What attachment would I use.....?

[tcrider33d]

Well, I'll get to it......

I prepared and planted a new lawn this spring. I started by box blading with the rippers down, harley raked it, seeded it, covered it with chain link, and then rolled it. As far as I can tell, my prep was great, but, it was 3 acres of grass, and the weather was cool, with not much rain this year. Needless to say, I have a patchy new lawn.

What I am hoping to do this fall, or in the spring, is to try re-seed the lawn again, without removing or damaging the grass that is growing. Does anyone have any suggestion on a implement that may be able to prep a overseed bed? I have a landscape (york) rake and a box blade, but I am assuming they would leave little to no grass left after using them. I will say that my ground is a mix of heavy gravel and clay, and has set up pretty hard, if it makes a difference.

Any suggestions on implements and process would definitely be appreciated.

 

[RonMar]

Do you have a garden tractor/riding mower? If so, a simple pull behind de-thatching rake should work to rough up the soil without damaging the existing grass too badly(same as it removes thatch from a existing lawn). After rakeing, overseed then rake again to help cover the seed. You want to hit the areas from a few different angles as the thatch rakes are usually in line. If you only run in one direction, you will wind up with neat rows of new grass every few inches /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif.

 

[BX23Seattle]

I plan to pull a core aerator around in mid sept. then overseed. Leaving the plugs on the ground. In my area this works fine. You need to water like crazy before you do it or wait for a few days of good rain to soften the soil and you also want to load up the aerator with a couple hundreed pounds of cement blocks so you get nice deep plugs.

 

[Keith_B]

A core aerator would do the trick. You may be able to rent a good commercial gas operated walk behind aerator that would work well in your soil.

I have a lot of clay in my soil and a pull behind core aerator I rented didn't do much for the soil, even though it was wet.

 

[PBinWA]

Core aerator and a power rake/dethatcher from a rental center should work. Pray for lots of rain.

I redid 2 acres of lawn this year. I had really clay soil and amended it with lots of horse poo and Gypsum which seemed to have done the trick. The soil seems a lot less "sticky" now.

Gypsum was pretty cheap ($3-5 for 25lbs) and was stocked at my local Home Depot and Lowes. I'm going to start spreading it on my lawn in the Fall and Spring along with the lime and fertilizer.