# sowing grass seed onto an existing lawn



## NickTB (Feb 4, 2007)

Morning all.

So I moved into my place around two months ago and after digging up some large conifers and pampas (AAARRRGGHHH!) I now have an area roughly 20 feet in diameter that needs levelling and seeding. I also have some random bare patches of grass dotted about .

The lawn is 90 x 50 feet. I'm wondering do I seed the whole law? or just the big and small patches? what kind of prep? I need to weed the area where the trees were (The stumps were ground out) Do I just rake in some top soil and sow?

TIA,
Nick


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## c87reed (Dec 9, 2015)

A scarifier would be a good tool to use if you can. I'd then consider using a thin layer of topsoil over the top, ideally with a small amount of fertiliser. Water it so that the soil is moist and then seed over.


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## ollienoclue (Jan 30, 2017)

Spray the whole lot with glyphosate now.

Wait for it to die and then turn it over with a spade. Add topsoil if required to even it up. Then the fun starts. Rake it and rake it until the whole lot is very level and firm. Break down the clods or remove them along with stones and other rubbish. Tread the ground to firm it up some. Then scatter the seed in. Then rake it over very gently to just cover the seed keeping it as shallow as possible. Then tread it in again or even better get a garden roller and roll it until it is plenty firm, almost to the point that you won't leave a footprint in it.

You will need approx 34-40 grammes of grass seed per square metre. I am not sure how many square metres you have.

Water it, and protect from birds and slugs. If you see slug damage pellet the entire area.

The optimum time to sow grass is August-September. With the soil warm and moist as it is now it will germinate and grow like stink. If the weather turns dry again you will have to water the lawn each night.

Once the grass is tillering out you can spray out weeds with a selective herbicide.

Lawns seed should not really cost more than about £4 a kilo but you will have to look around to find someone selling it for sensible money. I was in a garden centre a few weeks ago and they were flogging it for £8 a kilo loose.

Don't cut it until the grass is near 5 inches tall and then only give it a modest trim. It will be rooting heavily by that time and will not want too much grief.

The more prep you put into levelling the lawn area the better your lawn will be. Doesn't matter if you seed it or turf it.

You can hire a rotovator for not much money if you want to avoid too much digging and raking. You can bury a multitude of sins and get a good seed bed with one.


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## Derekh929 (Aug 28, 2011)

PM Realist on here he is our resident green keeper and great guy sure he won't mind


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## NickTB (Feb 4, 2007)

Thanks for the replies so far.

This is to give you a rough idea as to what I'm dealing with. Uneven, and not much on the way of grass! Just in front of the manhole cover is a patch of grass I seeded when I filled in a random hole there a while back. Which has since fuelled the idea of seeding as opposed to turfing as that took so well


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## ollienoclue (Jan 30, 2017)

Ughhhh. I don't like the look of that.


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## ollienoclue (Jan 30, 2017)

Looking at the photo, I don't think you have much in the way of proper lawn grasses in there. If you give me a closer up photo I will be able to see better.

I suspect the soil might well be impoverished but I am only judging by what it looks like.


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## NickTB (Feb 4, 2007)

I agree Ollienoclue (Great name!) There's hardly any grass there.

This is pretty much what is going on with the rest of the lawn


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## ollienoclue (Jan 30, 2017)

Hmm. We you can try and clean up those weeds with something selective and see what it looks like when they are gone. Doesn't look like much ryegrass in that.


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## NickTB (Feb 4, 2007)

I was thinking of rotivating the lot and then seeding? My only problem is I have twin 3 year old boys and a six year old girl who love the garden...


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## ollienoclue (Jan 30, 2017)

NickTB said:


> I was thinking of rotivating the lot and then seeding? My only problem is I have twin 3 year old boys and a six year old girl who love the garden...


Ok, that is fine, whether you want to spray it off and destroy it all first is up to you, glyphosate is very very safe and only needs a couple of hours until it is rain fast.

Wait until the grass is yellowing and dying and then you can rotovate it. With the medium term forecast for August being unsettled and damp the grass will jump out of the ground and be ready for the winter in no time.

It might pay to sprinkle some basic fertiliser into the seed bed before sowing. You don't need to go mad.

For scattering the seed it might pay to borrow or even buy one of those trundle along devices on wheels to spread it on.

Take the kids to the nearest play park or swimming pool instead of the garden, I can sympathise entirely as our near 2 year old just want's to be outside all of the time.


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## NickTB (Feb 4, 2007)

It's not so much the chemicals it's the length of time from rotivating to allowing the kids out there!


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## realist (May 11, 2011)

Go on a site called Pitchcare and buy a bag of Everris Renovator Pro, it's a weed feed and mosskiller, apply with a Scotts adjustable drop spreader. After a couple of weeks scarify the hell out of it, then reseed at the end of September:thumb:


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## NickTB (Feb 4, 2007)

realist said:


> Go on a site called Pitchcare and buy a bag of Everris Renovator Pro, it's a weed feed and mosskiller, apply with a Scotts adjustable drop spreader. After a couple of weeks scarify the hell out of it, then reseed at the end of September:thumb:


I'm going to give this a go before I go to Defcon 5 :thumb:


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## realist (May 11, 2011)

NickTB said:


> I'm going to give this a go before I go to Defcon 5 :thumb:


You'll be surprised how good it will look a couple of weeks after treatment, be sure to follow the instructions to the letter. That site also sells better seed than you'll get anywhere else:thumb:


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## NickTB (Feb 4, 2007)

Oh well, the best laid plans of mice and men...

If you can see the dip in front of the manhole cover? turns out that's a collapsed sewer pipe... The whole garden is about to be dug up to replace the pipe!


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## ollienoclue (Jan 30, 2017)

NickTB said:


> Oh well, the best laid plans of mice and men...
> 
> If you can see the dip in front of the manhole cover? turns out that's a collapsed sewer pipe... The whole garden is about to be dug up to replace the pipe!


FANTASTIC.

You can now sort the soil underneath and establish a real lawn from scratch and make sure there is a sensible depth of soil under there. Whilst digger is in there you can have him sort it or even import soil in if required!

Good job you discovered the cracked pipe first mind.


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## realist (May 11, 2011)

If possible, get them to scrape it off and re-lay it on a 6 inch layer of pea gravel and/or mix a couple of ton of green compost (council usually have this made from garden waste collections) into the soil before re-seeding, this thread just got a whole lot more interesting, be sure to keep us posted😂👍🏽👍🏽😁


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