kev@voder.UUCP (08/05/86)
It appears that our very first attempt at producing a thick,
green lawn has not happened. At the recommendation of the professional
landscaper across the street, we used an annual rye with the mixture
of blue grass seed. It appears that the rye, which came up first,
(it was supposed to protect the longer germinating blue grass) has
met the end of its "annual" period. That was supposed to happen. But
it also appears that the blue never got started. So now the lawn is
becoming straw.
We have consulted the gardening books in our home but they do not
cover the subject of lawn replacement. Therefore, I would like to here
from anyone that has had to do this type of work on their yard.
Please mail me any help you care to give.
Thanks. ark@alice.UucP (Andrew Koenig) (08/06/86)
If you don't have trees in the middle of the yard whose feeder roots might be damaged by this, then I would suggest starting over. In the East I would say this should be done only in the Fall. I don't know how California weather affects things. Anyway, I would go over the whole yard with a rototiller to chew up all the dead grass. Work in some fertilizer as well (5-10-10; we want to grow roots first). Then seed. Everything I've seen says that Fescues are the best for wear and disease resistance. They are slow to start (I think the reason people like annual ryegrass is that you get results quickly), but eventually get there.
rfc@calmasd.CALMA.UUCP (Robert Clayton) (08/08/86)
Before you put in any new grass, you will want to get rid of the old grass if it is of a different type. Glyphosate is great for this. (Monsanto Roundup is commercial name, $35/pint, but well worth it.) It is only effective for a week or so. The grass is fully dead in a few weeks. Then rototill the soil. Sod is the best way to start a lawn. Royal Fescue is great. I think it comes in seed now too. Sod is expensive, but it can be cheaper than doing all the work of seeding and still having nothing. You can do the sod yourself. Order it from your nursery. Prep the soil: till in humous, level it, water it. Lay the sod. Walk on it to get the roots in contact with the soil. Butt the edges close together. Water, water, water. While you have the chance, put in a sprinkler system. You won't regret it. No way you can have a good lawn in California without one. Bob Clayton GE Calma San Diego
daw1@mhuxl.UUCP (Douglas A. Williams) (08/08/86)
In article <2326@voder.UUCP> kev@voder.UUCP writes: > > It appears that our very first attempt at producing a thick, >green lawn has not happened. At the recommendation of the professional >landscaper across the street, we used an annual rye with the mixture >of blue grass seed. I had a lawn installed about one year ago. I would have done it myself, but there was some work that needed a tractor/front-end loader to do correctly. The first thing they did was spray all the weeds with some vegetation killer about one week before the work commenced. This stuff really killed the junk, so I suppose that they had to wait for it to dissipate before planting the seed. Did you use any thing that may have killed your new grass if it was planted too soon? The rest of the work was fairly straight forward: spread on the seed and fertilizer, rake it in, spread some straw (if on a hill) to prevent wash-outs and water like crazy. Apparently the soil must be kept damp until germination is complete or the grass will die. Straw helps accomplish this too, unless you can water it several times a day o prevent the soil from drying out. My lawn is a mixture of *perennial* rye and kentucky bluegrass, but your mix is quite reasonable too. So, if you didn't kill it by planting too soon or letting it dry out, you probably got some bad seed. This is not uncommon as I bought some seed this spring to touch-up a few spots from two different places, and only one supply grew while the other didn't do anything. I think some places bring out last years supply early in the spring to get rid of it and it may be bad due to incorrect storage. Try again with some seed from Agway or some other high-volume ag. supply outfit. Good luck! 1 1 1 1 2 1 Doug Williams 1 3 3 1 AT&T Bell Labs 1 4 6 4 1 Reading, PA 1 5 10 10 5 1 mhuxl!daw1 1 6 15 20 15 6 1