Roundup does have a half life, but a cat isn't a grazing animal. If you were
re-seeding a pasture where you were raising cattle, that would be one thing,
but for cats? Not a problem.

One option you do have is solarizing the grass by laying plastic sheeting on
one section at a time. Late this summer, you could buy some large plastic
drop cloths and cover (say) 1/3 of your yard at a time for a week or so,
then move the drop cloth to another area. That'll kill the grass and weeks,
then you can till without having to resort to round-up.

KB


"dgk" wrote in message
...
On 17 Apr 2007 10:49:20 -0700, wrote:

...

I'd also suggest going the Roundup route. Roundup breaks down
quickly, so you can seed as soon as the existing grass and weeds are
dead, which is about a week to 10 days. I'd just keep the cats off
it till it's been tilled.

I'd also suggest putting this off till Fall, which is by far the best
time to do this. You will have less competition from weeds, won't
have to worry about crabgrass, and with declining temps and Fall rain,
nature is on your side. If you do it now, you need to be able to
keep it well watered, including during the coming summer, when the new
grass won't have deep roots. If you do this in Sept, the grass has a
lot more time to establish in cool season Fall/Spring, which is what
it wants to do.

You can do it now, but be prepared to deliver a lot of water and to
deal with weeds.

Mixing in peat moss or similar organic matter is always a good thing.
It's just a trade off as to what you have available and how much it
costs vs what soil you have and how much it needs to be improved.

I would not cover the seed with soil, unless you have some method to
do that very evenly and lightly. Just raking the seed in lightly
should do the trick. Make sure you use the right type and best
quality seed.

Thanks, I've read that the best time is the fall so maybe I'll wait.
Another summer of bad grass won't kill me. But that Roundup looks
grim. A long half-life apparently.