Scarify before overseeding?
 

Help. I'm confused. I live in SE England and am about to overseed my
lawn. In my Lawn Expert book it says,

"Scarifying - DO NOT USE IN SPRING. Heavy raking which tears into the
grass will damage the lawn. The grass does not produce side-shoots at
this stage and so scarifying will open up the turf and make it
vunerable to weed invasion"

However, on the Johnsons Laws Seed box the instructions for overseeding
say,

"Scarify lawn using a spring tine rake to remove and break up layers of
dead matted grass or thatch"

So which is correct?!

Scarify before overseeding?
 

wrote in message
oups.com...
Help. I'm confused. I live in SE England and am about to overseed my
lawn. In my Lawn Expert book it says,

"Scarifying - DO NOT USE IN SPRING. Heavy raking which tears into
the
grass will damage the lawn. The grass does not produce side-shoots
at
this stage and so scarifying will open up the turf and make it
vunerable to weed invasion"

However, on the Johnsons Laws Seed box the instructions for
overseeding
say,

"Scarify lawn using a spring tine rake to remove and break up layers
of
dead matted grass or thatch"

So which is correct?!

Both ;-}

Scarifying tends to produce somewhat seedbed-like conditions so if you
don't supply your own seeds, nature will do the job for you and she
doesn't use the seeds you would choose. Later in the season the grass
will be 'tillering' (making side shoots) so scarifying then without
overseeding is OK - the grass fills gaps quickly before weed seeds get
a chance.

--
Rod

My real address is rodtheweedygardeneratmyweedyisp
Just remove the weedy bits
and transplant the appropriate symbol at.