Cutting after overseeding / seeding

[nutshellml]

Similar to another thread but not quite my question.

I cut my grass to about 2.5", and put some seed down yesterday, was stressed this summer so it's VERY thin, some parts are almost "reno". Looking back, I should have cut it down alot more (maybe almost scalping), but too late as seed went down yesterday.

That said, I read that the only thing to basically do is wait as long as possible, until I can't bare the current grass getting high then mulch? What would be a recommendation?

I would assuming if I were to go over with the mower now, after seeding and bag it would suck the seeds up? If i were to mulch would it create too much thatch for the new seedlings?

[andy10917]

You're confusing clippings with thatch. They have NOTHING to do with each other.

Yes, the seed could be sucked up if you mow. Essentially you shouldn't mow with anything that sucks up material until all of the seed you put down has germinated. A manual reel mower (non-powered) is OK if you know anyone that owns one. If not, the 2.5" grass is going to get higher, especially with rain from the remains of Florence.

[nutshellml]

So def no bag... Did I get from your post that I should I mulch cut now? Or did i just waste $100 in seed?

[nutshellml]

Edit - I would assume I want to avoid cutting once they germinate, so would best possible solution be to try to compact the seeds now and mulch cut down existing grass?

[ken-n-nancy]

Edit - I would assume I want to avoid cutting once they germinate, so would best possible solution be to try to compact the seeds now and mulch cut down existing grass?

As I understand, you cut your existing grass to 2.5" and then seeded.

At this point, you shouldn't use a conventional gas-powered rotary mower (either with or without a bag) until about 1 week after all the seeds have germinated. How long that will take will depend upon the type of grass seed (fine fescue, perennial ryegrass, turf-type tall fescue, Kentucky bluegrass, etc.) What type of grass did you seed?

Andy's comment (which is correct) that grass clippings and thatch "have NOTHING to do with each other" is spot-on, but is somewhat tangential to your question about whether or not you should mow or bag your overseeded areas.

Personally, when mowing an overseeded area (after waiting until appoximately a week after all the seeds have germinated), I use a bag to avoid the grass clippings covering up the newly-germinated new grass, at least until the new grass is generally all at about the same height as the previously-existing grass.

So, in sum:

• don't mow until about 7 days after all your seed has germinated (unless you have a manual reel mower, preferably with a grass-catcher)
• when you do mow, I'd suggest using a bag until your new grass is growing as fast/tall as the old grass
• yes, it would have been better to have mowed the existing grass even lower (say 1.5") before seeding, but now that you've seeded, I would not recommend mowing before the new seeds germinate unless you have a manual reel mower.

[nutshellml]

Thanks, no access to reel so I’ll hold off

I used Scott’s sun shade mix. Have to check the sticky label but rye fescue kbg mix.

[andy10917]

I agree that the thatch thing is tangential - I was (poorly) trying to recommend that "thatch" be removed from consideration as an issue. The issues are going to be the height of the existing grass and avoiding losing seed to power-mowing.

[s3_buell_]

And you don't have to cut each area the same way on the same day. For instance, the areas that are almost 'reno' can be cut when the new grass reaches 3 inches. Ten feet away, maybe you have a different height and frequency.

[nutshellml]

Thanks. One last question on this relating to the fertilization. I know the warning on the Snow mold, but not sure how "real" of an issue it would be if I drop starter fertilizer now. So my choices are the following (left over and enough to use) to drop on my OVERSEEDED and NEWLY SEEDED areas (unfortunately, it's too mixed up to have different settings or types for each). Attached is my last years soil test, waiting on results from this year. I should mention I dropped Penn Mulch, but very little nutrients in thT.

1 - Scotts Turf Builder Starter - 24-25-4
2 - Scotts Turf Builder Lawn Food - 32-0-4
3 - REED - 15-0-10

[ken-n-nancy]

Thanks. One last question on this relating to the fertilization. I know the warning on the Snow mold, but not sure how "real" of an issue it would be if I drop starter fertilizer now. ...

1 - Scotts Turf Builder Starter - 24-25-4
2 - Scotts Turf Builder Lawn Food - 32-0-4
3 - REED - 15-0-10

Presuming that you'd be applying each of the above at a rate of no more than 1#N/ksqft or 1#P/ksqft, then the amount of potassium (K) in each of those would be as follows:

1: Scotts Starter: 24-25-4 : 0.16#K/ksqft
2: Scotts Lawn Food: 32-0-4: 0.125#K/ksqft
3: REED: 15-0-10: 0.67#K/ksqft

Of those, I would not apply as much as 0.67#K/ksqft this late in the year, but wouldn't worry about the small amount of K in the first two fertilizers. So, personally, I would NOT apply the 15-0-10, but would accept the risk of applying the 32-0-4 or 25-25-4.

Ultimately, this is really a risk/benefit decision. Different people have different tolerances for risk, different objectives, and different abilities to recover from the risk actually happening and becoming a problem. So, even though I personally would be willing to apply the first two fertilizers at this time of year, others would not, and I'm fine with that. Alternatively, others might think it's fine to apply the 15-0-10, and I'm fine with that too -- those are their decisions.

You're doing good fact-finding now to make an educated decision about how to proceed. However, when all is said and done, you're going to need to make your own decision based upon what you've learned and live with the consequences of that decision, for good or for bad...