Newly Established Tall Fescue - When Should I Overseed to Fill-In Gaps

[ultravista]

Roswell, GA.

I seeded my backyard 13 days ago with Pennington Tall Fescue (K31). Most of the seedlings are 2-3 inches tall today. I dropped approximately 60 pounds of seed with a Scotts Turf Builder broadcast spreader set at 15 per the Pennington instructions for seeding a new lawn. Two passes at a 45° angle to each other. Then raked to help w/covering and distribution. Yes, K31 was intentional.

I have a small few spots that are seedless where the seeds have been pushed away through watering and other areas that are very 'thin' with seedlings. I can see seeds there but it may be casings from the sprouted seeds or seeds that just didn't germinate.

At 13 days, the seedlings are very thin with a single blade and now that they are taller, lay down easily if stepped on. Yesterday, in an area close to a non-seeded walking area, I noticed a squirrel had dug something up and pulled out a few seedlings. I walked over there to push the seedlings back into the ground. The grass that was underfoot hasn't sprung back yet.

Plenty of water and sunshine. The nights are cool, 50-60f, and the days warm 70-80f.

I would like to seed the bare spots and overseed the thin spots. I have to walk on the seedlings to get to the bare and thin spots. Walking on the seedlings will flatten them.

I don't want to wait too long to drop seed again and have to do it before spring.

Should I wait a few more days/weeks before walking on the new seedlings? If yes, how long?

What would you do?

[turf_toes]

How bare are the bare spots?

If the grass is just thin in those areas, I’d let it go. KY31 is a wide-bladed, almost weed like looking grass.

I suspect that once the leaves broaden you won’t notice.

But if you have large bare spots it might make sense to walk gingerly on it to throw some seed down.

It just depends on whether you think the walked on grass will spring back.

Min my personal expyit has never been a problem. But I tend to walk carefully when I do. Ymmv

[ultravista]

Some of the spots are 4-10 inches, but not many. The thin areas just look weird since the rest are pretty full.

At this point, how long should I let it grow before mowing? To me, 14 day old grass is too fragile to mow. Someone on Reddit/Lawncare suggested I mow to strengthen the seedlings. At this point, it may be more harmful to walk on it to mow than letting it establish more.

It is growing tall - tall and thin.

[Green]

I would let it get to at least 2 inches before carefully mowing (possibly) with a light mower.

[turf_toes]

Yep. I’d only mow it with a lightweight Reel mower.. I’ve always kept a Scott’s reel mower around just for that purpose. I’d not suggest using a powered mower on it.

[philcav7]

What type of mower? If you have a push mower, I’d have no apprehensions. Just watch your turns to avoid twisting on the wheels. Blades must be sharp. I mowed my lawn 10 days after germination, 15 days after seeding. Don’t worry about bending the grass blades, worry about uprooting them.

I had some thin spots too. The very thin areas, I spot seeded 10 days after initial seeding. The lawn will thicken a lot over the next 2-3 weeks. Even more next spring.

I probably wouldn’t worry about a 4” spot, but a 10” seedless area I would lightly scape and seed. At day 13, there’s a chance visible seeds may continue to germinate. If they’re visible to the eye, they may need better soil contact. I stepped the seeds in the spot seeding firmly into the dirt. Id give it a few more days if there’s seed there.

[ultravista]

I have a Honda HRX217, a big and heavy mower. Nobody I know has a push mower that I can borrow.

[turf_toes]

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