tend to be all perennial...try to stay away from annuals this time of year. These will germinate this fall, but then go dormant. spring rolls around and this gras comes back.

try to get a good fall fertilizer like a 5-20-20 pr 6 -24-24....Stay away from the fall fertilizers that have a high first number...your grass is going dormant...you do NOT need the nitrogen.

The other 2 I mentioned are high in Potassium and Phosphorous which will help develop a good root system (middle #) and help with disease resistance and hardiness (2nd #)

Hope that helps!!!

(Note...a lot of times the brand names have mostly annual grasses....and I have heard stories of people putting it down and nothing but weeds came up! Just FYI!)

[RubyTuesday49]

Kelly - thanks for all the great information!! I went to the nursery here and bought a mix that is supposedly good for this area. (for sun and drought tolerant and low grow) We'll see what comes up!

[kelly_m]

Glad I could help......now I just need the time to use my own advice on my own lawn

[Heidi S]

I have had luck with overseeding my crappy lawn with an eco-seed mixture the last few years, and it contains those really hardy fescues. These drought tolerant fescues are thin bladed and look quite different to the bluegrasses, but that is what makes them so hardy, water efficient and easy to mow.

Might be worth a try!

[RubyTuesday49]

Thanks for the input Heidi! I had some High Density grass seed and got some seed from Art Knapps - it's drought tolerant and for sun areas so I'm hoping it will work well. I put topsoil down, seeded, raked, put compost on top and I'm watering it every day. In July, Aug & Sept we have had less than 10% of our normal rainfall!!

[Heidi S]

This is a great time of year for growing grass, Ruby. Cooler temps,with good watering should give you a great start on the lawn before real winter conditions stop it for the season.

After it thaws in spring, consider overseeding again, to catch any bare patches and give it a spring fertilizer with slow release, and a bit of iron to get the spring growth moving next year.

[A Closet Canuck]

Our lawn took a terrible hit this summer from the drought. Below is a link to a discussion of lawn care from Iowa State University Extension Service.

The article talks about lawns in Iowa but most of the content applies to restoration of lawns in general. I've found it very helpful in trying to restore our lawn.
http://www.extension.iastate.edu/sites/www.extension.iastate.edu/files/www/Drought%20damaged%20lawns.pdf

[RubyTuesday49]

First off - "Closet Canuk" - love that!! Thanks for the great info on lawn care and drought etc. I put topsoil, seeded (with a high density, drought tollerant, sun type seed from Art Knapps), put a layer of compost and have been watering it faithfully. I now see little bits of green grass coming up! Yippee!! It's been a week and it is supposed to get a lot cooler starting tomorrow so I think I will slow down on the watering a bit. I may throw some Fall fertilizer down in November but I likely don't really need to with all the compost. Thanks for all the great info.

[A Closet Canuck]

You're welcome! Glad you used compost to cover the seed and keep it moist. It works so well.