On Tue, 29 Aug 2006 15:30:28 GMT, blueman wrote:

I have a relatively small lawn (maybe 5 thousand square feet spread
across a couple of patches) that has developed seemingly more brown
than green spots, including a bit of a mat of dead grass.

That is a monumental amount of turf.

I know I need to do something to condition the soil and re-seed this
fall.

I am considering aerating, dethatching, and then overseeding. I am
confused about which of these tasks requires a power machine (and
hence rental) vs. the ability to do by hand.

If you have thatch, you are watering incorrectly. What are your
watering practices?

If the marginal benefit is not too great, I would prefer not to have
to rent 3 separate machines.

It is often less expensive to have someone come in and do that for
you. Still, what makes you think you have thatch? What does it look
like, what sort of grass?

- My understanding is that aeration requires a power machine to do it
right, so presumably I need to rent an aerator.

Again, it is about the same price to pay someone to do this for you
and you should make sure they use a core aerator, not just prongs.
This will leave little turd shaped things on the lawn which will wash
down with the next good rain..

- Do I need a dethatcher or could I do just as good a job with a special
dethatching rake?

You will be dead if you use a dethatching rake! Your lawn is
enormous, unless you don't actually know how large 5,000 square feet
is.

- Do I need an overseeder machine or can I do almost as good a job with a
standard Scott's broadcast spreader?

Where do you live, what kind of seed?

- If I rent an overseeder, do I still need an aerator or will the
overseeder do a reasonably good job of opening up the soil?

You do not nee an overseeder. Of course a broadcast spreader is only
about 20 dollars and you can use it to get seed down relatively evenly
and it's also good for fertilizing.

- Finally, is this the right order of operations:
Aerate
Dethatch
Fertilize/lime
Seed/overseed
Water
Water
Water...

Thanks

Jangchub wrote:
On Tue, 29 Aug 2006 15:30:28 GMT, blueman wrote:

I have a relatively small lawn (maybe 5 thousand square feet spread
across a couple of patches) that has developed seemingly more brown
than green spots, including a bit of a mat of dead grass.

That is a monumental amount of turf.

snip

huh? 5000sq ft is .114 acres. One acres is 43,560 square feet. Thats not
a huge area in my world. maybe in Manhattan or some place.

On 29 Aug 2006 23:27:14 +0200, No wrote:

Jangchub wrote:
On Tue, 29 Aug 2006 15:30:28 GMT, blueman wrote:

I have a relatively small lawn (maybe 5 thousand square feet spread
across a couple of patches) that has developed seemingly more brown
than green spots, including a bit of a mat of dead grass.

That is a monumental amount of turf.

snip

huh? 5000sq ft is .114 acres. One acres is 43,560 square feet. Thats not
a huge area in my world. maybe in Manhattan or some place.

Well, my house is 2500 square feet and there are four large bedrooms,
a huge livingroom, giant kitchen and two full baths with walk in
closets in every room. So, double that and you have the equivalent of
a house with eight bedrooms, two livingrooms, two giant kitchens, four
full bathrooms and many huge closets. That's a lot of turf to manage
for a homeowner.

In article , Jangchub wrote:
On 29 Aug 2006 23:27:14 +0200, No wrote:

Jangchub wrote:
On Tue, 29 Aug 2006 15:30:28 GMT, blueman wrote:

I have a relatively small lawn (maybe 5 thousand square feet spread
across a couple of patches) that has developed seemingly more brown
than green spots, including a bit of a mat of dead grass.

That is a monumental amount of turf.

snip

huh? 5000sq ft is .114 acres. One acres is 43,560 square feet. Thats not
a huge area in my world. maybe in Manhattan or some place.

Well, my house is 2500 square feet and there are four large bedrooms,
a huge livingroom, giant kitchen and two full baths with walk in
closets in every room. So, double that and you have the equivalent of
a house with eight bedrooms, two livingrooms, two giant kitchens, four
full bathrooms and many huge closets. That's a lot of turf to manage
for a homeowner.

Nonsense.

My first house sat on a 60'x135' lot. That's 8100 square feet. Subtract
10'x70' for the driveway, 24'x35' for the house, and 12'x20' for the garage.
That leaves 6320 square feet. I mowed the whole thing with a walk-behind power
mower in about forty minutes.

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

It's time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again.

On Wed, 30 Aug 2006 01:04:21 GMT, (Doug Miller)
wrote:

In article , Jangchub wrote:
On 29 Aug 2006 23:27:14 +0200, No wrote:

Jangchub wrote:
On Tue, 29 Aug 2006 15:30:28 GMT, blueman wrote:

I have a relatively small lawn (maybe 5 thousand square feet spread
across a couple of patches) that has developed seemingly more brown
than green spots, including a bit of a mat of dead grass.

That is a monumental amount of turf.

snip

huh? 5000sq ft is .114 acres. One acres is 43,560 square feet. Thats not
a huge area in my world. maybe in Manhattan or some place.

Well, my house is 2500 square feet and there are four large bedrooms,
a huge livingroom, giant kitchen and two full baths with walk in
closets in every room. So, double that and you have the equivalent of
a house with eight bedrooms, two livingrooms, two giant kitchens, four
full bathrooms and many huge closets. That's a lot of turf to manage
for a homeowner.

Nonsense.

My first house sat on a 60'x135' lot. That's 8100 square feet. Subtract
10'x70' for the driveway, 24'x35' for the house, and 12'x20' for the garage.
That leaves 6320 square feet. I mowed the whole thing with a walk-behind power
mower in about forty minutes.

And the point is, that is an incredible amount of energy to use and
waste water and money on.

On Tue, 29 Aug 2006 23:24:02 GMT, Jangchub wrote:

On 29 Aug 2006 23:27:14 +0200, No wrote:

Jangchub wrote:
On Tue, 29 Aug 2006 15:30:28 GMT, blueman wrote:

I have a relatively small lawn (maybe 5 thousand square feet spread
across a couple of patches) that has developed seemingly more brown
than green spots, including a bit of a mat of dead grass.

That is a monumental amount of turf.

snip

huh? 5000sq ft is .114 acres. One acres is 43,560 square feet. Thats not
a huge area in my world. maybe in Manhattan or some place.

Well, my house is 2500 square feet and there are four large bedrooms,
a huge livingroom, giant kitchen and two full baths with walk in
closets in every room. So, double that and you have the equivalent of
a house with eight bedrooms, two livingrooms, two giant kitchens, four
full bathrooms and many huge closets. That's a lot of turf to manage
for a homeowner.

At this point, I'm thinking about the electric bill. Cooling 5000
square feet could cost a lot.
--
Mark Lloyd
http://notstupid.laughingsquid.com

"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what
to have for lunch. Liberty is a well armed lamb
contesting the vote." - Benjamin Franklin

On Tue, 29 Aug 2006 22:48:39 -0500, Mark Lloyd
wrote:

At this point, I'm thinking about the electric bill. Cooling 5000
square feet could cost a lot.

We have a 50 foot pool and a 2500 square foot home and last month,
which was entirely over 100 degrees with no relief at night cost us
almost 400 dollars. We keep the air at 79 because of my medical
condition. And those are TX prices. My mother lives up on Long
Island ON the water. She uses her air conditioning about half the
time and her house is not quite 2000 feet and her bill was 475 last
month.