Omg finally! I was so confused. Makes perfect sense. Recently bought a Cobra scarifier aerator which is actually a power rake / scarifier so even manufacturers get it wrong!
I just did my over-seed on Sept 2nd. I have these 9 turkey's that make their rounds through my yard twice a day to apply my starter fertilizer for me lol. I've been taking all my thatch/lawn clippings and composting it. I then use that as my top soil for the next year.
Hah I was just doing this today 😂 I'm a bit late but so far it's a very mild autumn. Great video, I'll probably tweak my steps closer to yours next year. Greetings from Finland
The weather is just crazy, we have really high temps right now, so who knows, seems like frost will come late this year so I think you are more than fine, don't worry 😁 Thanks for dropping by my man, say Hi to Finland for me 🥳🤙
@@SamsLawn absolutely! It's been up around 20-21 here recently. Super warm for September. And if it doesn't work now, soon snow will cover it and I can try again in spring anyway 😄
Hey Mate, I included it just shortly in my last videos, but very briefly. I am really running low on time and other videos are just getting in the way, hopefully I can do a proper video on the mower soon, hopefully. If only the day had more than 24 hours mate 😅
Tjena Kevin, tack! Jag hoppas också man kan komma igång snart, abstinensen är på topp just nu, vill bara ut i gräsmattan och börja göra saker. Om den här jäkla snön bara kan ge sig snart! 😅
@@SamsLawn Jag kommer att ta över en trädgård i söderläge i början på april. Känner lite samma som dig att det kliar i fingrarna! Helt ny i trädgårdsområdet, ska bli spännande och se hur man lyckas, dina videos kommer att hjälpa en bra del misstänker jag! Keep it up!
Så märkligt, dina kommentarer läggs undan för granskning, så jag missar dem hela tiden :) Håll mig gärna uppdaterad hur det går för dig med nya mattan i vår, ska bli kul att komma igång och se vad vi kan göra av dem! :)
Thanks for your great videos! Concerning putting something for reducing soil acidity, like dolomitic lime, between which steps would you do it? Thanks!
Hey mate, no matter in which way you do it I would just take it slow, not put too much product on at the same time, it will take time to raise the PH so add lime or fertilizer with lime over a long period, say 1 or 2 years to raise it up. Good luck!
Just did my overseed reno yesterdy with kbg, had to pause for half an hour due to a rain storm but i got it done. I scarified as well. Wish i had a landzie😢 oh well!
Awesome, well done! I have to say that I had my reservations about the Landzie, just because it's prices kind of high, but now that I have used it over a 1, it's one of the tools that makes lawn care so much easier. Maybe get one together with some neighbors, share the cost? All my neighbors borrow mine all the time 😅
Thanks Sam, when the reno is done and you start mowing again. You mentioned try to mow as much as you can. However when do you stop and at how many cm? I read everywhere that the graag should be around 5-6cm before going into the winter time.
Hey Mate, the boring and obvious answer is to just mow it as long as it's growing. I mow it on my 35-40 mm as long as I can and when it stops growing, then you go into full depression until spring 😅 Usually around the time when you have several consecutive nights of frost, then you know it's not going to grow anymore. I actually don't think it matters that much if it's between 3-6 cm, but any less or any more than that I would avoid. But that would be a fun test to do actually, cut different heights and see how it goes!
Hey mate, sure that works just fine, but usually there is no reason to, unless it's to pick up all the debris after scarifying, but there's nothing wrong with it, you won't damage anything, go for it if you see you need to.
Hey Mate, I had to dig them out when I did the boarders and I haven't really figured out how to get them back since on some spots they don't shot water over the boarder, they are too low. So not sure what to do, right now I am mostly using the SumiSoaker, works awesome when seeding. But I really do want something more permanent. Maybe a project for next year. Thanks for dropping by mate!
Hey Mate, I try to stay off the lawn as good as I can, but to be honest when I need to use it I use it, don't really care about some grass here and there, it's not the end of the world if I end up with a bare spot, it's a lawn and it's just grass, use it as much as you can :)
I feel your pain my man 😅 it's exhausting, even with a Landzie, much much harder without! Hope you had fun in the end though and that satisfaction when you are done is priceless! 😁 Good job mate!
@@SamsLawn thx, now watching the lawn growing and growing and drinking cofe... Work hard a day... enjoy for the rest of the season 🤜🤛 ☕️ lawn stuff is not difficult, 2 hard days a year... and between this 2 days: mowing mowing mowing mowing 🤣
Awesome job! Actually, your lawn looked beautiful even before the renovation I didn't think it needed one but I understand how you want it to be perfect. I will seed a new lawn next week. I have already prepared the ground in August. I am still very confused about what seed to plant. I think I will go with tall broad leaf fescue for now and maybe overseed something else in spring...? The climate is so crazy lately...heat waves in summer and snow in winter I will be experimenting 😅 Any ideas? Thanks for the video. Please show us the results.
Hey Lucy, thank you very much, for a lawn nut it's never perfect enough 😅 How are the temps now, still high temps? I would suggest something from the fescue family definitely, you are on the right track there, Fescues are usually very drought tolerant and they do not require as much fertilizer as other grass types, especially tall fescue. I read that the DLF rye I am using is supposed to be very drought tolerant too, so that might also be an option, but a riskier one since I haven't tried it myself yet during extreme drought periods. You can see the results next sunday when the new video comes out 😉 Thanks for the support Lucy, always appreciate your comments! 🙏
Hi Sam, thanks a lot for the tips. The temperature now is ideal, 20 min, 30 max. I don't think we have the rye that you are using here.We get rye with bluegrass mix only. I will vist some garden centers and see what I can find. Two months ago, after tilling and removing all grass and weeds, I covered the ground with a net - like blanket to prevent my cat and dust, but I kept watering every day to keep the soil soft and encourage any weeds to sprout so that I can remove them now. I am not sure I did right. Anyway, I really appreciate your videos and look forward to the new one!
@@lucymoazzo3097 Sounds like the perfect thing to do, encourage the dormant weed seeds to grow and then pull them, awesome! I had to go on the old internet to find the seeds, our garden stores usually only have cheap seeds and none of these special kinds, which is understandable since not many people would purchase them. Keep me posted with your progress! 👌💪☺
Question, you said the seeds germinate under the soil no above the soil. But I see some people put down stop dressing first then spread the seeds. Don't the seed need the soil at the bottom to support the germination?
Hey Allen, I have seen that too, the only way that would work is if they rake the seeds into the soil afterwards, otherwise they will have poor germination. I have done experiments in pots indoors with seeds on top of the soil in the pot and seeds under. The one on top had at least 50% less germination and at least 50% slower germination. So I would recommend keeping the seeds under the soil.
how many sq ft is your yard and how many bags of top soil? trying to figure out how many bags i need to do exactly what you just did on my 5-6 thousand sq ft yard and cant find any good info on how many bags i need.
Hey Brandon, I have about 2000 sq ft and I use about 13 bags with the landzie, that´s a thin layer of topdress, if you want a thicker layer then obviously you will need more. Always buy more, you use more than you think, every time :D
After overseeding and topdressing my lawn with Landzie, I will roll my lawn with the garden roller. Question : after topdressing (and before rolling) is it recommended to rake again the topdress ? Or is this not necessary ? Tnx.
Hi Eric, for sure, good that you mentioned that, I actually forgot to include that in the video, if you get areas where you get too much soil on top of the grass, then you definitely can use a rake or a brush to just get the soil off the grass, otherwise they might block out the sun for the existing grass. So a very good point, definitely something you want to do.
You mention areas with too much soil on top of the grass. There are also some areas with too less soil (stripes of the Landzie). So I'm sure that raking will also optimise these areas. I'll start with it in a few days. I will take a lot of breaks (with some drinks), I will need it. 😉
@@ericbraet7931 For sure, either rake it in for those areas or do another pass, raking sounds easier though. Great to hear, take as many breaks as you want mate, enjoy it. Hope it turns out awesome! Keep me posted!
Hey mate, I have used only Barenbrug RPR, which is only Ryegrass. There is a downside though, it handles winter worst than other cool season grass types. Order of winter hardiness being Kentucky Blue Grass, Fine Fescues, Rye Grass. Not sure how harsh winters you have but you might want to take that into account.
. Last year I also add barenbrug blue resilient sport. - all dead (consist lolium perenne and it doesn’t like cold-warmer climates)Only blue resilint kentucky show some parts alive, but 99% dead. Yesterday I contact some seed producer in hete Estonia and I mix this time myself, what I need. Much cheaper and there are exactly these seeds, what fits better in Polar climate. This seeds are made here in Estonia , do be alive over winter. But let’s see what comes up this time.
My lawn has been the crème de mint for the past 3 years after bringing in a truck load of top soil and putting 6" directly on top of drainage stone.. It took 2 seasons to fill in nicely. But now it's so thick and the soil has compacted to 4" on average. I did over seed and used top quality grass see. People around the neighborhood constantly let me how thick and green it was. After the 2 month heat wave we just got over the lawn is still nice, but showing signs of dying grass down low and the deep green color is not so deep. I usually keep it cut long and cut every 3 to 4 days. But after buying a scarifier/thatcher machine I started cutting it lower each week to get it ready to dethatch or use the scarify blade. I experimented on the backyard lawn 1st to see how the scarify goes. It looks bad at the moment I'm hoping it will come back on it's own without re-seeding. But now I'm afraid to use the scarify blade in the front. I'll wait a few weeks as the weather her really don't frost until December, so I got time to see how the back lawn recovers or if I need to re-seed. Btw, the setting I use to scarify was the least invasive and I cut the lawn prior to 1.5 inches over the course of 4 cuts from around 3 to 4" I usually have it at. You think I should just use the power rake attachment for the front. It really is very thick though. It's just not getting as green and shows dead grass when I cut it. Still look nice, but not as nice.
Hey Mate, For sure, if it´s too thick then you could use the scarifier to thin it out a bit, make room for the existing plants to get air and nutrients. Glad to hear that you have this thick lush lawn, it´s just the best feeling :)
@@SamsLawn Thx for the reply. To update, the back yard that I did scarify pretty intense and looks bad still looking bad. Fed it liquid iron and then fertilizer. I did leave a 8 x 12 area untouched from scarifier to see the difference. I did cut that short to about 1.5" too though. None of the back yard area is really growing much probably due to lack of rain and a bit cooler weather in the 70' and 80's. Kinda surprised the untouched area is growing too. As for the front I did cut short and use the scarifier machine with dethatching blades and made 2 light passes to a 8' by 15' section maybe 3 days ago. That thin it out some and exposed the thatching going on deeper. I didn't go crazy so it just looks like it's not doing well compared to rest of front lawn that I left cut longer maybe 3" to 3.5". I wanted to see if where I dethatched the one small area if it would help it out some. I'm not ready to destroy the look just yet. I'll see how things go and make the decision then if what to do I guess. Going heavy in the back yard has me 2nd guessing what to do with front.
Why did you choose to buy such a large bag of grass seed given the germination tests you did? It seems too much for your size of lawn. Is it better quality than Turfline?
Hi David, I actually didn't want to, but I couldn't find a smaller bag with these particular tetraploid seeds, so I thought what the hell. I am going to store it indoors and do a germination test next season, see if that's better. At least that's how I justified my reasons for getting this much seeds when my wife asked the same question 😅
@@SamsLawnpower raking is verticutting, vertical grooves into the soil, removes thatch, the dead material that hasn't decomposed ie grass clippings mainly those from improper mowing leaving the grass to grow to long and leaves sticks etc. Verticutting doesn't put that much stress on the lawn, it helps the soil breathe and cuts grooves for seed to be dropped right into, we use a slit seeder to redo fairways but we usually go three different directions, basically a diamond shape with a line down the middle, this cuts a groove and drops seed into the soil, on high end courses they will topdress but honestly it's not needed, it's just like punching tiny holes and dropping seed into those without filling them in, eventually after the turf germinates the holes will naturally disappear from rainfall. Home owners should only Verticut its the only thing needed since compaction isn't a issue
Why would germination rates matter? You want a grass that has better disease resistance especially when overseeding. We have ways to make seed germinate twice as fast when seeding a golf course especially greens, it involves soaking the seed in a solution for several days, you also use fungicides and fertilizer, than the entire liquid and seed is hydroseeded on whatever area your doing but of course it's mixed with a different solution so it has the proper seeding per 1,000 sq ft
I definitely learned from your video...thx
Awesome mate, very glad to hear it! 🙏🙏
I like your common sense approach
Thanks Peter, appreciate it mate! 🙏
love your videos sam and your sense of humor🙂
thanks man, appreciate it so much, glad someone else than me likes my sense of humor 😅😁
Hey, that's an OUTSTANDING video. Love your style of conveying information. Lots of great detail. Good humor too! Thanks!
Thanks Mate, appreciate it! 🙏
My wife thinks I have a very dry sense of humor haha, I am going to show her your comment! 😁
Sam, you are the best!
No YOU are the best mate! 🙏
lovely garden
Thank you very much :)
Omg finally! I was so confused. Makes perfect sense. Recently bought a Cobra scarifier aerator which is actually a power rake / scarifier so even manufacturers get it wrong!
For sure they do mate :)
I just did my over-seed on Sept 2nd. I have these 9 turkey's that make their rounds through my yard twice a day to apply my starter fertilizer for me lol. I've been taking all my thatch/lawn clippings and composting it. I then use that as my top soil for the next year.
That sounds awesome! I like the more natural way of doing things. I bet it will turn out great! Thanks for dropping by, appreciate it.🙏
Hah I was just doing this today 😂 I'm a bit late but so far it's a very mild autumn. Great video, I'll probably tweak my steps closer to yours next year. Greetings from Finland
The weather is just crazy, we have really high temps right now, so who knows, seems like frost will come late this year so I think you are more than fine, don't worry 😁
Thanks for dropping by my man, say Hi to Finland for me 🥳🤙
@@SamsLawn absolutely! It's been up around 20-21 here recently. Super warm for September. And if it doesn't work now, soon snow will cover it and I can try again in spring anyway 😄
@@TrizzaW haha for sure mate! But I bet it will work just fine, keep me posted!
Nice job! Very thorough guide. And yes, it should be fun. :)
Thanks Dino, always appreciate you dropping by my man! Hope you are having fun too 😁
@@SamsLawn “Fun” is definitely one way to describe it! 👊
great video.very thorough. just subscribed.👍
Awesome mate, glad you enjoyed it, thanks for the sub, appreciate it 🙏🙏
Awesome video loved the way it all looked in the end
Thanks mate, glad you enjoyed the video 🙏
Thanks Sam for the great tips
Hey Robert, thanks for dropping by mate, hope you enjoyed the video.
Excellent video Brother
Thank you Will, appreciate it. 🙏
Love your videos Sam, always informative and without doubt the most entertaining lawn care videos on RUclips. When do you sleep?😊
Thanks mate, really appreciate it! 🙏
Who needs sleep, it's overrated, took me 4 late evenings to edit this video 😂
Did you have a video where you talked about your new mower? I remember in a video where you had it in a box when you just got it.
Hey Mate, I included it just shortly in my last videos, but very briefly. I am really running low on time and other videos are just getting in the way, hopefully I can do a proper video on the mower soon, hopefully. If only the day had more than 24 hours mate 😅
Jag hoppas att du kommer börja posta videos nu när våran närmas sig vad man ska tänka på och hur man kommer igång med ens gräsmatta! :D
Well done!
Tjena Kevin, tack! Jag hoppas också man kan komma igång snart, abstinensen är på topp just nu, vill bara ut i gräsmattan och börja göra saker. Om den här jäkla snön bara kan ge sig snart! 😅
@@SamsLawn Jag kommer att ta över en trädgård i söderläge i början på april. Känner lite samma som dig att det kliar i fingrarna!
Helt ny i trädgårdsområdet, ska bli spännande och se hur man lyckas, dina videos kommer att hjälpa en bra del misstänker jag!
Keep it up!
Så märkligt, dina kommentarer läggs undan för granskning, så jag missar dem hela tiden :)
Håll mig gärna uppdaterad hur det går för dig med nya mattan i vår, ska bli kul att komma igång och se vad vi kan göra av dem! :)
Love your videos, so helpful for us regular people. Thank you for posting 😊
Hey Phil, thank you very much, really appreciate it, glad the videos are helpful 🙏
Excellent video as always Sam mate 🤜
Thanks dude, appreciate it, love the support my man! 🙏
Thanks for your great videos!
Concerning putting something for reducing soil acidity, like dolomitic lime, between which steps would you do it? Thanks!
Hey mate, no matter in which way you do it I would just take it slow, not put too much product on at the same time, it will take time to raise the PH so add lime or fertilizer with lime over a long period, say 1 or 2 years to raise it up. Good luck!
Your videos are so helpful and explained clearly and entertaining. Thank you for the knowledge
Thanks Mate, really appreciate it, glad you find the videos helpful, means a lot! 🙏
Great video, you covered every step very well. Thank you
Thanks mate, appreciate it, hope the guide helps!
Fantastic
Thanks for dropping by mate
Just did my overseed reno yesterdy with kbg, had to pause for half an hour due to a rain storm but i got it done. I scarified as well. Wish i had a landzie😢 oh well!
Awesome, well done! I have to say that I had my reservations about the Landzie, just because it's prices kind of high, but now that I have used it over a 1, it's one of the tools that makes lawn care so much easier. Maybe get one together with some neighbors, share the cost? All my neighbors borrow mine all the time 😅
Thanks Sam, when the reno is done and you start mowing again. You mentioned try to mow as much as you can. However when do you stop and at how many cm? I read everywhere that the graag should be around 5-6cm before going into the winter time.
Hey Mate, the boring and obvious answer is to just mow it as long as it's growing. I mow it on my 35-40 mm as long as I can and when it stops growing, then you go into full depression until spring 😅
Usually around the time when you have several consecutive nights of frost, then you know it's not going to grow anymore. I actually don't think it matters that much if it's between 3-6 cm, but any less or any more than that I would avoid. But that would be a fun test to do actually, cut different heights and see how it goes!
Can you scarify and then power rake after it?
Hey mate, sure that works just fine, but usually there is no reason to, unless it's to pick up all the debris after scarifying, but there's nothing wrong with it, you won't damage anything, go for it if you see you need to.
Looks good Sam, curious what happened to your hunter MP rotators sprinklers you had? I thought you solved the manual watering labor with those?
Hey Mate, I had to dig them out when I did the boarders and I haven't really figured out how to get them back since on some spots they don't shot water over the boarder, they are too low. So not sure what to do, right now I am mostly using the SumiSoaker, works awesome when seeding. But I really do want something more permanent. Maybe a project for next year. Thanks for dropping by mate!
After you're done seeding and all, do you try to stay off the grass or are you comfortable using the area right afterward?
Hey Mate, I try to stay off the lawn as good as I can, but to be honest when I need to use it I use it, don't really care about some grass here and there, it's not the end of the world if I end up with a bare spot, it's a lawn and it's just grass, use it as much as you can :)
thats how it looks like at my yard on Monday, still feel the paik in the hands and back today - had no compost spreader 😂
I feel your pain my man 😅 it's exhausting, even with a Landzie, much much harder without! Hope you had fun in the end though and that satisfaction when you are done is priceless! 😁 Good job mate!
@@SamsLawn thx, now watching the lawn growing and growing and drinking cofe... Work hard a day... enjoy for the rest of the season 🤜🤛 ☕️
lawn stuff is not difficult, 2 hard days a year... and between this 2 days: mowing mowing mowing mowing 🤣
@@mathiasthansen1400 Exactly dude, 100% correct!
Awesome job! Actually, your lawn looked beautiful even before the renovation I didn't think it needed one but I understand how you want it to be perfect. I will seed a new lawn next week. I have already prepared the ground in August. I am still very confused about what seed to plant. I think I will go with tall broad leaf fescue for now and maybe overseed something else in spring...? The climate is so crazy lately...heat waves in summer and snow in winter I will be experimenting 😅 Any ideas? Thanks for the video. Please show us the results.
Hey Lucy, thank you very much, for a lawn nut it's never perfect enough 😅
How are the temps now, still high temps? I would suggest something from the fescue family definitely, you are on the right track there, Fescues are usually very drought tolerant and they do not require as much fertilizer as other grass types, especially tall fescue. I read that the DLF rye I am using is supposed to be very drought tolerant too, so that might also be an option, but a riskier one since I haven't tried it myself yet during extreme drought periods.
You can see the results next sunday when the new video comes out 😉
Thanks for the support Lucy, always appreciate your comments! 🙏
Hi Sam, thanks a lot for the tips. The temperature now is ideal, 20 min, 30 max. I don't think we have the rye that you are using here.We get rye with bluegrass mix only. I will vist some garden centers and see what I can find. Two months ago, after tilling and removing all grass and weeds, I covered the ground with a net - like blanket to prevent my cat and dust, but I kept watering every day to
keep the soil soft and encourage any weeds to sprout so that I can remove them now. I am not sure I did right. Anyway, I really appreciate your videos and look forward to the new one!
@@lucymoazzo3097 Sounds like the perfect thing to do, encourage the dormant weed seeds to grow and then pull them, awesome! I had to go on the old internet to find the seeds, our garden stores usually only have cheap seeds and none of these special kinds, which is understandable since not many people would purchase them. Keep me posted with your progress! 👌💪☺
Question, you said the seeds germinate under the soil no above the soil. But I see some people put down stop dressing first then spread the seeds. Don't the seed need the soil at the bottom to support the germination?
Yes but applying compost over the seed as well keeps the seed warmer, has contact with the seed and help keep the birds off.
Hey Allen, I have seen that too, the only way that would work is if they rake the seeds into the soil afterwards, otherwise they will have poor germination. I have done experiments in pots indoors with seeds on top of the soil in the pot and seeds under. The one on top had at least 50% less germination and at least 50% slower germination. So I would recommend keeping the seeds under the soil.
@@SamsLawn thanks Sam!
how many sq ft is your yard and how many bags of top soil? trying to figure out how many bags i need to do exactly what you just did on my 5-6 thousand sq ft yard and cant find any good info on how many bags i need.
Hey Brandon, I have about 2000 sq ft and I use about 13 bags with the landzie, that´s a thin layer of topdress, if you want a thicker layer then obviously you will need more. Always buy more, you use more than you think, every time :D
Snyggt, vad är det för kantsten och vart köpte du den?
Tjena, tack! Den heter "trädgårdskantsten Bergama Granit mini modern grå" köpte den hos Stenbolaget. Finns i rustik också om man gillar det mer :)
Thumbs up for sharing you enjoy taking care of the lawn in addition to the tips and ticks. From a 10% lawn nut compared to you😇
Thanks mate, appreciate it! 10% of me is till a lot of nut haha 😁😉
After overseeding and topdressing my lawn with Landzie, I will roll my lawn with the garden roller. Question : after topdressing (and before rolling) is it recommended to rake again the topdress ? Or is this not necessary ? Tnx.
Hi Eric, for sure, good that you mentioned that, I actually forgot to include that in the video, if you get areas where you get too much soil on top of the grass, then you definitely can use a rake or a brush to just get the soil off the grass, otherwise they might block out the sun for the existing grass. So a very good point, definitely something you want to do.
You mention areas with too much soil on top of the grass. There are also some areas with too less soil (stripes of the Landzie). So I'm sure that raking will also optimise these areas. I'll start with it in a few days. I will take a lot of breaks (with some drinks), I will need it. 😉
@@ericbraet7931 For sure, either rake it in for those areas or do another pass, raking sounds easier though. Great to hear, take as many breaks as you want mate, enjoy it. Hope it turns out awesome! Keep me posted!
What seed type is it? I live in Estonia and want to find good nordic climate type seed.
Hey mate, I have used only Barenbrug RPR, which is only Ryegrass. There is a downside though, it handles winter worst than other cool season grass types. Order of winter hardiness being Kentucky Blue Grass, Fine Fescues, Rye Grass. Not sure how harsh winters you have but you might want to take that into account.
. Last year I also add barenbrug blue resilient sport. - all dead (consist lolium perenne and it doesn’t like cold-warmer climates)Only blue resilint kentucky show some parts alive, but 99% dead. Yesterday I contact some seed producer in hete Estonia and I mix this time myself, what I need. Much cheaper and there are exactly these seeds, what fits better in Polar climate. This seeds are made here in Estonia , do be alive over winter. But let’s see what comes up this time.
I add this time kentycky 30%, rubra 35% and trichophylla 35%. Without commutata.
Vart har du köpt din kantsten?
Tjena David, köpte dem hos Stenbolaget, den heter: Trädgårdskantsten Bergama Granit
My lawn has been the crème de mint for the past 3 years after bringing in a truck load of top soil and putting 6" directly on top of drainage stone.. It took 2 seasons to fill in nicely. But now it's so thick and the soil has compacted to 4" on average. I did over seed and used top quality grass see. People around the neighborhood constantly let me how thick and green it was. After the 2 month heat wave we just got over the lawn is still nice, but showing signs of dying grass down low and the deep green color is not so deep. I usually keep it cut long and cut every 3 to 4 days. But after buying a scarifier/thatcher machine I started cutting it lower each week to get it ready to dethatch or use the scarify blade. I experimented on the backyard lawn 1st to see how the scarify goes. It looks bad at the moment I'm hoping it will come back on it's own without re-seeding. But now I'm afraid to use the scarify blade in the front. I'll wait a few weeks as the weather her really don't frost until December, so I got time to see how the back lawn recovers or if I need to re-seed. Btw, the setting I use to scarify was the least invasive and I cut the lawn prior to 1.5 inches over the course of 4 cuts from around 3 to 4" I usually have it at.
You think I should just use the power rake attachment for the front. It really is very thick though. It's just not getting as green and shows dead grass when I cut it. Still look nice, but not as nice.
Hey Mate, For sure, if it´s too thick then you could use the scarifier to thin it out a bit, make room for the existing plants to get air and nutrients. Glad to hear that you have this thick lush lawn, it´s just the best feeling :)
@@SamsLawn Thx for the reply. To update, the back yard that I did scarify pretty intense and looks bad still looking bad. Fed it liquid iron and then fertilizer. I did leave a 8 x 12 area untouched from scarifier to see the difference. I did cut that short to about 1.5" too though. None of the back yard area is really growing much probably due to lack of rain and a bit cooler weather in the 70' and 80's. Kinda surprised the untouched area is growing too.
As for the front I did cut short and use the scarifier machine with dethatching blades and made 2 light passes to a 8' by 15' section maybe 3 days ago. That thin it out some and exposed the thatching going on deeper. I didn't go crazy so it just looks like it's not doing well compared to rest of front lawn that I left cut longer maybe 3" to 3.5". I wanted to see if where I dethatched the one small area if it would help it out some. I'm not ready to destroy the look just yet. I'll see how things go and make the decision then if what to do I guess. Going heavy in the back yard has me 2nd guessing what to do with front.
Why did you choose to buy such a large bag of grass seed given the germination tests you did? It seems too much for your size of lawn. Is it better quality than Turfline?
Hi David, I actually didn't want to, but I couldn't find a smaller bag with these particular tetraploid seeds, so I thought what the hell. I am going to store it indoors and do a germination test next season, see if that's better. At least that's how I justified my reasons for getting this much seeds when my wife asked the same question 😅
@@SamsLawnpower raking is verticutting, vertical grooves into the soil, removes thatch, the dead material that hasn't decomposed ie grass clippings mainly those from improper mowing leaving the grass to grow to long and leaves sticks etc. Verticutting doesn't put that much stress on the lawn, it helps the soil breathe and cuts grooves for seed to be dropped right into, we use a slit seeder to redo fairways but we usually go three different directions, basically a diamond shape with a line down the middle, this cuts a groove and drops seed into the soil, on high end courses they will topdress but honestly it's not needed, it's just like punching tiny holes and dropping seed into those without filling them in, eventually after the turf germinates the holes will naturally disappear from rainfall. Home owners should only Verticut its the only thing needed since compaction isn't a issue
Why would germination rates matter? You want a grass that has better disease resistance especially when overseeding. We have ways to make seed germinate twice as fast when seeding a golf course especially greens, it involves soaking the seed in a solution for several days, you also use fungicides and fertilizer, than the entire liquid and seed is hydroseeded on whatever area your doing but of course it's mixed with a different solution so it has the proper seeding per 1,000 sq ft