A piece of chain link fence wrapped around a landscape timber would probably do the trick. Cut to the width your lawn tractor will be able to handle without staining and you'd probably be OK but I don't know enough about that tranny to say for sure. I made a 4'x5' 1" heavy wall square tubing frame that I fasten a piece of chain link fence to and made it to hook up on my cat o three point so I can lift it up for transport. That's what I used to get some sections of my yard ready for seeding, it sure worked, that grass grows way toooo fast now.

The right grass seed for your area and timing (planting at the end of the Summer/early Fall, NOT now) are very important.
I would ask the guys at the local Lesco if you have one one those around for seeding advice. They are really generous with advice and have great seed and starter fertilizer.

Make sure not to damage your new sprinkler heads. Get some small flags (I buy the ones they sell with the electric dog fencing) and mark them so you don't destroy them. You might be better off getting a core aerator attachment for your tractor now, because it is something you could use to reseed as well.

You can seed a lawn at any time of the growing season but the main issue is water. If you decide to seed now, then your irrigation system will have to be timed to water each zone in an almost non-stop rotation because you need that seed to stay wet enough to germinate. Once it has germinated, you need to keep it watered all the time because it will take months for the new grass to put roots down deep into the ground. If your area undergoes water restrictions, you might want to hold off on the seeding until late summer, early fall unless there is an exemption for new lawns from the water people.

As for the seeding, I would go to the local rental store and rent a power seeder. This device has an engine that drives a series of rotating knives that slit the soil and allow the seed to enter the slit before closing the slit with the built-in drag mat. Some have self-propelled wheels and other brands rely on the slitter knives to move the machine along.

One such machine is the LS-22 from Turfco Direct. Use the link below and then click on the picture titled "overseeder". Turfco, Ryan and Jacobsen are just a few of the brands that make these power seeders.

The best way to to seed with one of these machines is to make side by side passes north to south followed by another set of passes east to west and you can even do a third set on the diagonal. The above is simply a description for visualization purposes. You don't need a compass to first figure out where north is. LOL

Depending on the size of your property, this seeding could be done in a four-hour rental period or a one-day period. If you are in or near a rural area where farming takes place, try and find a co-op or feed mill where the real farmers buy their supplies. These places sell various grass mixtures in big bags or in bulk by the pound. Going to the local big box store and buying Scott's seed in little plastic bags will cost you a fortune by comparison. Grass seed is a high profit item for the big box boys. Co-ops and feed mills rely upon high volume sales.

Figure out how many square feet is in the area you wish to seed and then talk to the guy at the store. They are often quite experienced in this area and can guide you. They may suggest a custom blend with a "nurse crop" for seeding at this time of year. The nurse crop will sprout fast and then provide sun protection for the tender new grass you really want. The nurse crop is an annual and won't be there next year.

It's better to overbuy and have seed left over than to underbuy and have to run for more. Once the seed sprouts, you may have to scratch the odd area with a rake and hand-seed to fill in some bald spots.

You will use up all the seed you buy before winter. Just keep the traffic off of the new grass and resist cutting it until it's at least four to five inches high and then cut it down to three inches.

Here is a link that might be useful: Turfco

Thanks guys. I've got someone coming out from one of the local turf/sod companies to check out my site and recommend some seed that hopefully blends well with the sod the builder put in the front yard. I'm certainly not buying seed in 7lb packages from the local box emporium.

I'm still not exactly sure when I'm going to get the seed down. I have thought about waiting until the end of summer when it's a little cooler, but our landscape water generally gets shut off the last week of October, so I want to seed far enough in advance that the grass can get established before then. We don't have any watering restrictions though, and in fact my neighbor who seeded about a month ago waters several times a day and already has a well established lawn (without fertilizing at all even!). Apparently our soil up here is well suited to growing grass.

I had not heard of a power seeder, I think I'll look into it. I'm also thinking about some kind of chain-link drag with a 2x4 frame that has some offset lag bolts in the front and back to get some raking action. The builder let me scavenge some 2x4 scraps and my neighbor has some leftover chain-link so I figure it should be pretty cheap to put something together if it looks like it's going to be worth the effort.

I entirely disagree with the prior poster based upon my own experience and my 1.25 acres of lawn grown from seed.
Check the Lawncare forum for other opinions.
I would never rent a seeder. They are contraptions,,, a complete waste of time and money.
You can spread seed and starter fertilzer with a regular lawn spreader and rake it in with a 36" grading rake.
A core aerator would be ideal to rough up the top soil and provide little holes and pieces of dirt to rake the seed in.
I try to avoid renting anything, especially contraptions like a lawn seeder.

i have to say i would aerate and then seed, followed by a rake or a drag. but that is just me. it may take a little more time than a rented seeder, but i jsut hate renting something when i can do it with what i have.

don't get me wrong, having the right tool for the job is everything and is exactly why rental centers exist. i just don't know that this job requires one.

the type of grass you choose also has a lot to do with it. we use mainly bermuda around here, too dang hot for most anything else, and broadcast with a light drag afterwards is the best way to seed it. other grass types will work better slit seeded.

as a matter of a fact, i am currently reworking most of my 4 acres and will be seeding it later in the summer. i plan to smooth the ground out with a drag, then broadcast seed, then redrag it to work the seed in. i almost have to do mine this way, as my lawn is so rough that by the time i smooth it there will be no grass left.

where are you located? If your landscape water shuts off by the end of October I am guessing northern part of the country?

SE Washington, specifically Kennewick.

Posted by kachinee (My Page) on Tue, Jun 19, 07 at 16:28

I entirely disagree with the prior poster based upon my own experience and my 1.25 acres of lawn grown from seed.
Check the Lawncare forum for other opinions.
I would never rent a seeder. They are contraptions,,, a complete waste of time and money.
You can spread seed and starter fertilzer with a regular lawn spreader and rake it in with a 36" grading rake.
A core aerator would be ideal to rough up the top soil and provide little holes and pieces of dirt to rake the seed in.
I try to avoid renting anything, especially contraptions like a lawn seeder.
**********************************************************

Hey, if that method works for you, then fine. But to dismiss slit seeders as a "contraption" just because you are too cheap to rent a purpose-built machine isn't really helpful. I totally redid my front lawn a few years ago after doing a fair bit of trenching for electrical and water lines. After considerable tilling and levelling, I used a power-driven slit-seeder to insert my grass seed at the CORRECT level below grade.

Having seed drop into deep holes created by a plug aerator is pointless. Seed should be a mere quarter inch under the soil and kept damp continously so that it will sprout quickly and begin to establish root growth which will then send up new grass shoots to fill in the spaces.

Slit seeders are a conraption that actually works and they save you immense amounts of time. You make your passes with it and you are done. Just put the water to it and wait for the growth. Now, if you prefer all that manual labour needed to broadcast seed around and then trying to rake it in so that the birds won't feast on it over the next few days, then knock yourself out. ME? I've got better things to do than to sweat my nibbly bits off for hour after hour with a garden rake.

If slit-seeders didn't work or didn't do a first-rate job, then landscape companies wouldn't spend thousands buying them. But of course, you don't understand the concept of spending money to make money, do you?

I don't waste time driving 10 miles to the rental company, giving them a credit card, loading and unloading a huge contraption, pushing it up and down slopes and row after row all day, then cleaning, loading and returning it to the rental place. That is quick? No, and you still have to broadcast fertilzer which can wash into areas unevenly.

It is a much better idea to make an investment in a core aerator like the ones at lowes or HD, if you have a lawn or garden tractor. It has utility beyond the original seeding, every year.
I mix Lesco starter fertilizer with my blugrass seed and then broadcast it. You can hand rake it with a 36" grading rake in a short time or drag it like others have suggested.

Hey kachinee - what ratios do you use with your seed/fert mix? Just curious.

As I said, if all of that works for you, then great. And if you believe in aerating as being highly beneficial, then plug away. However, don't come on here and imply that a slit-seeder doesn't work very effectively. Farmers have used seeding "contraptions" for more than a hundred years and they still use them today in spite of the fact that they have broadcast spreaders available to them.

And no, you don't have to put fertilizer down in order to get seed to grow. Just put the seed into the ground at the correct depth and keep it moist. It will sprout from that process and then take root. There is ample nutrition in the topsoil to support good growth. If there isn't, then you have failed to properly prepare the area for a lawn.

Go hire somebody that knows what they are doing.

Speaking from experience - I used a spike harrow to break up the surface soil... seeded with a broadcast spreader (because that's all I had), then spread starter fertilizer, which is heavy on the root growth elements (phosphorous and potassium), and NOT nitrogen. Nitrogen will cause rapid leaf growth, with insufficient root network to properly support it.
I then dragged a chain around, to mix the seed with the top 1/2" of soil, and then turned on the sprinklers.

I did the work in May, watered. By the time my son had his "fall fair" of a birthday party in Sept., my lawn looked great. See the before and after pictures below.

I used an L120 (also with the K46) to do all of it. The area I covered is about 1.75 ac.

Dragging a spike harrow.
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Before (april / early may)
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After (sept) basically the SAME TAKE
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Gee wally, that's kinda neat. (just had to say that) It all looks great. Man, your photos sure drive home another point, the big difference in the times of seasonal changes in different latitudes. Here in Tennessee, by the time May rolls around, we've already had our last frost and the trees are in full leaf. On the other side, in September, our leaves are still fully green (though maybe a bit "tired looking"). We can have our first frost anytime after October 1st but usually it's around the 2nd to 3rd week. I remember a year we didn't get our first frost until December 4th. Anyway, I like what you've done with the place.

jimtnc:

I overseed with KBG every Fall. I use the settings that are for the Lesco Starter fertilizer I use, but mix in about 25% KBG seed. I have been done Midnight and Moonlight KBG in alternate years.
None of the landscaping contractors around here use slit seeders. Every seeded lawn I have seen done in this area has been done with a broadcast spreader.

castoff:
There is a lawncare forum here if you want to discuss the slit seeder. What I have suggested here is how to do this with a lawn tractor and the attachments that I and a few others have mentioned.