It is currently Fri Mar 29, 2024 1:45 am

All times are UTC - 6 hours




Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 4 posts ] 
Author Message
 Post subject: CGM and seeding
PostPosted: Tue Sep 02, 2003 9:25 am 
Offline
User avatar

Joined: Mon Sep 01, 2003 2:57 pm
Posts: 182
Location: Saginaw (NW Fort Worth), Texas
Hi there. We are just now starting to go organic and I have a question for ya'll. We are hoping to seed a large portion of our yard next spring as it is infested with Dalis grass and Crabgrass. Would it be harmful to use Corn Gluten Meal this fall?

Thanks for any help, Nina.


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject:
PostPosted: Tue Sep 02, 2003 12:51 pm 
Offline
Moderator
Moderator

Joined: Tue Mar 18, 2003 3:45 pm
Posts: 2884
Location: San Antonio,TEXAS
I wish there was a rule that you had to fill in the Location part of your profile. The answer to this depends on where you live.

I'm going to assume you live in the north because reseeding is not a warm grass pastime. Cool season grasses should be seeded in the fall, not spring. So unless you were going to use CGM in the fall, you should be good to go with it in the spring. And spring CGM treatment is what you want against crab and dallis. I think you can seed the cool season grasses any time now.

If you live in the south, the only grass that usually gets seeded is bermuda. Bermuda grass gets seeded in the heat of June at the EARLIEST, so CGM used in, say, March should not be an issue in June.

_________________
David Hall
Moderator
Dirt Doctor Lawns Forum


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Hi from Saginaw
PostPosted: Tue Sep 02, 2003 9:12 pm 
Offline
User avatar

Joined: Mon Sep 01, 2003 2:57 pm
Posts: 182
Location: Saginaw (NW Fort Worth), Texas
Thanks for your help. Sorry about the profile, fixed that problem after reading your post. :) We live just a few miles north of Fort Worth and we are going to till out a large portion of our front yard in the spring and put down Bermuda seeds. Can I ask why you say I shouldn't put down the seeds until June? I am trying to learn all I need to know.

Many thanks, Nina N


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject:
PostPosted: Thu Sep 04, 2003 11:43 pm 
Offline
Moderator
Moderator

Joined: Tue Mar 18, 2003 3:45 pm
Posts: 2884
Location: San Antonio,TEXAS
Thanks for taking my hint. You even went the extra mile and described where Saganaw is. Thanks!

Bermuda is more than a warm season grass, it is a HOT season grass. If you put seeds out before the weather is HOT, they will rot or become bird feed. Y'all get a little hotter up there than we do because of the gulf breeze humidity, but still I would say that June is the safest month to seed bermuda.

Regarding tilling before you seed: If you're going to grow bermuda, you should be planning to mow it at 1/2 to 1 inch tall. If you decide to mow at 1/2 inch, your initial planting surface has to be spectacularly flat or you will be scalping parts of the lawn every week. A tiller will leave you with a surface that is far from flat. Even rolling it afterwards will not give you what you want. Getting a surface that flat is a job for someone with a lot of experience doing it. You might want to hire a pro.

Or, you could skip the tilling. If your surface is already pretty flat, the bermuda seed will fill in fast almost no matter what is already growing there. I am a real "no-tiller." I very rarely see a reason to use a tiller. The damage I believe they cause to the soil microbes is eventually undone, but why waste so many trillions of perfectly happy microbes? I would just scalp the grass to 1/2 inch, scatter the seeds, and start watering.

Check out the FAQ at the top of the Lawns Forum. It is more St Augustine oriented but I think I made the distinctions for the short grasses like bermuda, centipede, and bent.

_________________
David Hall
Moderator
Dirt Doctor Lawns Forum


Top
 Profile  
 
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 4 posts ] 

All times are UTC - 6 hours


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum

Search for:
Jump to:  
Powered by eWeblife