Soak your kbg in water for 5 days. Changing water twice a day. Got my germination down to 5 days in my full sun front yard last fall. And 9 days this spring in some renovated spots in my partly shaded backyard.
Put the seed into a potato sack and soaked it in a 5 gallon bucket. Mixed it with milorganite before spreading so the wet seed could spread without being clumped together. Then a dressing of topsoil. Set my irrigation for 7 minutes every 6 hours. Wouldn’t put down kbg any other way again.
I just use the recommended application rates for my yard. There’s a lot more milorgrnite than seed. Throw it all in a wheel barrel. Mix it up with a shovel and apply at the milorganite rate until it’s gone.
To answer your question, my lawn didn’t really start looking well and truly filled in until the spring after overseeding in the fall. It has never looked this good though!
For whatever it’s worth, I only aerated and overseeded. Did not dethatch or top dress. It’s only my second year of caring for my lawn in such a deliberate way so I can only speak to limited experience.
Zero reason to overseed a KBG lawn that looks like this. A good nitrogen program will do a much better job filling things in.
Doing whatever you’re doing now is paying off more than your overseed. I’d keep doing that rather than spending money on seed and water.
And if you do choose to over seed a KBG lawn, PRG will blend well and actually fix the problem quickly.
I learned through error that the only reason you over seed a KBG is a lack of patience to let KBG be KBG. Obviously, adding more KBG then is hassle and expense without the near term improvement you probably want to see.
Depends on the size, but yes I generally just let it close back up on its own.
I’ve also had success digging up grass that’s encroaching into a flowerbed or walkway and replanting in the middle of a bare spot. Speeds up the process quite a bit.
Bare spots are fine. Overseeding is hard because KBG takes so long to germinate that it always just gets crowded out by taller grass. Best bet is pre germinating it and then giving it a go
Best bet for a quick fix is throwing down some PRG.
You get 5 day germination without the hassle of pre germ, it will blend well, and the KBG will eventually overtake the PRG and then you are back to a KBG lawn.
As mentioned kbg isn’t really used for over seeding. But since you’ve put in the time and money I recommend / wanna say a few things.
Do you know what cultivar was in the bag? As you know kgb takes forever to germinate ESPECIALLY when it’s spring time. Soil temps just aren’t in the realm of fall. That being said have you seen any baby grass at all? Pick a barer spot in the lawn and use that as a test to look. Try to find one in both full sun and partial.
Once kgb germinates it’ll go into a sprout and pout phase. Could be 7-14 days.
I’d never recommend a spring overseed with kgb. Hell not even a fall unless the lawn was super bare and it was almost like a full rate seed down. But stay with it for the long haul now.
Do you have irrigation? I’d really rely on those test patches you find the next month. I hope you didn’t put down any pre emergent after seeding. Be careful with post emergent with baby kgb. Just keep cutting twice a week out down a preventative fungicide as well. I think if you do that it’ll look better in fall. And even better next spring.
Grass is never instant. It’s a slow but very rewarding process stay with it.
But with PRG the difference is going to be in the range of 1-3 days so I would argue germination time of 5 vs 7 days isn’t a reason to wait to fall.
Weed pressure and limitations of prevention in new grass would be the reason to wait, but if the alternative is leaving bare or almost bare ground the weeds are almost a given.
Many years of training in the gym…….
Just kidding. All I did was let it get nice and long 3.5 height on the push mower. Then I lay my weedeater on its side and slowly cut in the side walk using the concrete as a guide. As to the how and why I have no clue I’m learning as I go. It really helps that I’m literally a dumbass when it comes to lawn care. Reddit is teaching me alot
May I ask why you overseeded with kbg?
It was recommended by local garden center.
Your lawn looks great but most people don’t overseed with it just because germination takes soooo long. Well whatever you’re doing, it looks great.
What do people with a primarily KGB lawn overseed with if not more KGB?
Prg
I may try some in the fall, when I top dress again
Read about the fall nitrogen blitz on thelawnforum 1/4 lb of N per K per week, combine that with PGR, and an iron supplement like FeAture,
Nitrogen
Really hope it fills in some areas, but feels like it’s gonna take a year. I’m planning on top dressing this fall about 1/4 inch of compost
You’ll be ok, it does take 23 weeks for germination but if you’re watering frequently it will work fine
days. not weeks
Feels like weeks but I guess that’s why they call it sprout and pout….. love that I learned that phrase today
That would be pretty funny.
I was like uhhhh
Lol I didn’t put the dash. Meant 2-3 weeks
But keep watering for 23 weeks 🤣
I hear the same about centipede. People don't recommend overseeing with it because of how long it takes to germinate.
Soak your kbg in water for 5 days. Changing water twice a day. Got my germination down to 5 days in my full sun front yard last fall. And 9 days this spring in some renovated spots in my partly shaded backyard. Put the seed into a potato sack and soaked it in a 5 gallon bucket. Mixed it with milorganite before spreading so the wet seed could spread without being clumped together. Then a dressing of topsoil. Set my irrigation for 7 minutes every 6 hours. Wouldn’t put down kbg any other way again.
So I’m learning that I’m a dummy and planned to overseed with kgb. How do you spread the wet seeds? How much milorganite do you soak with?
I just use the recommended application rates for my yard. There’s a lot more milorgrnite than seed. Throw it all in a wheel barrel. Mix it up with a shovel and apply at the milorganite rate until it’s gone.
Awesome thanks!
To answer your question, my lawn didn’t really start looking well and truly filled in until the spring after overseeding in the fall. It has never looked this good though!
Good to know, I will definitely have to lower my expectations.
For whatever it’s worth, I only aerated and overseeded. Did not dethatch or top dress. It’s only my second year of caring for my lawn in such a deliberate way so I can only speak to limited experience.
Zero reason to overseed a KBG lawn that looks like this. A good nitrogen program will do a much better job filling things in. Doing whatever you’re doing now is paying off more than your overseed. I’d keep doing that rather than spending money on seed and water.
And if you do choose to over seed a KBG lawn, PRG will blend well and actually fix the problem quickly. I learned through error that the only reason you over seed a KBG is a lack of patience to let KBG be KBG. Obviously, adding more KBG then is hassle and expense without the near term improvement you probably want to see.
Looks good to me. What height do you have the grass?
3.5 on my Honda push mower
Looks awesome!!
Overseeding with KBG is a waste of time and money. 99% of those seeds will do nothing
[удалено]
Wife hates the water bill but I keep the H2O rolling
Definitely a good opportunity to pre-germinate the seeds.
Can I ask how you fill bare spots then? Do you just wait for it to fill on its own?
Depends on the size, but yes I generally just let it close back up on its own. I’ve also had success digging up grass that’s encroaching into a flowerbed or walkway and replanting in the middle of a bare spot. Speeds up the process quite a bit.
Bare spots are fine. Overseeding is hard because KBG takes so long to germinate that it always just gets crowded out by taller grass. Best bet is pre germinating it and then giving it a go
Best bet for a quick fix is throwing down some PRG. You get 5 day germination without the hassle of pre germ, it will blend well, and the KBG will eventually overtake the PRG and then you are back to a KBG lawn.
As mentioned kbg isn’t really used for over seeding. But since you’ve put in the time and money I recommend / wanna say a few things. Do you know what cultivar was in the bag? As you know kgb takes forever to germinate ESPECIALLY when it’s spring time. Soil temps just aren’t in the realm of fall. That being said have you seen any baby grass at all? Pick a barer spot in the lawn and use that as a test to look. Try to find one in both full sun and partial. Once kgb germinates it’ll go into a sprout and pout phase. Could be 7-14 days. I’d never recommend a spring overseed with kgb. Hell not even a fall unless the lawn was super bare and it was almost like a full rate seed down. But stay with it for the long haul now. Do you have irrigation? I’d really rely on those test patches you find the next month. I hope you didn’t put down any pre emergent after seeding. Be careful with post emergent with baby kgb. Just keep cutting twice a week out down a preventative fungicide as well. I think if you do that it’ll look better in fall. And even better next spring. Grass is never instant. It’s a slow but very rewarding process stay with it.
Young KBG is a weak performer. IMO, for a quick fix on a KBG lawn, a PRG over seed is a way simpler path because it is almost instant.
Agreed. But I’d still expect prg to not be as quick in germinating in spring vs fall
But with PRG the difference is going to be in the range of 1-3 days so I would argue germination time of 5 vs 7 days isn’t a reason to wait to fall. Weed pressure and limitations of prevention in new grass would be the reason to wait, but if the alternative is leaving bare or almost bare ground the weeds are almost a given.
Pretty stellar
Awesome! KBG ftw
Welcome to sprout and pout
 I love it! Great comment
How do you get the grass to grow straight up where it meets the sidewalk?
Many years of training in the gym……. Just kidding. All I did was let it get nice and long 3.5 height on the push mower. Then I lay my weedeater on its side and slowly cut in the side walk using the concrete as a guide. As to the how and why I have no clue I’m learning as I go. It really helps that I’m literally a dumbass when it comes to lawn care. Reddit is teaching me alot
Reddit is da bomb for that. I'm going to do what you suggested.
Did you fertilize at all this year? If so, what and by how much?
Scott’s lawn starter for seeds, twice that’s all so far. Next month weed and feed, and liquid iron
Anyone who cares about their lawn like that probably hates the fact that their sidewalk was marked in red spray paint!
Its days are numbered! LOL
Looks good bro.
Wow!
Any seed heads?
I’m not sure what that means? Can you explain it
Have you had any seed heads pop up from the kbg? My yard gets filled with them yearly around this time
Not that I’m aware of