I live in central Connecticut. I have been at this house for 18 years. The grass for most of that time I would categorize as typical Northern mix of fescue, rye and some KBG. My maintenance plan had been has been to put down Haltz crabgrass preventer around April 1 and then the Scotts 4 step plan. I would spot treat weeds with Weed-B-Gone. In the fall I would aerate. I do not have irrigation system and for the most part depended on Mother Nature to supply the water. In the summer I would run 2 oscillating sprinklers but would not be smart about watering due to my lack of knowledge.
My lawn has always been just ok. I like to keep it looking nice and mow high. Up until last year I only overseeded once in my 18 years here. My lawn looked ok from the road but as you walked on it, it looked thin. There were only a few spots in the lawn that were that lush dense grass I so desired. So after reading this forum I decided last fall to do a serious overseeding.
September of 2016 I aerated as usual and then I rented a slit seeder. I purchased from United Seeds SuperTurf II LS. This is a Turf Type Tall Fescue and Bluegrass Mix. Approx 92% Tall Fescue and 8% KBG. I also applied Scotts 32-0-4 fertilizer at same time. I followed the watering recommendations that I found here and I was happy with the results. The grass for the most part filled in nicely. Got some nice compliments from people walking their dogs. In October of 2016 I put down Scotts TurfBuilder 32-0-10.
My lawn is 13,000sq ft. I sampled 2 areas of my lawn. A front area and a side lawn area. The side lawn area is 2900sqft. This side lawn parcel has a dogwood tree on it that shades about a third of this area. The area in this shade part is ok, but a bit thin in parts. The part of the side lawn that gets full sun is awesome. It is nice and thick. This side yard has some Zoysia grass in it that has been the bane of my existence. Every winter it gets that straw color and it covers an area of about 500sqft. However, this past winter something interesting occurred. There was hardly any discoloration of the grass in that area. There were only a couple very small patches that turned color. I'm assuming my overseeding was the reason why since nothing else changed from previous years. I don't know how Zoysia relates to the TTTF grass so any guidance on that would be appreciated. At one point I was considering nuking that Zoysia and starting over.
The front yard area is 5,000sqft. Some of this area gets partial shade however there is an area of the front that gets no shade. This is the area I sampled because I am having a hard time getting the grass to thicken up here. It is thinner here than the rest of the lawn and not growing as fast. This area is about 30ft x 40ft . The soil sample that I labeled as Front Yard was taken from about 6 different areas of this area.
I have done the following in 2017:
4/3/17 Put down Lesco 19-0-7 Crabgrass Preventer w/Dimension.
I have been spot treating Dandelions and some clover in yard with Weed-B-Gone Chickweed, Clover & Oxalis.
My lawn in the past has had some areas of clover that I have spot treated. I also have some wild violets that I keep at bay with spot treatments. Unfortunately I have neighbors who don't deal with their dandelions so each year it seems I have more and more to deal with.
My goal with my lawn is to try and get it to thicken up in the parts that are thin. I am open to doing any maintenance recommended. Thank you.
