Mini Renovation/Overseed Question

Discuss how to and whether you should renovate your lawn
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falcon
Posts: 135
Joined: October 24th, 2019, 11:43 am
Location: Reading, MA
Grass Type: TTTF/KBG Blend
Lawn Size: 1 acre-2 acre
Level: Some Experience

Mini Renovation/Overseed Question

Post by falcon » August 13th, 2020, 11:28 am

I have been diligently applying the recommended soil correction by Andy this year and the lawn looks much better, but has a long way to go.

My front lawn (where I am focusing) is ~3000 sq.ft. About 1/3rd of it has amazing turf...if the entire thing looked like it, I'd be thrilled. There are bare spots from the prior owner's handicap ramp that I was going to repair. I also sprayed some patches of clover and it turns out that there wasn't much turf there, so now there are massive bare spots there too. Finally, there was some really awful looking patches of grass (I think Tall Fescue, not TTTF) that I hit with glyphosate. So bare spots everywhere now. Additionally, there are some patches that are really thin.

It should have just had a full reno, but this is my first year with a lawn, so I didn't want to tackle that this year, even though looking at it now, I should have.

I have a Northern Mix lawn that is very sunny in one area and transitions into a fairly shady area under some spruces. These conditions led the folks at Valley Green to recommend a blend of:

- 40% Aztec 2 Tall Fescue
- 33% Escalade Tall Fescue
- 17% Charasmatic 2 Ryegrass
- 10% Bonaire KBG

It seems that the vast consensus here is that overseeding, especially KBG, doesn't work. But given the conditions I have, it seems just laying seed where the bare spots are isn't the best option either, given the very thin spots. So a couple questions:

1. Should I just seed the bare spots, or given that there are a lot of thin areas, should I just overseed the entire lawn?
2. I know I need to scalp down as much as possible, but will that hurt/kill the 1/3rd that is in really great shape?

I already killed off what I wanted to, so I am ready to move forward this weekend or next.

Thanks for the help.

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