selecting your spreader

        A drop spreader which drops your material at the width of the spreader is not the way to go. You want a broadcast spreader which has a hopper to hold materials you want to spread on your lawn with real tires which makes it much easier to push over a lawn. It has a whirlybird spinner under it which spreads about a 10 foot swath which you can overlap your passes without missing a spot. It cuts your walking passes by 80% and works better for coverage.

aerator overseeding option

     Another way you can overseed your lawn if you don't want the extra expense of renting an overseeder is to aerate your lawn in four directions and broadcast seed with a broadcast spreader and follow the rest of my overseeding instructions in a previous post.

aerator

          Aerating your lawn is very important and prior to seeding you want to aerate thoroughly with criss crossing your passes in opposite directions. An aerator is a motorized machine with big hollow spikes that take plugs out of your lawn which you don't clean up. This enables oxygen to the root system and other nutrients to penetrate the thatch which builds up under your grass. It also promotes root growth which will thicken your lawn. Other than a first step in the overseeding process, aerating should be done every fall which is the best time to seed and aerate due to the death of certain weeds and crabgrass and the cooler weather which will enable your lawn to thicken and smother out the crabgrass and weeds. You want to put down lime and 10-20-20 fertilizer which is best for root growth and starter fertilizer for new seed.

selecting your seed

I never worked with southern grasses, I worked with northern grasses which are the thickest and greenest. If you are working with shade you want to have a fine fesque mix. I like Kentucky Blue Grass because it has a deep dark green with a slight blueish tint. It spreads its roots and fills in good with proper watering and fertilizer to create a thick lawn which will make it difficult for weeds to penetrate. Blue grass is expensive and you don't need 100% blue grass to get that look. Most good seed mixes have a large percentage of high quality perennial rye grasses and a small percentage of tall fesque that is very durable and dark green as they have been improved by hybreeding. If you have part shade you want about 30% fine fesque in your seed mix. I will talk a little more about seeding at a later date.