Preparing/seeding 2.5 acre property - Advice please

[jenkinsph]

Hello everyone,
New member to the forum here. I have very much enjoyed reading up on the variety of topics found on the forum and was hoping I could get some advice on the situation I am in.

Situation:
- Newly built house on 2.5 acre lot. The property was pretty much entirely overgrown with weeds. I have spent this past summer cutting down the weeds and spraying them with herbicide to try and get them under control. So far it's been pretty successful as they have been reduced significantly from when I first started.
- We live in Canada so winters are cold so I was planning on seeding next fall. Want to take the time to get the property prepared correctly to hopefully increase the chances of success in planting the seed next year. I recently had the property rough graded using a bobcat so the ground is now fairly packed in certain areas and has tire ruts all over the place which will need to be leveled out again prior to laying the seed.

My thoughts/plan - this is where any input or advice will be very much appreciated!!

This fall:
- Give the entire property another good spray of roundup to try and kill all remaining vegetation on the property.
- Till the entire yard to break up the packed clay ground. My fear in doing this is that it is going to open the seed bed to just create even more weeds that have been controlled. Not sure how else I can break up the compacted and rough ground though.

Next year:
- Continue to spray herbicide to kill existing weeds that pop up in the spring.
- Till ground in late summer to get rid of all the dead weeds and break up ground further.
- Harrow entire property to try and smooth out the ground for seeding.
- Seed in the fall

Based on my all of my research, I just can't seem to find a consistent method of going about this so I'm not sure if I'm heading down the correct path or if i'm going about this in the wrong way. If anyone has some experience with this or can share their advice it will be very much appreciated!

Thanks

If you need to grade the property to correct drainage I would do this first. This will bring up new weed seeds but I would not be concerned about this, when the time is right you can till them under for green manure. Usually tilling the weeds under in late summer or fall will reduce the chances of them coming back until next year.

This year I would correct drainage and smooth out the area for easy mowing in the future, then broadcast some annual rye to reduce erosion and provide cover.

I would seed the area in the fall after tilling the weeds in next year. As long as you have enough rain in the fall and use proper fertilizers and winter root stimulators you should have the grass well rooted by the time the spring weeds start.

I would spend more money on seeds and less on weed killer. Do everything you can to promote the grass and its root growth, this will help choke out the weeds. When you have a solid mat of grass roots the weeds don't have much of a chance. When you spray and kill weeds they die and leave a void, with time another one fill in this blank spot.

My lawn below was seeded at 350 lbs./acre in tall Fescue. Planted in late August and used sprinklers to get started. Never had any weed killer on it. It has had starter fertilizers, root stimulators in the fall, Ironite once a year and some Nitrogen based fertilizers as needed.

 

[bayds]

Thanks everyone for the advice provided, very much appreciated.

Jenkinsph,
Your lawn in the picture looks great. So my plan was to wait and till a little bit closer to fall. Hopefully by doing this the seeds that are brought up will die over the winter. Can you explain your thoughts around broadcasting annual rye? Did you mean to do this this year? What exactly will this do and do I just till it up again next year prior to seeding the grass?

Also, when it comes time to seeding next fall. Would you till the yard again and then immediately seed right after? What was your process in seeding in the fall and not having the grass seed compete with the weed seeds leading into the winter?

Thanks

 

[Thall303]

If you need to grade the property to correct drainage I would do this first. This will bring up new weed seeds but I would not be concerned about this, when the time is right you can till them under for green manure. Usually tilling the weeds under in late summer or fall will reduce the chances of them coming back until next year.

This year I would correct drainage and smooth out the area for easy mowing in the future, then broadcast some annual rye to reduce erosion and provide cover.

I would seed the area in the fall after tilling the weeds in next year. As long as you have enough rain in the fall and use proper fertilizers and winter root stimulators you should have the grass well rooted by the time the spring weeds start.

I would spend more money on seeds and less on weed killer. Do everything you can to promote the grass and its root growth, this will help choke out the weeds. When you have a solid mat of grass roots the weeds don't have much of a chance. When you spray and kill weeds they die and leave a void, with time another one fill in this blank spot.

My lawn below was seeded at 350 lbs./acre in tall Fescue. Planted in late August and used sprinklers to get started. Never had any weed killer on it. It has had starter fertilizers, root stimulators in the fall, Ironite once a year and some Nitrogen based fertilizers as needed.

Wished I had that grass here n Texas.

 

[KWRB]

Thanks everyone for the advice provided, very much appreciated.

Jenkinsph,
Your lawn in the picture looks great. So my plan was to wait and till a little bit closer to fall. Hopefully by doing this the seeds that are brought up will die over the winter. Can you explain your thoughts around broadcasting annual rye? Did you mean to do this this year? What exactly will this do and do I just till it up again next year prior to seeding the grass?

Also, when it comes time to seeding next fall. Would you till the yard again and then immediately seed right after? What was your process in seeding in the fall and not having the grass seed compete with the weed seeds leading into the winter?

Thanks

My opinion:

If and only if you are certain there aren't any more dormant weed seeds, another round of tillage should break up the soil and help the new planting take root. On the other hand, if you've relied on spraying the final time, tillage could further encourage more weed seeds to germinate. Grass and wildflowers typically don't needs crazy depth so again, unless you're certain that tillage won't bring up any more dormant weeds, I would just seed and roll with a roller/cultipacker. For my project, I'm tilling every few weeks during the growing season until no more weeds germinate. Then I won't have to worry about the repercussions of tilling right before I cast seed.

As for not competing with weeds, the idea is to A) repeatedly, mechanically till them all so there aren't any perennial root systems or dormant seeds left to compete, or B) spray and don't till, leaving the (hopefully) few dormant weeds to be out-competed by your dense seeding of grass.

 

[jenkinsph]

I don't think you ever get rid of all weed seeds, ain't happening. But it is possible with proper timing and grass seed density to grow grass roots that will limit the weeds from coming up. I suspect in Canada you could plant earlier maybe August 1st. and have a better head start on the grass and root growth. Irrigation is important for my locale (in southeast New Mexico) and suspect for good results is important everywhere as it allows timing the application for optimum root growth. Most of the weeds I have to deal with seem to come up in May but if tilled up in mid August will not come back until the following year. The key is to get the grass and subsequent roots growing to block the weeds before next May.

Over the winter at least in my locale the grass may brown out but the roots are still growing. I do what ever I can to promote the root growth from Dec. through Feb. applying root stimulator and watering. I also promote the importance of getting a good soil analysis early on in the project to see what amendments are needed prior to planting. Some of these amendments need time to work and that should be accounted for.

I prefer tilling prior to planting, I have had better results with uniform seedbeds this way. I have spent the last few years improving my own skills in finish grading and smoothing. Combining a smooth, tilled, and rolled seedbed helps quite a lot with the end result a smooth lawn without bumps or any ponding with good drainage. This makes mowing and maintaining the lawn so much easier to do.

I suggested rye grass as a cover crop to provide a more respectable appearance over the winter months this year. It also helps provide a little organic growth which can be helpful in many areas. Rye grass, local grasses and weeds can all be tilled under prior to planting your new prepared seedbed. The green manure helps more than some might think.

Just my opinion but I have never understood why so many members on TBN are reluctant to rework the entire lawn area to improve it. Instead it seems a lot of members concern themselves with suspension seats and all terrain tires to get over their rough ground. If you fix the rough ground first then a good mower can yield great results in much less time over several years following. With the growing popularity of ztr mowers you would think being able to mow fast without bumps would be the next logical step.

My older box store mower can easily mow my own lawn areas with good results (if the transmission would hold up) and the x749 premium mower is not necessary. My customers with tough terrain issues is why I have the x749. This mower quickly paid for itself raking pine needles using a pine straw rake over two years time and about 300 clock hours. I also use the mower for close quarters work around trees and pipelines to reduce the amount of manual labor required for finish and clean up work. That said since I have the x749 I use it to mow my lawn.

Last but not least I would hope to see more project about improving actual properties and how these were accomplished. It seems that 95% of all forums is equipment discussion with 5% discussion of actual use and the corresponding results posted. Just my opinion, worth what you paid for it.