I am renting an aerator next week and plan on overseeding my lawn. My question is that I have a lot of weeds and dandilions in my yard. Should I overseed first and then wait a month or two and put weed control on the lawn or should I put weed control on first and then wait the appropriate time and then overseed? Thanks in advance for any advise.
Dwayne
You didn't say where you're located, but for most of the US, now is not the time to be seeding. I'd deal with the weeds, fertilize, adjust PH, aerate, etc now. Then in early Sept I'd do the reseeding with a slice seeder. Fall is the best time to seed, followed by early spring. You're outside both those windows now, which means higher temps and more weed competition, both of which make it difficult to establish new seed.
Depends where you're located I'd think. In most areas of the US it's probably a bit late in the season to overseed and get decent results without a ton of watering since summer is about to bear down on us. If that's true where you are you'd probably be better served dealing with the weeds for now. Aerating probably wouldn't hurt ya either way but most get better results aerating and overseeding in the early fall or even very early spring when the grass has time to get established during cooler weather. As always I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong about this. lol
If you overseed it would be best to wait until the new grass is well established before applying any weed controls. Otherwise you run the risk of killing off the new grass. On the other hand if you overseed too soon after applying weed control the new seed may not even germinate.
I'd even wait on the aerating as that would allow more weeds. Just control the weeds best you can and get the ph factor in line. Then this fall, aerate and seed. Getting your ph factor in line will help with some of the weeds too.
Thunder
Thanks for the advice, I am in upstate NY. I live in a very rural area and for the first time I have access to an aerator that I don't have to travel
100 miles to get. I guess I will aerate and battle the weeds for now and take your advice on either seeding this fall or next spring. There are a few areas that I will try to get growing but they are relativley small. I bought the house a few years ago and just haven't had the time to put into the lawn but it is more weeds than grass at this point.
I think you can still seed in upstate NY if you do it soon, esp if you are above 1000 ft in elevation and don't mind occassional sprinkler dragging.
You might nuke the really bad weed areas with roundup and just kill the existing grass (collateral damage). You can roundup today and seed tomorrow. Actually, the farmers near me kill and seed at the same time.
If the weeds aren't too bad, then overseed now and weed kill carefully during a cool stretch in summer and overseed thin spots in Sept.
My $.02 worth.
HtH
Your lawn must be very flat for a dethatcher-slice seeder to work. Rolling with a typical rented roller will not make it level enough.
Thanks, I think I will go ahead while I have the time and aerator available. I will just seed the worst spots and battle the weeds for the summer. Maybe overseed in the fall. Thanks for all your help.
I'd seed first since broadleaf weed control ain't the best thing to apply before you seed. You're getting a late start, depending on where you live.
You'd be better off renting a slice seeder for your job, instead of an aerator when you're ready to git er dun. You can aerate first before slice seeding if you really want to give it a running start, but the slice seeder will increase your germination much more than an aerator.
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.