Over Seeding

[lee.r.martin@tesco.net]

I have just had a very helpful profesional in to give me a quote to overseed my lawn which I layed 14 months ago (aprox 120 m squared). It has gone down hill for a number of reasons I believe, - bad soil, shaded, poor darinage, etc. But basicaly I want to know if I am planning to do the right thing? The gardener told me what he would do and said that I could get him to do all or part of the job, and seeing as I am a bit short of cash right now, have decided to do the work myself. What I will do is 'verticut' (scarify on steroids) the lawn, then overseed it with a dwarf rye grass seed (westlands), put a loam soil down (up to 10mm thick, and then water it accordingly. What I want to know is ; is are these the best materials that I can be using, or is ther something better that I could use (seeing as I am going to be doing the work myself, I may as well spend some of the saved money on better products, so that the job is a success)? Is tehre anything that I have missed out, or that you would do differently? thanks for your time

Lee Martin

[The Helpful Gardener]

If shade is the issue I am not sure rye is the best alternative. Shade mixes here in the States shorten the rye and go heavier on the fescue, usually red fescue, but I don't know if that's available to you. I would hit the garden center and pick a pro brain closer to home, but I think the rye is supect... Mixes are generally a better way to go because if a single strain seed is unhappy, the whole lawn is unhappy, but in a mix one is more likely to take up the slack for a weak partner...

Scott