Hi:
Not much activity on the gardening newsgroup, so I am posting here.
I am planning on overseeding a backyard that hasn't been maintained in over 5 years. Lots of weeds, brush, and some 5-9 ft tall sapling, thin trees sprung up. I'll use a machete or briar axe to chop down the brush and weeds. Then I will mow the grass very short, and use a thatching rake to scrub the lawn of thatch and the mulch leftover by the lawnmower. Afterward, I will apply 1/4 inch of topsoil, rake in the topsoil, add seeds, and rake in the seeds. Then of course water a couple of time a day. Does this sound correct?
I need advice on what to use for uprooting the woody weeds and the sapling trees. I assume I take a hand held spade and just dig in and uproot. Or do I have to go deeper? Do I have to take out the entire root, or will it just die if I take out the large , main roots?
And should I wait til it rains before I do any of this work? Been dry the past week, but there will be 3 consecutive days of rain starting Wednesday. I thought of doing the brush and weed cutting/chopping today and tomorrow and wait til Sunday for the uprooting of the woody weeds and trees after the rain has stopped. Might be difficult to uproot with dry, hard soil.
Can I also put down the topsoil and seeds while the ground is wet? i am still in the planning stages, and don't actually have any of the equipment( spreader, thatching rake, machete, soil, seed, spade or uprooting tool), which will all be manual. I received an estimate for
5 thousand dollars for plowing and reseeding....seed cost not included. But if I overseed myself, this could cost me a couple hundred dollars and lots of burned calories.Also, should I use a drop or spread seeder( Scotts)?
Thanks