Spreading only 3lbs of KBG seeds....

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northeastlawn
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Spreading only 3lbs of KBG seeds....

Post by northeastlawn » August 6th, 2017, 6:27 pm

I think I read that 2.5lb / 1,000sf is a pretty good rate for KBG seeding.

I will be putting seed down for a small ~1,400sf lawn. I am kind of nervous about this because 3.5lbs of seeds seems really easy to screw up. It seems like a tiny amount and I have a habit of over doing the seeding. Plus I can't just run to the store and get more Bewitched.

I have the following options to spread it....

1.) An old Scotts drop spreader, which I hate using and seems inaccurate. But it is great on the borders.

2.) A big earthly spreader which is way to big for my lawn, but is great for dropping BSF, I have no idea what settings i would use with this to put KBG seeds down.

3.) lastly my new favorite toy, the Scott's whizzer, a battery operated hand spreader that seems perfect for hell strips and small quantities for my small lawn. I find myself using this more and more, but not sure how even the seed would be spread out if I used this.

Any recommendations of how to go about putting the seed down, I really don't want to put too much down, but don't want to miss any spots either.

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Re: Spreading only 3lbs of KBG seeds....

Post by STL » August 6th, 2017, 7:08 pm

I just got a whizz myself and plan on using that. I haven't seeded with it yet, but milorganite should be a decent way to test. Give it a try with 3.5 lbs. If it works, holler back with the setting you like.

northeastlawn
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Re: Spreading only 3lbs of KBG seeds....

Post by northeastlawn » August 6th, 2017, 7:37 pm

I only have 8 precious pounds of my KBG mix. Im hesitant to play with that.

I did have a thought though, what if I bought some cheap KBG seed somewhere just to test spread it somewhere. I could feed some birds.

Wouldn't the seed size be similar?

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Re: Spreading only 3lbs of KBG seeds....

Post by smast16 » August 6th, 2017, 8:00 pm

I use the wiz for sop and tsp. I planned on using that as well myself.

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Jackpine
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Re: Spreading only 3lbs of KBG seeds....

Post by Jackpine » August 7th, 2017, 5:25 am

In the past I mixed seed with clean saw dust from the high school wood shop. 1 part seed to approx 3-4 parts saw dust (half of a grocery bag for 3# of seed) worked well with my old rotary spreader. Last reno was with a crank hand spreader which worked extremely well as 2 passes put down almost the exact amount of seed needed.


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HoosierLawnGnome
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Re: Spreading only 3lbs of KBG seeds....

Post by HoosierLawnGnome » August 7th, 2017, 11:04 am

Option D:

Image

northeastlawn
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Re: Spreading only 3lbs of KBG seeds....

Post by northeastlawn » August 7th, 2017, 12:47 pm

HoosierLawnGnome wrote:
August 7th, 2017, 11:04 am
Option D:
Yea, right :D

I guess if you weigh how much you need first, that would be fine, but I doubt it would be very even.

There is too much at stake with the lawn killed off to do that.

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Re: Spreading only 3lbs of KBG seeds....

Post by turf_toes » August 7th, 2017, 12:57 pm

You should have ordered more seed.

If you needed three, I'd have suggested you buy five. There will be spots that don't germinate well and you'll want the extra seed to handle that contingency.

Heck, if it were me, I'd have ordered 10. Whatever is left over stores easily in the freezer.

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Re: Spreading only 3lbs of KBG seeds....

Post by STL » August 7th, 2017, 1:29 pm

northeastlawn wrote:
August 7th, 2017, 12:47 pm

I guess if you weigh how much you need first, that would be fine, but I doubt it would be very even.
I suggest weighing it out beforehand regardless of method. Multiple light passes in different directions until it's gone.

I weigh out almost everything I put down, except for stuff where close enough is good enough, like Milo.

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HoosierLawnGnome
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Re: Spreading only 3lbs of KBG seeds....

Post by HoosierLawnGnome » August 7th, 2017, 3:43 pm

northeastlawn wrote:
August 7th, 2017, 12:47 pm
HoosierLawnGnome wrote:
August 7th, 2017, 11:04 am
Option D:
Yea, right :D

I guess if you weigh how much you need first, that would be fine, but I doubt it would be very even.

There is too much at stake with the lawn killed off to do that.
Hey, to each his own - but you ave a lot more control over where seed goes using the ol' booger hooks and high five-er on a very small area of 1400 sf :D You can toss a little more here, a little more there, depending on how it lies. Wind can throw a wrench in the best spreader in the world.

Another option is to mix in with milo and spread in a traditional spreader.

Don't over think it :)

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Re: Spreading only 3lbs of KBG seeds....

Post by northeastlawn » August 7th, 2017, 4:53 pm

turf_toes wrote:
August 7th, 2017, 12:57 pm
You should have ordered more seed.

If you needed three, I'd have suggested you buy five. There will be spots that don't germinate well and you'll want the extra seed to handle that contingency.

Heck, if it were me, I'd have ordered 10. Whatever is left over stores easily in the freezer.
I actually need about 3lbs and ordered 8lbs. Enough for some dormant seeding if I really need it. I tend to over due the seed every time. Plus I grabbed 2lbs of a shade mix for the hell strip. That was my 10lbs from SSS.

I have made the mistake of putting down more seed and over watering to get more seed to germinate, all I did was create perfect POA conditions. I won't be putting more seed down this time around. If I did it would be PR that germinates in a few weeks, but then I just ruined the whole reason I wanted to top with KBG.

But I do need to get some KBG pots started for the spots that don't come up. I think I am going to use the drop spreader just to do the borders well, then use the Wizz over the rest of the lawn. Ill weight things out and make a couple of passes.

In hate to admit, the Whizz is probably not all that different then just hand broadcasting it in the end.

Thanks for the replies.

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Re: Spreading only 3lbs of KBG seeds....

Post by andy10917 » August 7th, 2017, 9:08 pm

I'm with HLG. Seriously. I've done more of my renos doing the KBG by hand, including the 16K reno (the largest single one I've done). The control and eyeballing aspects are worth the effort, by far.

PS: the peat moss (22 bales?) was also done by hand - throwing the peat moss up into the air from a wheelbarrow and letting it rain down on the seeded areas. Incredibly messy, but very effective.

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Re: Spreading only 3lbs of KBG seeds....

Post by 1977212 » August 7th, 2017, 11:17 pm

Never hurts to walk the lawn and see how long it takes. And then time a hand spreader in like a 5 gallon bucket and see how long it takes to dispense. Compare the two and see what's needed.

northeastlawn
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Re: Spreading only 3lbs of KBG seeds....

Post by northeastlawn » August 8th, 2017, 10:06 pm

1977212 wrote:
August 7th, 2017, 11:17 pm
Never hurts to walk the lawn and see how long it takes. And then time a hand spreader in like a 5 gallon bucket and see how long it takes to dispense. Compare the two and see what's needed.
Thanks, thats a good idea!

I am going to try that.

I am starting to feel the hand seeding thing, but may use a drop spreader around the border.

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Re: Spreading only 3lbs of KBG seeds....

Post by SNOWBOB11 » August 8th, 2017, 10:55 pm

FWIW I did my last reno by hand and I'm planning on doing the same thing this time. I've also overseeded many times before and I always do it by hand. I feel you have more control over dropping the seed. I usually go around the borders first then do the main lawn area.

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Re: Spreading only 3lbs of KBG seeds....

Post by northeastlawn » August 12th, 2017, 5:21 pm

Just a follow up on this. I did a bucket test as was suggested by "1977212".

I figured I would walk the yard twice; so timed it with a stop watch, then weighed out 1/2 the seed and sprayed it into a bucket. I did it a few times and came up with a setting number of between 2 1/2 and 3 on the Whizz. I'd probably go with the middle setting 2.75.

Ill probably weigh it out first. Then use the Whizz on the borders then throw the rest out by hand, but between 2.5 and 3 was the setting for my walking speed.

YMMV

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Re: Spreading only 3lbs of KBG seeds....

Post by ken-n-nancy » August 15th, 2017, 11:00 pm

STL wrote:
August 7th, 2017, 1:29 pm
I weigh out almost everything I put down, except for stuff where close enough is good enough, like Milo.
+1

For anything that goes out on the lawn, we weigh it or measure it first to ensure the right amount for the area to be covered, and then simply spread it out evenly over the area to be covered, whether spreading via hand, the drop spreader, the broadcast spreader, or the sprayer.

Definitely weigh our the 3.5 pounds of seed before spreading it on the lawn.

We also spread almost everything at half the desired rate and cover the entire area twice. In this way, mistakes of overlap or missed spots are lessened, and you're less likely to "run out" before covering everything at least once...

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Re: Spreading only 3lbs of KBG seeds....

Post by northeastlawn » August 16th, 2017, 1:06 pm

I ended up using the Scott Whizz after all, with a #2.75 setting.

Image

I weighed out the grass first; did the 5oz container around the border first. Then dumped another 1lb of seed in it and went one direction. I used almost exactly 1lb on that pass. Then dumped the other 1lb and went perpendicular to it.

I actually had some to spare after the 2nd pass and randomly went around the yard. That I am bit worried about, but the KBG seed is tiny. Im keeping my fingers crossed. The borders probably got a thicker application of seed, but then again I always have problems there any way.

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ken-n-nancy
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Re: Spreading only 3lbs of KBG seeds....

Post by ken-n-nancy » August 16th, 2017, 1:49 pm

northeastlawn wrote:
August 16th, 2017, 1:06 pm
I weighed out the grass first; did the 5oz container around the border first. ... I actually had some to spare after the 2nd pass and randomly went around the yard. That I am bit worried about, but the KBG seed is tiny.
Sounds like that went well and you did great! No need to worry about the little "randomly around the yard" at the end -- your first 2 passes are probably all the coverage you needed, and the random walk with the little bit left over won't be enough to show a difference.

Getting slightly increased density around the edges is actually a good thing, as any sparse areas along an edge have 50% less neighboring areas from which fill-in can take place.

Now, the real key is to have no washouts for the next two weeks!

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