On Fri, 11 Jun 2004 22:29:56 GMT, steve wrote:
Last fall I started a lawn from scratch. I live in Northern Jersey. After
a couple applications last fall, and one more, this March, the lawn is
looking half-way decent.

However, there are quite a bit of very large bald spots. Should I use
Turf-Builder for these bald spots, or should I use new starter seed.

A little fertilizer, a little water, a little spot seeding. Most of
the NE US turf grasses are species that spread, so they'll need a
bit of time to fill in. But if you've got big bald spots, I'd reseed,
either now (probably with something like buckwheat, by my preference),
or wait till late summer/early fall and reseed the bald spots.
With high night temperatures and high soil temperatures, Ky bluegrass
and most of the fescues won't be germinating well -- they'll do better
in the fall.


Also, what would be the best way to aerate this spots before setting down
the seed. I'm a little concerned that I'll destroy my existing lawn if I
scratch it with a rake.

First question is, why the bald spots? Did you just not water there?
Friendly neighborhood dog tore up the area? Something wrong with the
growing conditions that you need to correct? You really shouldn't need
to aerate, if the soil bed was in decent condition last fall. Just
scratch up the surface, firm in the seed, toss some compost or mulch over
it and keep it watered. But do try to figure out why the bald patches...
and don't worry about scratching up the few sprigs of grass that might
be there with a garden rake.

Kay



Thanks for any advice.