http://www.lawnsite.com/showthread.php?t=431003

 

Thanks, looks like it's a chicken or the egg type thing.

 

Core aerator or spike?
I have a spike and I seed then aerate and then seed again and then lightly drag.
Core aerater, I think I would aerate, then seed and then lightly drag.
I did part of my front yard last Tuesday and seed is just germinating. Tornado's around us may have helped! LOL :sidelaugh

 

Core and Thanks

 

I did both when I overseeded last fall and I think I had better results than previous years for a couple of reasons:

1) I think aerating, then seeding into the holes, then aerating again to increase ground contact helps and

2) I basically doubled my typical amount of aerating, which may have helped.

Dragging a piece of chain link fencing lightly over the yard when you're done seems to help too.

 

Thanks, I think I am going to aerate, seed, aerate, seed again. It has been wet this week, so Saturday should be a good day to get it done.

 

I would love to do that, but I'm still looking at a foot of snow in the back yard!

 

Just threw out some seed this morning, then hand rolled the entire lawn. My lawn rake did the aerating last week. Picked up alot of trash stuff then, but some fell down since. First mowing will pick that up.
Lawn is still wet in places. Looks good rolled. Too wet to use the tractors. Planted some potatoes in the garden this afternoon.

 

i don't think it rally matters in this situation, pretty much the more seed you throw out the better chances are of it taking off. just from what i have gathered. because you are just throwing seed on top of the ground hoping something grabs. i do think that it is better to aerate then seed because of the seed going in the hole. just my 2 sense

 

Over the weekend I did all kinds of stuff to my three yard areas, all a little different because of the condition of each. The yard with the bare spots I did the most aerating and seeding. I aerated, I seeded, I aerated again and then I seeded again. The other areas I just aerated and then fertilized. No seed because I used pre emergent weed killer type fertilizer. This is my last full year in this home, I have been here for 35 years and will be leaving next year about this time. I want it to look nice next spring for the sale.

 

Most important to the seed is ground contact. If the seed gets caught in the thatch and is not in contact with the ground it will not germinate. What is the best way to achieve that contact is pretty much what this thread is about.

 

Without a doubt, dethatch and remove that stuff first. After that, I core aerate (in both directions, 90 degrees to one another). Lawn looks absolutely dreadful when done, but recovers quickly.

I never, ever roll, as that is completely counterproductive to the efforts to relieve the soil compaction.

FWIW, I have never overseeded, I just seed bare spots. If I were to overseed, I'd probably do it after the aeration, since I am so aggressive, I'd probably damage a lot of the seed with the spoons?

Mike