How high before mowing after overseeding?
 

Hi All,

How high does the new grass sprouts need to be before mowing after
overseeding? I overseeded a couple weeks ago with K31 ( yes, I know not
the best :) ), and the new sprouts are about 1" now. The thing is the
old grass and weeds are starting to get out of control. Is it best to
wait for the new grass to get some height before mowing?


Many thanks for any advice!

B

On Sun, 10 Apr 2005 04:36:52 GMT, Barry Andrews
wrote:

Hi All,

How high does the new grass sprouts need to be before mowing after
overseeding? I overseeded a couple weeks ago with K31 ( yes, I know not
the best :) ), and the new sprouts are about 1" now. The thing is the
old grass and weeds are starting to get out of control. Is it best to
wait for the new grass to get some height before mowing?


Many thanks for any advice!

B

This is a judgment call. Typically, I prefer to wait until it is
absolutely necessary to mow, and only then with ideal conditions. The
ground is not wet, the mower blade is sharp. Two weeks is not
enough, one month is better.

Go and sharpen your blade and then set the mower on the highest
setting.
Make that first cut when you absolutely can't stand waiting any longer
on a good dry day. After the 2nd cut if you want to drop the height
setting do it only one notch. 2 cuts then drop another notch until you
are at your desired height.

"Barry Andrews" wrote
inmessage ink.net...

Hi All,

How high does the new grass sprouts need to be before mowing after
overseeding?

About three to four inches high............

I overseeded a couple weeks ago with K31 ( yes, I know not the best :) ),
and the new sprouts are about 1" now. The thing is the old grass and weeds
are starting to get out of control. Is it best to wait for the new grass to
get some height before mowing?

Yes, you should have sprinkled a pre-emergent onto the ground that would
have prevented the weeds from sprouting a couple of weeks ago. It only
works on weeds, not grass. All you can do now is do some spot weed removal
with a dandilion digger and put some weed killer on spots around the lawn to
do in the weeds that are up now. Go to a Lowes or Home Despot where their
grasses and weed killers are, and get enough to do the square footage you're
dealing with. You might invest in some more grass seed for spot treatments
when the weeds die.

How large is your lawn? If it's not too large, you could just remove the
largest clumps of weeds. You can set your mower high enough (four inches)
to whack the weeds and already established grass so that at least the weeds
won't seed and make it worse.

Go back and rake up the debris and compost it, then do a spot removal with a
digger on the largest clumps of weeds. If you have crabgrass, get a weed
killer to distribute on the lawn that has crabgrass listed in the weeds it
affects.

If you don't like dandilions, use that digger now to get up the tap roots of
these before the yellow flowers make seed puffs and compost them too. (I
love dandilions and let the bee's have them, but I remove them from
containers and the raised flowerbeds when they pop up, I have more problems
with vinca major than anything else, I don't HAVE a lawn or even grassy
spots in front of these beds. Alas, my soil is as inhospitable as you can g
et, so lately I just mulch heavily between the beds I can, and pull up stray
weeds that dare to pop up.

Good luck! (and once the lawn is established, keep the lawn mower set at
three inches, which is the best height for cutting grasses anyway)

madgardener (despite not having a lawn, I am a master gardener and
knowledgable about this, not bragging, mind you)



Many thanks for any advice!



B

Thanks for all of the replies!

How long should one continue to water after the seeds have germinated
and are about 1" high?

thanks,

B


Phisherman wrote:
On Sun, 10 Apr 2005 04:36:52 GMT, Barry Andrews
wrote:


Hi All,

How high does the new grass sprouts need to be before mowing after
overseeding? I overseeded a couple weeks ago with K31 ( yes, I know not
the best :) ), and the new sprouts are about 1" now. The thing is the
old grass and weeds are starting to get out of control. Is it best to
wait for the new grass to get some height before mowing?


Many thanks for any advice!

B


This is a judgment call. Typically, I prefer to wait until it is
absolutely necessary to mow, and only then with ideal conditions. The
ground is not wet, the mower blade is sharp. Two weeks is not
enough, one month is better.