On Sun, 11 May 2003 19:37:41 +0000 (UTC), Niel A. Farrow wrote:

I've spent many weeks preparing my lawn for reseeding.

3. any other prepping advice.


In the Good Old Days, Victoria had two daily newspapers, and each
ran a different gardening column, both written locally. One of
the columns was written by Jack and Hilda Beastall, now long
dead, but still remembered as sources of very good advice.

Jack Beastall once wrote a column on preparing to seed a new lawn
that I have never forgotten (witness this message!). He
recommended that you keep the ground fallow all summer long,
watering it, fertilizing it, and cultivating it with a hoe
regularly. By doing so, you encouraged weed seeds to germinate,
and then killed them by hoeing. Seeding he recommended for early
September, when conditions turned cooler, moister, and more
congenial to grass seeding than they were in summer. [Please keep
in mind that our coastal BC climate is very dry in summer, hence
the delay was partially a matter of necessity. The UK has
different conditions.]

At any rate, I'd suggest you be in no rush to seed. Follow Jack
Beastall's advice, and dig in good soil amendments, water
regularly (if required), fertilize lightly from time to time, and
keep cultivating to kill weed seedlings as they emerge. When
perennial weeds like couch grass surface, you will be able to
easily dig them out because the ground is still bare.

A lawn is a very long-lived garden element; even several months
delay at the start may save you an enormous amount of effort
trying to control weeds later on.

--
Rodger Whitlock
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada