Core Aerator

[paccorti]

MrP,

I'll give it some thought. Unfortunately, I think my 10 acres would take me the better part of a day (at least it does mowing). As my weekends are pretty full, let me check back with you in a couple of weeks (soonest I can get to this). Where do you live?

Peter

 

[MrP]

Peter,

I live in Nokesville. It is about 15 miles east of Theros.

Theros is closed on Sunday, usually if you rent for Saturday, they don't reqire it to be returned until Monday morning.

E-mail me and we can discuss.

 

[BeeBop]

Peter, I can't help but think that for all general purposes you'd be much better suited to rent a Woods super turf renovator, remember the super part. You may see this @ http://www.woodsonline.com. I have tried more cores and every type of aerator than I care to speak of but when it comes right down to it nothing grows grass very well if the ground isn't mangled. I rent this unit I am referring to and it does the best job I have seen thus far. You didn't indicate as to what type of soil you have. Varoius types of soil require various types of programs to grow grass, I.e Fertilizer type/application, lime and other variables as well.

 

[paccorti]

BeeBop,

Thanks for the advice. You may well be right. I have basically two situations.

1. The ground around the house has been hydroseeded but the grass did not take well everywhere. Furthermore the ground is very hard in most of these bare areas. The few areas that do have grass also have a lot of weeds.

2. The rest of the yard is old pasture land. While the grass is not silky smooth, it is green and from a distance looks ok.

In the pasture and around the house the earth is a light tan color and tends to be very hard when dry. I'm not looking for a golf course perfect type lawn. Too much work, too much water and too much $ I'm afraid... I do want it to look green with the really obnoxious weeds somewhat under control (weeds that are really tall or substantially different looking than grass). The really nasty weeds don't grow in the pasture much. I guess they are choked by the grass /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif.

So I figured the core aerator would help with situation 1 and couldn't hurt with situation 2. In the process of making the pasture grass better, I don't want to destroy the current grass that is there. Will the turf renovator destroy the existing grass that I have? I can see that it would be better for situation 1. When you say "mangled" what do you mean exactly?

Thanks for your help,

Peter

 

[bubenberg]

there is only one thing to say about you doing all this work in spring, the grass seedling will during the sunny month develop lots of leaf growth and the root system in case of summer recess (mini drought) during the month of july and august will more likely not withstand the shock.

my recommendation is to seed first a mixture of annual rye (as protection to the new slower growing grass) and depending on your region the best grass mixture possible. then aerate in several different directions a minimum of two passages.

here on the east cost an average of 33% survives the summer recess unless you have irrigation and intense fert program. if you seed in fall you have a better chance and much higher success rate. as fall comes the plant works on developing a rigorous root system. just because the grass looks dead does not mean it is.

traffic on frocen grass, especially new grass should be kept to a minimum for that reason.

 

[BeeBop]

I would probably wait until fall and put my seed out as the hot months will kill your new grass if it's not watered daily. I wouldn't worry about existing grass already there if you're going to put out new seed. If it were me I'd use a cultivator and tiller and rip the place up killing all weeds then use whatever seed I desired be it Watersaver, Triple A , true colors so on an so on. I like fescue. the super renovator will not kill whats there but when set aggresively it will make for good seeding.

 

[bubenberg]

seeding addendum, i forget to give you some timespans of the rye grass germination and does and don'ts, but it was too early this morning.

seeding in spring will interfere in many regions of the US with the crabgrass control and other weed control applications.

the ryegrass germination is from 10-14 days in spring in the mid atlantic region, check with your ag extension agent of your county or parish (pour le francais a la louisiane).

we, if we have to seed, prepare the area to be seeded very well to establish a better chance for what they call a seed-to soil contact, this will further a more rapid germination ( you do not want the seedling to have to fight. for our region the rate is around 4.5-8.5 lbs/for 1000 sq.ft. in the direct sun.

in case you have a shady area (where crabgrass won't be able to grow, you will get away with 5lbs/1000 sq. feet.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

there is a new First Choice Brand 3 point hitch 5 ft core aeriator running on Ebay today--I think the reserve is $595--I am not sure when the auction ends?? I am hearing a lot of good things about that brand and good pricing similiar to Landpride in quality and looks