Hi Greg,

I went with 4lbs per 1000 square feet only because the recommendation I kept reading here last year was 3-4 per thousand, but no more than four, and my yard is small enough (2,000 square feet) that the extra seed cost was not a concern. Now, it turned out that thanks to some sloppy measuring I probably applied 4.25 pounds per thousand square feet. Applying too much can apparently stunt the initial growth and invite damping off, and for awhile I was concerned, but it worked out fine.

If I renovate with KBG again I will probably shoot for 3 1/2 pounds, if that helps. Like you I bought extra last year to keep in reserve in case of washouts, irrigation failure, and whatever other disasters might call for additional seed, because it is not like I could just go down to the hardware store and pick up a few more pounds. I didn't have to use it (and it is still sitting in my fridge...), but was glad to have it on hand.

I don't know how to calibrate a spreader for seed, especially seed as small as KBG. I used a handheld spreader at a low setting and just paced my small lawn repeatedly, up and down and side to side.

That fescue blend sounds like it will be great for that area! What seeding rate are you going with? The fellow I bought my seeds from suggested 5 lbs./1000 ft as a "heavy" rate, but I just looked up Firefly somewhere and noticed they were recommending 8 lbs! Since there are over a million seeds in a pound of KBG and 600K in a pound of fine fescue (unless I have that wrong), the 8 pound recommendation makes more sense to me, but I am reluctant to go too heavy without knowing more.

Thanks,
Paul

Hi Paul,

I've been Googling seeding rates for fine fescue and most sites recommend 4-5 lbs. per 1000 sq. feet. One the other hand, the literature for both Firefly and Fortitude recommend 8-10 lbs per 1000 square feet. I don't think I'm even doing a thousand square feet so I imagine I'll at least throw down 5-6 lbs. I've seeded heavy in the past and paid for it, though I have to say when I threw down the hard fescue seed back in April I went heavy and it balanced out.

I applied the Round Up to the front yard on Friday (purple bottle) and I'm still waiting for the lawn to die. Hopefully I'll be able to seed by August 18th. I plan on doing the walkway section a bit earlier. In fact, I'm getting the slate tomorrow and topsoil Tuesday and if all goes well I can seed that area next week. Hopefully the shade will protect the seedlings and if I have to touch it up I will.

Greg

Hey Greg,

The purple cap stuff will take the longest of all of the Round-Up products to show results, but that is only because the only active ingredient is glyphosate, and there are no other "encouraging" herbicides in there. IMHO it is the best product you can use for the money, and without having to mix your own surfactants. Glad you used that!

The other, "fast acting" versions of round-up only work "faster" because they include other herbicides like diquat, and a few others, that dessicate the leaves. So it looks like they are working faster, and that lets Monsanto market the stuff as "fast acting."

But those supplemental herbicides don't make it to the roots in the way that roundup does, and are frankly a waste of money. I totally appreciate any apprehension you are feeling right now, looking at the lawn that you sprayed all of that roundup over and which still looks healthy, but know that what you applied WILL kill everything there, and you will see the results very soon.

HTH,
Paul

P.S. Thank you for your experience with seeding the fescues. I am still trying to figure out how much to apply, but what you said is good to know.

If I were you, I think I'd go with the 3 lbs per 1k sq ft so that you have some seed left over for spots that get washed out or don't have germination for some reason.

I'm replacing my lawn also, but using a lower seeding rate for the fescues in the back (different grasses in front). I'm using 4 lbs of sheep fescue and 1 lb of creeping red fescue for about 2k sq ft, so it's about 2.5 lbs per 1k sq ft. I hope that provides enough coverage.

I have seeded parts of my bluegrass lawn with 1.5, 3, and 4 pounds of seed per 1000ft2 (all in late summer/early fall). Hands down the 1.5 lb/1000ft2 was the quickest to establish. There are parts of my front lawn (seeded in fall 2006) where I used 4 lbs/1000ft2 that still do not appear mature. With the lower seeding rate, you can always use fertilizer to speed-up establishment. With a stand of crowded seedlings only time will sort it out!

Turf junkie, that is AWESOME information, and I don't doubt what you say one bit. At least as far as KBG is concerned, I am really starting to believe that less is more.

Thank you for posting that!
Paul