Location: Hardiness Zone 9a – Edmonds/Lynnwood Washington
Lawn Area: Approx. 1800 ft2 split into two lawns by driveway
Grass type: Not 100% sure, but I think it's mostly perennial rye
Condition: I de-thatched and aerated my lawn last fall, and now it's really patchy, but the grass that is alive seems generally healthy. There are some big trees in the yard that cast some shade, but it is south-facing and gets decent sun in most areas. There are some weeds, but I'm doing my best to remove them all manually (no pre-emergent or other herbicide in use currently)
Challenges
- Difficult to cut because it's uneven due to aforementioned trees' roots
- No edges/set boundaries between lawn and ground level beds/hedges/trees/raised beds
Plan
- Establish edges around garden beds and lawn boundaries with electric trencher
- Re-use concrete paver blocks from my back yard to fill in trench lines around lawn boundary
- Fill/Topdress garden beds and around trees with mulch from wood chipper + extra if I need it
- Scalp my lawn
- Spread good quality grass seed (need help identifying)
- Use approx. 1.5 yds3 of 50/50 sand and compost mix to top-dress the seed at 1/4" thickness.
- Use a leveling rake to smooth out mounds and valleys caused by tree roots
- Irrigate using 2x Oto Smart Sprinklers
- I would use 1, but our driveway splits our lawn in half and I don't want water spraying over our cars regularly
Questions for the group
- Is it necessary to match my current grass type with the new seed I put down?
- Any grass seed brand/supplier recommendations for this area?
- Better/less expensive irrigation ideas?
- I have the option of ordering 50/50 sand-compost, or 33/33/33 sand-compost-loamy soil for topdressing. Which one would you choose?
- Any other recommendations, or things I should be considering before starting this project?
by warox13
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