I will do my best to keep this thread up-to-date with my latest photos and adventures.

I started rounding the old KBG/Fescue/Rye mix three days ago. As you can see in the photo below, it is coming along nicely. I am going to hit the remaining green spots again tomorrow morning and then let it sit for the next few days. I know I should fallow for a while, but since I am late in the season, my goal is to drop the seed on Wednesday or Thursday.

I am in northern NJ, and the mix that I bought is:
40% Award
30% Bewitched
30% Bedazzled

I bought it from seedsuperstore.com. It was expensive, but if it comes out as nice as the other renovations showcased on this site, I will be happy.

I was just jotting down my plans in the topdressing thread, and I figured I should probably post them all here.....just in case I am making some egregious error that someone can put an end to now, lol.

1) I rounded up the lawn....a few coats. Many neighbors stopped by to ask what I was doing. Some mocked me. My brother - the one with the beautiful lawn across the street - declared that my endeavor would ultimately fail miserably. I cursed in his general direction and carried on.
2) I will do some details tomorrow, just to make sure I got everything. There are still a few areas that look like they are hanging on strong. I will kick their collective asses and show them who is boss.
3) On Monday, I will scalp the lawn.
3) On Tuesday night (early Wednesday morning), I will water the crap out of the lawn. Then I will get to work in the morning. I will start by spreading the seed. Next I will roll it. Here comes the part I am not sure about. I am thinking of making up a little mixture of compost and peat moss. I was thinking about dumping this in small piles all around the lawn and then LIGHTLY raking it in. After that, I would make another pass with the seeds on a light setting, just in case I raked the seeds away in any given spot. Finally, I will roll again, followed by an application of starter fertilizer. Last but not least, I will spread some Tenacity.
6) Water....wait....water....wait.....water....wait.........stare, stare, stare............

I don't think you have to rake the topdress in. I didn't. Just water it in well. Also, I highly suggest you make mutliple passes, and use a drop spreader if possible. I made at least 8 passes in every which way. Right now I'm very happy with the coverage (of course the natural irrigation helped). And use owl decoys if u don't want birds feasting on your new seeds. They worked for me. Your lawn looks like it's gonna be an excellent seed bed. Also, I've read that compost can have weed seeds, you might want to look into it. Did you mention that your brother just moved in? So his lawn really isn't "his lawn". You can remind him of that.

[quote="rutgers1]

I bought it from seedsuperstore.com. It was expensive, [/quote]

I am soooooooo sorry for not being able to tell you where to get seed before you bought from them. If you go to order seed again there are way better places at more then half the price.

[ Post made via Android ]

But you do get a very nice bucket for future use. I have two of them.

Can I have one?

[ Post made via Android ]

I also have one of those buckets from an area I cleared and seeded last year. In smaller quantities seedsuperstore, while still expensive, didn't seem as far out of line with some of the others. Shipping is incuded, and you do get that bucket!

However, for my large reno, I bought 150 lbs of seed. Other places are a lot cheaper when you get into 50 lbs or more

+1 Dave. I'd consider it a learning experience and move on.

On the up side, I was thrilled by the quality of SSS's seed, and got it pre-mixed which was worth something to me as well. They shipped fast. Although pricey, I don't have a single complaint about the place and don't regret using them.

Same here. I used SSS when I didn't know about other places that were significantly cheaper. Drew is knowledgeable and ships quickly.

Well, as you can see from the photo below, overall there is less green in the lawn than a few days ago. However, when you look at the close-up view, there are still green blades. Most look distressed. I am still not sure what to do, as I have given every area upwards of 2-3 coats of Round-Up already. My big issue right now is the impending hurricane. I was going to drop the seed tomorrow, but now I am hesitating since there is a chance that we get hit with major rains on Saturday and Sunday.





I am getting a bit frustrated with the green that is still in the lawn. I know it is partly (greatly0 my fault considering I mistakenly lowered the lawnmower before rounding things up. I didn't realize that it should have been kept longer during that phase.

A super blown up version of the last image can be seen here. If anyone has any suggestions, let me know. Thanks!

If that link didn't work, try this.

I would hold off on seeding. For one, there still looks to be grass that's not quite dying yet. Even if that grass is just taking longer to die, you don't want to take the chance of it lying dormant then popping up after seeding. Also, we might get a hurricane by the end of the week. Your seed bed looks very good, I've found that thick dead matted fine fescue was the best seed bed in my reno. Holds the seeds in really well in storms, and the sprouts punch through it easier than thicker blades, ie k31. Many renovators made it fine throughout the heavy downpours, but hurricanes are a different beast all together. Strong winds + hail that damages cars, it's just not a good recipe for seeding. I think you should wait for the end of this week and reassess your seedbed and the weather. The hurricane may pass us altogether.

Definitely wait until the hurricane threat passes. To me, seeding in August is a bonus but anytime early September is fine.

the question is how many more times are you willing to wait? the more you prolong your wait the deeper you get into hurricane season. as of now, there are two more possible storm systems forming after Irene with more probably coming. the longer you wait, the less time you give your saplings to harden before winter.

+1. And this hurricane season looks to be a bad one (it already is, we're on I and it's not even September yet). There's waves backing up and coming off-shore west of Africa, so I expect many more Atlantic hurricanes this year yet unless something changes.

So, you'd do it tomorrow even though one is coming for sure (at least the heavy rains part) on Saturday/Sunday????

It depends. If I had minimal slope and no swale, sure, particularly if I had lots of dead grass and soil that accepts water well.

Not all of those statements are true. In my case, I'd probably do everything except the swale area, assume we're going to get a foot of rain, and hold off there until after Irene blows through.

I'd also be diverting every downspout on the property carefully and expect washout around them anyway.

If I had a sloped yard, a hill, wide swale areas, or heavy soil that waterlogs easily, I'd wait until Irene hits and goes away or re-tracks and doesn't hit.

I run the Rutgers sports website listed in this link. I am posting it because we have a few weather fanatics on the board who follow this stuff like some of you follow grass. Their insights are always quite interesting. Anyone in the northeast following this storm should bookmark the thread.

For now, I am holding off. I have too much money invested to have a washout. I think I would never forgive myself.

Morpheus....As you can see from my photo (at least I think it is visible), my lawn slopes gently toward the sidewalk.