I am looking to formulate a plan of attack for fall seeding.

I had my yard graded in November last year. This included bringing in approx. 140 yards of fill and 60 yards of topsoil. This spring, I had sprinklers installed and attempted to sow grass seed since I didn't want to look at bare ground all summer. Epic fail!

On May 23rd, my landscaper put down starter fertilizer and a pure kbg mix blended by a local sod company consisting of the following:

45% Wild Horse Kentucky Bluegrass
35% Zinger Kentucky Bluegrass
20% Armada Kentucky Bluegrass

The seed was sown over bare soil and he did not loosen the soil beforehand. I watered the seeds 3 times per day for 12 minutes each zone.

Although my site is relatively flat, most of the seed was either washed away by rain into my flower beds or eaten by ants (no joke, they were hoarding this seed). Three weeks later on June 12th, he came back and reseeded (didn't loosen soil again) and applied Tenacity to control the now increasing weed population. Same results... Seed washed away and eaten by ants

It is now almost 4 weeks since the last seeding and the grass (dare I call it that) still looks awful (see pic). Weeds are starting to take over again. At this point, I am saying goodbye to my landscaper and taking over.

Here are the specs for my site:

Lawn size: 7000 sq. feet
Sprinkler System: Yes
Desired Lawn Type: KBG
Amount of Sun: Full Sun
Soil Type: Sandy
pH: Acidic but actual pH is unknown

I'm trying to decide if I should nuke my entire site with roundup and start over or try and salvage the existing grass that germinated and just overseed in the fall.

Please comment on my plan below...

Do Now:

• get a soil test

Starting August 1st:

• If Nuking Lawn: Two Round Up treatments to kill existing lawn and weeds (4 weeks before seeding and again 2 weeks before seeding)
  or If Keeping Existing Lawn:
  spray existing lawn with weed-b-gone (4 weeks before seeding and again 2 weeks before seeding)

• add lime per soil test

• apply insect control for ants

Starting September 1st:

• cut existing grass short (approx 2 inches) or if nuking lawn, cut at 1 inch to remove dead grass

• run verticutter in two directions with no seed in hopper over area

• rake away dead grass removed by verticutter

• spread 1/4" to 1/2" of compost over area

• seed with broadcast spreader in two directions

• lightly rake seed into soil/compost

Post Seeding:

• water 3x daily until germination

• apply starter fertilizer

• treat weeds as needed with Tenacity

• re-seed as needed based on germination results

Please let me know any suggestions for improving this plan and whether I should try and salvage this current mess. Thanks!

This post was edited by rokal on Mon, Jul 7, 14 at 20:35