I found the following in the home repair ng. Not sure which gardening group
this fellow subscribes to but it sure sounds like he's got his work cut out
for him.
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"Doe John" wrote in message
...
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