Newbie Fall Lawn Project looking for input

[tractorjeff]

At the beginning of this year I purchased a 2007 Kubota L2800 29HP. Now that I've gotten of operating it I am looking forward to planting a lawn on 1.5 of my 4 acres (remainder is wooded). My "terrain" is mix of rocks as large as 1-2", clay and sand. The builder did a great job on the rough grade now it's my turn to do the finish grade. Below is my high level to-do-list, any input is appreciated:

1.) Mow down weeds -complete
2.) Plow to loosen up the soil (is there a certain type of plow I should use?)
3.) Rototill to further loosen up soil (I will be renting this implement)
4.) Fill in a few low spots and build up grade in front of house/ porch area (my friend has a box blade I will be borrowing)
5.) Spread top soil into yard using my tractor rake
6.) Spread tall rescue seed with walk behind spreader
7.) Shoot hay over seed to hold in moisture and keep birds away
8.) Water daily, still need to purchase a large sprinkler

 

[85Hokie]

what type of fescue are you looking to use?

food for thought - use a broadcast spreader, a drop spreader never seems to work as well in the real world.
A broadcast spreader should be used in all 3 directions too. Parallel , perpendicular and diagonal, thus having the seed being overlapped in all directions.

I would hand rake "lightly" once seed is placed = this will place it a little below the top of the soil - again a light rake, basically allowing the seed to move down a bit and soil to placed on top.

The straw will help - I have done it without too.

Once the grass comes up - back off from watering daily to watering thoroughly - a longer water period is better than a bunch of short ones over several days. Once the seed germinates - you want those roots to head south and find the water there - not on top !!!!

And never water at night - always early AM - fungus and all that fun stuff love the night time watering - and watering during the heavy sunlight can also be a problematic. Early morning places the water in the soil and allowed to soak IN before the sun can dry the moisture out.

 

[i7win7]

A subsoiler will open up grooves to improve drainage. A true plow (moldboard) will turn the soil over and require disking. Bulk mulch would be good to till in if available in your area.

After raking, draging a section of chain fence should create a smoother surface (recommend lawn tractor for this) use something light weight

 

[tractorjeff]

what type of fescue are you looking to use?

food for thought - use a broadcast spreader, a drop spreader never seems to work as well in the real world.
A broadcast spreader should be used in all 3 directions too. Parallel , perpendicular and diagonal, thus having the seed being overlapped in all directions.

I would hand rake "lightly" once seed is placed = this will place it a little below the top of the soil - again a light rake, basically allowing the seed to move down a bit and soil to placed on top.

The straw will help - I have done it without too.

Once the grass comes up - back off from watering daily to watering thoroughly - a longer water period is better than a bunch of short ones over several days. Once the seed germinates - you want those roots to head south and find the water there - not on top !!!!

And never water at night - always early AM - fungus and all that fun stuff love the night time watering - and watering during the heavy sunlight can also be a problematic. Early morning places the water in the soil and allowed to soak IN before the sun can dry the moisture out.

I'll be using Turf Type Tall Rescue from my local Co-Op

I appreciate you taking the time to respond in detail, this is exactly what I needed.

 

[tractorjeff]

A subsoiler will open up grooves to improve drainage. A true plow (moldboard) will turn the soil over and require disking. Bulk mulch would be good to till in if available in your area.

After raking, draging a section of chain fence should create a smoother surface (recommend lawn tractor for this) use something light weight

If I use a true plow can I assume rototilling can replace disking? Chain fence is a great idea I will get my four wheeler out for this. I haven't heard of tilling in bulk mulch I will look into this as well. Thank you!

 

[85Hokie]

I'll be using Turf Type Tall Rescue from my local Co-Op

I appreciate you taking the time to respond in detail, this is exactly what I needed.

In about 4-6 weeks ..... we need to see some pictures!

Perhaps a before and after!

 

[dan_m]

Before and after pictures sounds like a great idea!

A few things from my experience dealing with growing grass (fescue) from seed (Georgia)

Plan out how you will water that large an area of grass. You don't want to be dragging hose/walking on wet dirt/seed frequently - that's a sure way to get grass seed stuck to the bottom of your boots.

You mentioned you have a lot of wooded area? is it hardwood? Personally I've found using fallen leaves is much better than using peat moss (started grass in middle of Georgia summers) or straw. Might be something to consider if you have a huge pile of leaves laying around instead of purchasing that much straw.

Keep watering it, even after it's several inches (4+) tall.
Cut it high (as high as your deck will go) the first few cuts until it's well established. I can't emphases enough how you want it to be well established before cutting low to ground.
Use sharp blades - the grass blades will be thin and blow easily from the spinning blades (I have not been able to cut it well when using string trimmer before)
Keep an eye out for weeds/trees/poison ivy, etc. that may start growing along with your grass and remove.

Starting in a few weeks when grass first starts sprouting, every time you look at that area or mow that grass, you'll grin and have this "look what I did, ain't it great!" feeling.

Dan

 

[tractorjeff]

Before and after pictures sounds like a great idea!

A few things from my experience dealing with growing grass (fescue) from seed (Georgia)

Plan out how you will water that large an area of grass. You don't want to be dragging hose/walking on wet dirt/seed frequently - that's a sure way to get grass seed stuck to the bottom of your boots.

You mentioned you have a lot of wooded area? is it hardwood? Personally I've found using fallen leaves is much better than using peat moss (started grass in middle of Georgia summers) or straw. Might be something to consider if you have a huge pile of leaves laying around instead of purchasing that much straw.

Keep watering it, even after it's several inches (4+) tall.
Cut it high (as high as your deck will go) the first few cuts until it's well established. I can't emphases enough how you want it to be well established before cutting low to ground.
Use sharp blades - the grass blades will be thin and blow easily from the spinning blades (I have not been able to cut it well when using string trimmer before)
Keep an eye out for weeds/trees/poison ivy, etc. that may start growing along with your grass and remove.

Starting in a few weeks when grass first starts sprouting, every time you look at that area or mow that grass, you'll grin and have this "look what I did, ain't it great!" feeling.

Dan

Thanks for all the pointers Dan and also an excuse to let the falling leaves sit all over my lawn this fall.

 

[i7win7]

If I use a true plow can I assume rototilling can replace disking? Chain fence is a great idea I will get my four wheeler out for this. I haven't heard of tilling in bulk mulch I will look into this as well. Thank you!

disking slices up the large chunks of soil prior to using tiller or harrows to prepare soil for row crops.
You can skip the disk - rough ride and it will take a lot of time. Tillers usually only work the top 4" of soil. Plows turn over 8-10" of soil

 

[TomRC]

I built a poor mans drag to cover seed. Skip the big box stores and find a local fence company where you can probably get a scrap section of heavy gauge chain link fence around 5'x10'. Attach 2x6's to both ends, attach to tractor and drag. Can add weight to middle if necessary such as old tire, log, etc. I'll be using it for the first time later this month but others have had luck using this type of drag.

Total investment about $50. One day I'll own a high priced cultipacker! Lightly covering seed is very important.