I need to repair my lawn which has a burnt crater in the middle of it from a bonfire and the rest has been damaged with washed out paint trays being thrown across it etc.
I was thinking about rotorvating it and then laying turf but my dad has told me it will be a lot cheaper (and easier!?) to just seed it on top of the existing grass. He has suggested raking it thoroughly to remove the dead grass and weeds and then sprinkling grass seed around and re-raking it into the ground. He also suggested a very light covering of sand to keep the birds off. Just wondering if any of you can shed any light on this as to whether it might work or what else i should do. I have thought it is worth a shot and if nothing happens within a few weeks i can always resort to the turf?

nmorgan wrote:

I need to repair my lawn which has a burnt crater in the middle of it
from a bonfire and the rest has been damaged with washed out paint
trays being thrown across it etc.
I was thinking about rotorvating it and then laying turf but my dad has
told me it will be a lot cheaper (and easier!?) to just seed it on top
of the existing grass. He has suggested raking it thoroughly to remove
the dead grass and weeds and then sprinkling grass seed around and
re-raking it into the ground. He also suggested a very light covering
of sand to keep the birds off. Just wondering if any of you can shed
any light on this as to whether it might work or what else i should do.
I have thought it is worth a shot and if nothing happens within a few
weeks i can always resort to the turf?

sand??? you are kidding right? sand wont retain water and it dont have any
nutrients. . best bet is to de-thatch the old thatch out. that way you can also smooth
out the soil and take out any uneven spot. then airate the soil then lay down new seed
and cover with a a good ¼ - ½ inch layer of seed cover like compose or manure/compost
mix. then keep it moist for a few weeks straight till the roots take hold. then you
can stop watering a day at a time.

"Die Spammer !!!" wrote in message ...
nmorgan wrote:

I need to repair my lawn which has a burnt crater in the middle of it
from a bonfire and the rest has been damaged with washed out paint
trays being thrown across it etc.
I was thinking about rotorvating it and then laying turf but my dad has
told me it will be a lot cheaper (and easier!?) to just seed it on top
of the existing grass. He has suggested raking it thoroughly to remove
the dead grass and weeds and then sprinkling grass seed around and
re-raking it into the ground. He also suggested a very light covering
of sand to keep the birds off. Just wondering if any of you can shed
any light on this as to whether it might work or what else i should do.
I have thought it is worth a shot and if nothing happens within a few
weeks i can always resort to the turf?

sand??? you are kidding right? sand wont retain water and it dont have any
nutrients. . best bet is to de-thatch the old thatch out. that way you can also smooth
out the soil and take out any uneven spot. then airate the soil then lay down new seed
and cover with a a good ¼ - ½ inch layer of seed cover like compose or manure/compost
mix. then keep it moist for a few weeks straight till the roots take hold. then you
can stop watering a day at a time.



The first question is what is already growing in your lawn. Is it
mostly good, desirable grass? Or is it mostly weeds, and even worse,
undesirable grasses that will never look good, are disease prone, etc
and that you can't get rid of with a broadleaf weedkiller. If it has
problems, you are better of killing the whole thing with roundup and
starting over. You can reseed as soon as what's there dies, which is
about a week.

Any areas contaminated with solvents, will have to be addressed.
Assuming the soil is good, get it tested so you can adjust the PH if
needed. If the area doesnt need to be regraded, the best method is to
use a slice seeder, which you can rent. Also, I'd aerate it first
too.

Make sure you buy good grass seed, preferably endophyte enhanced, not
some cheap mix. Covering it lightly with weed free straw or peat moss
helps retain moisture. Keep it constantly wet until it germinates.