Have any of you had your yard "slit seeded"?

[Alice Sr.]

I'm not even sure if that's what you call it or how you spell it. We had a bad, nasty drought last year and my lawn has suffered terribly. I had a landscaper come out and he said the cheapest way to get a decent result was to slit seed; otherwise I would be looking at thousands of dollars to basically start over. I have been told that slit seeding can do more harm than good to your lawn because it cuts through all the roots causing more damage

Any opinions would be appreciated.

TIA,
Alice

 

[Monte Cristo]

I have had a new area of my lawn "slice" seeded. I don't know if it's just a different terminology for the same thing, but what they did was they used a machine that cuts a bunch of slices in the lawn and then drops seed into the slices. They then raked the topsoil to "close" the slice. It worked great as the lawn grew in real nice after I watered it of course.

MC

 

[Ronda93]

Yes, and it works great. Seeds must touch dirt to germinate. Just flinging it into the thatch won't work. The verticut opens the ground get that contact.

HOWEVER. Don't do this in the spring. This is the time to fertilize what's there and prevent crab grass and other nuisance grasses from germinating. If you seed and use a crabgrass preventer, the seed is wasted (exception, there are some specialized seed/preventer combos - expensive - that will work together in the spring).

If you don't use a crab grass preventer the lawn will look awful by late summer/early fall. Some don't mind it, but if you want a good looking yard, it will look awful to you.

Give it a feeding and make plans to overseed in the fall.

 

[Alice Sr.]

Yes, and it works great. Seeds must touch dirt to germinate. Just flinging it into the thatch won't work. The verticut opens the ground get that contact.

HOWEVER. Don't do this in the spring. This is the time to fertilize what's there and prevent crab grass and other nuisance grasses from germinating. If you seed and use a crabgrass preventer, the seed is wasted (exception, there are some specialized seed/preventer combos - expensive - that will work together in the spring).

If you don't use a crab grass preventer the lawn will look awful by late summer/early fall. Some don't mind it, but if you want a good looking yard, it will look awful to you.

Give it a feeding and make plans to overseed in the fall.

I have to do it now because there are huge dead areas. Do you think the expensive seed/preventer combo is worth it or should I tell the lawn guy not to use a crabgrass preventer this spring and deal with the crabgrass after the lawn/grass gets healthier? My lawn is about a 1/2 acre and he said the cost for slit/slice seeding it will be $500 (which seemed reasonable compared to starting over). Thanks for your help.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

#1...Cutting through roots doesn't matter. I don't know who told you that, but it is pretty funny.

I would go ahead and do the slit seeding, and as far as preventer well they have a seed starter plus crabgrass preventer you can use with new seed. (Didn't know this existed...but wow.)
http://www.preen.com/newpreen/prdpreenlwnnew/index.jsp

Happy Planting!

 

[tworkit]

You need the fertilizer with tupersan in it. It will prevent crabgrass but won't hurt the new seed at all.