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  #41  
Old 08-17-2014, 10:16 AM
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jc, your an interesting man. I think, however, you rely too much on your pc and the internet, whereas I am speaking from years of experience farming and planting yards for people. I'll watch your test though, I am intrigued.....
Wanted to follow up on this since it's now been 14 days since seeding. The frozen seed container only got 8 blades of grass so far , and I think it's safe to say that you were right, the freezing killed the seed. I think it's also safe to say that freezing the seed in the freezer before sowing is probably not a good idea, although I have not tested freezing it for a longer period, maybe it was the quick freeze/thaw cycle.

I dumped out all the containers and found another interesting fact. The grass that had successfully germinated 8 days ago already had roots about 3 inches long going all the way to the bottom of the container, that's about 0.4" of root growth a day. That is quick root growth.

Lastly, even though I won't be using it this year, the year old Rebel seed I had in the garage in an open bag still had an excellent germination rate , 90%+ and seems to be excellent seed to use in residential lawns , I would definitely recommend using Rebel.
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  #42  
Old 08-17-2014, 05:51 PM
yeeter yeeter is offline
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My grass seed experiments have got me thinking, it seems kind of silly to spread a whole bunch of seed over a large area and then attempt to keep the whole area moist for 7-14 days so the seed can germinate. Seems there's a 5-6 day period when the seed does not really attach to the soil,it just sits there, so I'm wondering if it would be possible to spread the seed out on a tray or something and water it for 5-6 days, and just before it produces roots or whatever spread it on the ground. This would cut down on a lot of watering and increase your chances of success...I would think. I have already determined that the seed does not need to be covered to germinate, it just needs water. I'm going to spread a bunch of leftover seed on a tray and try it.
One of the golf courses I knew would make a pile of sand and water it down, then mix the seed into it and cover with a tarp. After a week they would spread that sand on the tee box, pre germinated.

I think the key is to not let those germinated sprouts dry out (I also think this is a large part of just spreading to on top of the ground, it doesn't stay moist)
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  #43  
Old 09-14-2014, 06:30 PM
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After much research and testing the time has finally come this weekend to get my lawn overseeded. I will share the process and lessons learned for posterity and anyone else looking to overseed this fall. I have about 10 thousand square feet of lawn and used 50# of tall fescue seed and 50# of starter fertilizer. The whole process took about 10 hours, 80% of which was spend raking and moving thatch off the lawn.

Materials and tools used:
-----------------------------
- 50# of bullseye tall fescue
- 50# of Lesco starter fertilizer
- Cub Cadet 1450
- Craftsman steel blade dethatcher
- Craftsman self propelled mower
- Cardboard box with rope as redneck yard cart

The process:
-----------------------------

Just like painting, it's about 95% preparation and 5% actual seeding. The goal is to obtain maximum seed to soil contact. I cut the grass as low as possible on my 1450 , which tuned out to not be low enough. Did another pass with my push mower on the lowest setting leaving about 1 inch of grass. At this point I had a ton of clippings on the lawn which were raked and removed.I then proceeded to verticut the entire lawn, which pulled an insane amount of thatch and also created shallow grooves into the soil. Again , spent quite a bit of time raking and moving thatch. Verticut once again at a 45 degree angle to the initial pass. Again, spent quite a bit of time raking and moving thatch. At this point, the existing grass had taken a serious beating, but all thatch was removed exposing the soil for the seed. Proceeded to spread starter fertilizer and seed at the recommended rates. Spread some of the thatch that I had pulled off the lawn back on the lawn in really bald areas to prevent the seed from blowing/washing away. On to watering for the next 7 days.

Lessons learned and observations:
-----------------------------------------
- Seed matters. In my seed tests , I noticed the Bullseye seed grew differently than the Rebel seed , in that it already had about 2 inches of roots after only 5 days, and little to no blade growth. The Rebel seed was not as agressive in root growth but grew blades much faster, so exactly the opposite. Check NTEP tests for your area and try to find a top performer rather than using 20 year old cultivars from big box stores.
- Get a lawn sweeper. It will save a lot of back breaking work.
- When verticutting, it looks like you're destroying your lawn. Don't be afraid to get in there and try to find the depth that removes the most thatch without tearing out your grass.
- Don't dethatch / verticut unless your grass is cut very short. The steel blades catch the grass blade and pull out the grass by the roots if not short enough.
- I don't think I would dare to aerate at the same time , it may be too much all at one time for your existing grass.
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  #44  
Old 10-14-2014, 09:46 AM
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This is all very interesting to read. I live on a farm and we typically mow our grass once a week and do nothing else, if it dies it dies and it'll grow back next spring. Interesting to see what others do to their yards.
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  #45  
Old 10-14-2014, 11:58 AM
Ash_129 Ash_129 is offline
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This is all very interesting to read. I live on a farm and we typically mow our grass once a week and do nothing else, if it dies it dies and it'll grow back next spring. Interesting to see what others do to their yards.
No worries. I do the same and live in town on just shy of one acre lot.
Some people need to, have to , or just want to spend time and money on their lawn. That's fine by me.

Best of luck with the outcome, j4c11.
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  #46  
Old 10-14-2014, 07:20 PM
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No worries. I do the same and live in town on just shy of one acre lot.
Some people need to, have to , or just want to spend time and money on their lawn. That's fine by me.

Best of luck with the outcome, j4c11.

Thank you! Speaking of outcome...

Next year I'm going to try to get ahold of a mixture of Rhambler and Speedway seed, although as you can see Bullseye is an excellent cultivar.
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  #47  
Old 10-14-2014, 09:48 PM
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No worries. I do the same and live in town on just shy of one acre lot.
Some people need to, have to , or just want to spend time and money on their lawn. That's fine by me.

Best of luck with the outcome, j4c11.
But that dosn't mean I don't know how to do a good job mowing...
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  #48  
Old 10-14-2014, 10:49 PM
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But that dosn't mean I don't know how to do a good job mowing...
Nice job! I miss mowing on the cub, I have to mow for at least another month with my push mower since the grass is still young
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  #49  
Old 10-15-2014, 11:57 AM
Ash_129 Ash_129 is offline
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Oh, of course... mowing. My 129 does a good job. Weeds and all.
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  #50  
Old 10-15-2014, 09:37 PM
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Nice job! I miss mowing on the cub, I have to mow for at least another month with my push mower since the grass is still young
I mow another guy's yard once a week for some extra cash. He lives in a subdivision. His yard has a sprinkler system and he is a real stickler about weeds. I will take some pictures for you guys the next time I mow.
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Cub Cadet is a premium line of outdoor power equipment, established in 1961 as part of International Harvester. During the 1960s, IH initiated an entirely new line of lawn and garden equipment aimed at the owners rural homes with large yards and private gardens. There were a wide variety of Cub Cadet branded and after-market attachments available; including mowers, blades, snow blowers, front loaders, plows, carts, etc. Cub Cadet advertising at that time harped on their thorough testing by "boys - acknowledged by many as the world's worst destructive force!". Cub Cadets became known for their dependability and rugged construction.

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