new lawn ready to seed

[stuffum]

i was wondering or have a few questions.


i tilled my lawn all up and leveled it. its about 2.5 acres.

Was wondering do i have to rake the whole yard to get all the dead grass clumps out of it or can i just seed and drag the yard?

Im not to sure if i have to rake it but i dont have any riding power equipment, i tilled it all by hand and it took me 3 days and i feel like i lost 25 pounds. LOL

Any help would be greatly appreciated


Thanks

[tedfrk]

you will probably have better results if you rake it all out.How did you level it if you did not rake it?if you dont rake all the weeds and grass out some of it will most likely grow back into your new work.what are your plans for the new lawn?

[Runner]

I wish you would have came here, first. You probably would have been better off (MUCH better off) to have not tilled it. was this lawn sprayed with glyphosate before it was tilled? If it wasn't. all the grass you had growing is going to re-root and grow. Unfortunately, so are all the weeds. Even if it was sprayed, you have just unleashed and surfaced literally millions of weed seeds. Your new grass seed is going to have ALOT of competition from new weeds germinating and parts of the pre-existing grass (if it wasn't sprayed). I couldn't even IMAGINE trying to rake 2 1/2 acres out by hand. This is definitely not do-able. If you did, what are you going to do with all the clumps? You are just hauling away a bunch of good dirt (mostly).

[topsites]

I am guessing with 2.5 acres this was tilled with a tractor...

I tell you, speaking from my own experience dealing with re-established lawns that
were at one time tilled up, I hope your lawn mower's got some real good suspension :p
And I'm still not sure if humor or frustration is the feeling I want to indulge in...

I wouldn't want to be the one cutting it, I've only dealt with small areas that were tilled up
and I'm talking this crap knock your teeth loose and is a fair test of patience ...
It takes a year or two for the ruts to settle down, in that time the mower may like to scalp or cut
too close in numerous spots thus making the growth of new lawn difficult for some time to come.

That having been said, I would have core aerated the area, for 2.5 acres it takes about 3-4 hours with a good walk-behind.
And it's a lot harder physically but come time to mow it sure pays off.

On another note, the recommended seed application rate for a new lawn
is 50 pounds per 1/4 acre, so you'll want to spread 500 pounds of seed.
At least, some schools are starting to recommend 100 pounds per 1/4

Current prices are around $70'ish per 50 pounds, so about 650-750 dollars there, maybe 7-800 with tax, not sure.

[stuffum]

you will probably have better results if you rake it all out.How did you level it if you did not rake it?if you dont rake all the weeds and grass out some of it will most likely grow back into your new work.what are your plans for the new lawn?

i used a drag that i pulled behind the 4 wheeler after i tilled it and i noticed after i dragged it i actually think it like rolled the grass and weeds up into little clumps all over the yard and i think it made more work for me.

I wish you would have came here, first. You probably would have been better off (MUCH better off) to have not tilled it. was this lawn sprayed with glyphosate before it was tilled? If it wasn't. all the grass you had growing is going to re-root and grow. Unfortunately, so are all the weeds. Even if it was sprayed, you have just unleashed and surfaced literally millions of weed seeds. Your new grass seed is going to have ALOT of competition from new weeds germinating and parts of the pre-existing grass (if it wasn't sprayed). I couldn't even IMAGINE trying to rake 2 1/2 acres out by hand. This is definitely not do-able. If you did, what are you going to do with all the clumps? You are just hauling away a bunch of good dirt (mostly).

trust me i wish i would have also.......im like totally new to this and i just wanted to have a nice yard......this is my first house i bought and just dont want it to look trashy and since im like the youngest one in the neighborhood i dont want all the neighbors to think im just some young punk that isnt gonna care.......i want to set a good impression....and take a alot of pride in everything just lack some of the equipment cause i cant afford the stuff yet so i am doing everything by hand...which sucks .....

I am guessing with 2.5 acres this was tilled with a tractor...

I tell you, speaking from my own experience dealing with re-established lawns that
were at one time tilled up, I hope your lawn mower's got some real good suspension :p
And I'm still not sure if humor or frustration is the feeling I want to indulge in...

I wouldn't want to be the one cutting it, I've only dealt with small areas that were tilled up
and I'm talking this crap knock your teeth loose and is a fair test of patience ...
It takes a year or two for the ruts to settle down, in that time the mower may like to scalp or cut
too close in numerous spots thus making the growth of new lawn difficult for some time to come.

That having been said, I would have core aerated the area, for 2.5 acres it takes about 3-4 hours with a good walk-behind.
And it's a lot harder physically but come time to mow it sure pays off.

On another note, the recommended seed application rate for a new lawn
is 50 pounds per 1/4 acre, so you'll want to spread 500 pounds of seed.
At least, some schools are starting to recommend 100 pounds per 1/4

Current prices are around $70'ish per 50 pounds, so about 650-750 dollars there, maybe 7-800 with tax, not sure.


i tilled it by hand......i ended up getting a premium mix grass seed that was 117.99 a bag.....i dont no if i got ripped off or or not but i just wanted alot of blue grass and diferent ryes so i have a really good lawn for when i get a riding mower i can mow it and have them lines in it like some of them shown here......




i appreciate all you guys help and info and since im a newbie at this stuff ill be here alot and hopefully learning from you pros......u havent seen the last of me or heard the last of me......thank you all very much

[Runner]

One other thing...Look and see just exactly what type of grass seed you have (there should be a tag on it with the percentages of different types) so we can advise you on exactly how much seed to put down. We can give you the exact amount per 1000 sq. ft. that is recommended, and you can calibrate you spreader(s) accordingly. Different types go down at different rates.

[jtruck618]

Im in somewhat the same situation. I have three acres and tilled up most of it last year and built a house this year. It was a farm field moreless with all kinds of weeds. I tilled up about 2 1/1 acres and put down over 700lbs of a fescue mix and dragged it with a homemade drag. Doesnt take much, just something to pull some dirt over the seed. I rented a tractor and tiller for around 180-200 bucks for a 24 hour period. I spread the seed with a good ol' Scotts broadcast seeder which you can get at wal-mart. I also put down 12-12-12 fertilizer. My grass came up great. I do have a 1951 Ferguson tractor and box blade for leveling. You could also rent one of these with the tiller. Just last week I tilled the rest of it, seeded it and dragged it. Will fertilize this weekend. My yard is looking good. Also, some of the clumps you talked about will be broken up by the tires on the tractor. It's some hard work, and somewhat costly to rent, but if your gonna do it, spend the extra money and do it right.

[stuffum]

here is the mix percent


24.05% baron ky blue grass
14.07% park ky blue grass
9.8% everest ky blue
19.4% pennlewn red fesue
9.7% amazing rye
9.65% nec
8.97% renn rye




i thank you all very much for everything. I put it down thick i thick, but i have noticed that the old grass that i tilled up is starting to come back up now, is that gonna kill my need seed and shade it where it wont grow



THANKS

[stuffum]

Im in somewhat the same situation. I have three acres and tilled up most of it last year and built a house this year. It was a farm field moreless with all kinds of weeds. I tilled up about 2 1/1 acres and put down over 700lbs of a fescue mix and dragged it with a homemade drag. Doesnt take much, just something to pull some dirt over the seed. I rented a tractor and tiller for around 180-200 bucks for a 24 hour period. I spread the seed with a good ol' Scotts broadcast seeder which you can get at wal-mart. I also put down 12-12-12 fertilizer. My grass came up great. I do have a 1951 Ferguson tractor and box blade for leveling. You could also rent one of these with the tiller. Just last week I tilled the rest of it, seeded it and dragged it. Will fertilize this weekend. My yard is looking good. Also, some of the clumps you talked about will be broken up by the tires on the tractor. It's some hard work, and somewhat costly to rent, but if your gonna do it, spend the extra money and do it right.




i live in alittle town and the nearest place to rent stuff is about 40 miles away and i was running out of cash cause i didnt really no how much grass seed was gonna be.

[jtruck618]

Yeah that would be tough with nothing near to rent. Good grass seed here, fesuce mix, is about 1.75 a pound. Has really went up the last five years or so.

[jtruck618]

So how did your lawn turn out?

[stuffum]

just now getting some rain on it abo0ut every day now for the past several days.......i see alittle bit of new grasss coming up but alot of my old grass that i tilled up is really taking off...:(,.....i hope this aLL WORKS ON