I could be mistaken, but I don't think it costs much more to do a total renovation than to do an overseeding project. The main difference is the glyphosate to kill the existing lawn and that's pretty cheap. If you really want to get the best, darkest green lawn you can have, you need to replace what...

Since you've got KBG, you shouldn't need to overseed to thicken the lawn. If you can get the conditions right, it will thicken on its own. Mulch mowing at 3 inches (or higher unless it's a newer compact type) will help indirectly, but really only by making he lawn healthier. The same goes for fertil...

How big is your lawn? Is there a Starbucks nearby? If you regularly pass a Starbucks, you can pick up grounds for free and spread them on the lawn (you're doing them a favor, so no purchase is needed). They're a mild fertilizer, and also add organic matter to the soil, which can help loosen the soil...

I actually live on the IL/IA border...and ISU's lab and county extension are closer, thus that is why I originally chose them over IL. Any idea on what UMASS or Cornell charge for their tests? Any thoughts on overseeding vs. slit seeding? Any thoughts on cultivars for my area...I would like to get ...

One possible problem with renovating via dormant seeding is that if you have heavy rain or snow with a quick melt, the seed could wash away, particularly if you've got any slope at all.

I suppose that if you leave the old dead grass in place, that would reduce that risk.

Edited to correct typo

Would Illinois be a better lab for you?

KOG--Your results are truly outstanding.

If you over seed won't it take over the old grass and come in with the new improved gress that you just put donw? And by core aerating it make the gress thinker? I know others have already responded to the first question, but I'll add my two cents. I tried replacing my existing lawn with native gra...

First of all, welcome to the site. I think the first of November is probably either too early or too late to seed. If you're dormant seeding, it was probably a little too early. You need to make sure that it's cold enough and is going to stay cold enough that the seed won't start to germinate. When ...

If they instituted restrictions like that here, I think most of the lawns in my neighborhood would die. Mine would probably stay mostly green (and then the native grasses would spread to the parts that died). I'm actually planning on watering only every other week once the rain stops. It's very unus...

I must have missed that discussion.

Another thing you can do if you have any Starbucks nearby is to stop and get their grounds for the garden. Some Starbucks locations don't save them. It's corporate policy for them to save them and give them away for free, but that doesn't apply to the ones in bookstores, grocery stores etc and some ...

"You can cheat a bit by soil drenching with a skunked beer, 3 to 6 ounces of molasses, and 1 ounce of baby shampoo" When you say skunked beer, does it really have to be skunked beer, or is it just stale beer (or any beer)? It's easy enough to create skunked beer since it's UV light that does it (tha...

Rlembke--That was how I interpreted her comments in that thread, also. I could be wrong, but I think she meant that the newer varieties deal with short mowing better than the old varieties.

If you've switched to using organics, I think you'll find that the soil loosens up without aerating. The soil microbes work the organic matter into the soil and the worm population increases also. Core aeration makes holes a few inches deep to allow more air to get in. Worms go several feet deep. I'...

I can give you a trick to help the water soak deeper into the clay. It worked for me, anyway. \ Thanks for the tip, bpgreen. I've thought about doing that but never got around to messing with it. I was going to ask if you have experienced deeper rooting due to this method of watering but I see you'...

I've been planting grasses that will only have roots three feet long if there's some kind of problem preventing them from developing proper root systems. But I'm planting native grasses that have evolved to make the most out of the environment they're in. I don't know how deep St Augustine grass roo...

It will soon be too hot to even spot spray weeds. One thing you can do is get a weed hound . They're handy for pulling up weeds with tap roots. Another thing you can do is to mow fairly high so the desired grass can crowd out the weeds. I keep my mower at the highest setting. Water only when the law...

Unless you plan to have it graded, I wouldn't till. If you till, it's very difficult to get it tilled properly and evenly, so as it settles, you can easily end up with a very lumpy lawn.

I can give you a trick to help the water soak deeper into the clay. It worked for me, anyway. I have an in ground system with a timer that can go through three cycles. It's got 6 zones. So I water each zone for a certain amount of time. It varies because the amount the different sprinklers puts out ...