Asked July 12, 2021, 10:45 PM EDT
Hi University of MN – Extension,
My name is Miguel Salinas and I live at 639 Lodge Drive in Jordan, MN on a half acre corner lot. I am reaching out to you for advice and help with my lawn care. I am planning to overseed my lawn the weekend of Aug. 21st. Here is a brief history of my previous experience of overseeding:
I bought my house in 2016 and it was a bank own property. The previous owners never took care of the property especially the lawn care and landscape. There were a lot of weeds, dandelions, etc and the grass was terrible. I have been slowly working in my lawn to get it in a better shape. I have overseed every Fall and Spring Season since 2019 with Kentucky Midnight Bluegrass and each time has been a challenge.
When I overseed, I usually mow the grass at about 1-2 inches, collected the grass clippings, aerated, (and even dethatched in Spring of 2020 then overseed with Scott’s Starter For New Grass and use the Revive product). The grass looked okay but summer came and the grass looked terrible last year. I also hired a local lawn care company to add quarterly program lawn care applications – it has helped. I also have an irrigation sprinkler system and I have been using it during my overseeding projects.
But my grass is not how I want it to be, especially during the summer. My entire neighborhood’s lawn looks terrible especially in the summer. After so many attempts of overseeding, I realized that the main reason is because we live next to the Minnesota River and we have super sandy soil! I also research with the University of Minnesota Extension Lawn Care specialist and other local lawn care companies for recommendations. One of my neighbors has an amazing lawn and he shared with me that he overseed with the Kentucky Midnight Bluegrass seed from SeedBarn in Florida around the early 2010s but what he did is tore up his entire lawn, added 1 inch top soil and overseed went he bought his house . So in the Fall of last year, I went through the same process but this time I added about 2-3 inches of top soil/compost soil mix to my entire yard haff acre lot. However, my stupid mistake was that I overseed after I aerate, then cover my seed with the 2-3 inches of top soil instead of adding it on top and raking in the seed ☹. I don’t think the new grass seed grow; however, my existing grass did grow strong and super green. There were quiet a few bare spots.
This year in the first week April I tried to get a head started and overseed by hand the bared spots. I skipped the Spring Pre-Emergent application. I was literally on my knees; I loosen up the top soil and added grass new grass seed every bared spot by hand. Then I added Scott’s Starter Fertilizer using the seed spreader and even added peat moss. I water in a regular basis using my irrigation sprinkler system and sometimes with my garden hose. The new grass was finally growing but this year the summer came super fast in early May! There was a crazy heat in early May and no rain! My grass went brown (or as they say dormant) really fast even with my regular watering. I think my new grass died ☹.
Also, the lawn/grown felt like cement so I researched online for recommendations to loosen up the soil especially since water was running off the soil when I was watering with the sprinkler system or garden hose. I came across a Ryan Knorr youtube video recommending the Liquid Aerating Soil Loosener and it did helped. I added the product two weeks ago right before a rain fall. With a few day of rain, watering with my sprinkler systems and just recently added a fertilizer, my grass is looking to be coming back see photos.
I also don’t have much shade as you can see in the google maps and photos. The front house in google maps is my house in July 2019, but the corner and back side view is before I bought the house. I have the entire sun hitting my lawn basically all day, especially the back yard. I have added evergreen trees outside the fence by the Foxo-Boro. I also added three trees in the back yard by the side of my neighbor and 7 techny arborvitae tress between the existing pines tress in the very back yard, which by the way the pine trees are dying. See attached photos.
Anyhow, I would like to overseed one last time in the weekend of Aug. 21st. I am planning to mow the grass at about 2 inches, collect grass clipping, aerate and use Scott’s Starter For New Grass . I also have some top soil/compost left over so I am going to add a sprinkle of this soil to the new grass seed after overseeding. I am looking for your help in finding the correct seed. I still love the Kentucky Midnight Bluegrass (https://seedbarn.com/collections/bluegrass-seed/products/midnight-kentucky-bluegrass-seed-50-lbs) but I have the following questions:
o After sharing my lawn care experience, wondering if you still recommend the Kentucky Midnight Bluegrass seed or should I get a general Bluegrass mix seed to help with my direct sun, sandy soil on my lawn during Spring, Summer and Fall- also to be a good combination with my existing Kentucky Midnight Blue grass seed? If so which grass seed do you recommend and where should I get it?
o A local Home Depot employee from the lawn care dept recommended using the Vigoro Coated Grass Seed Sun and Shade Mix but I rather have good quality Blue Grass for full sun.
o Do I also need to test my soil for Ph level even though I added about 2-3 inches of top soil/compost mix last Fall?
Thank You.
Scott County Minnesota
