[klaaar]

Interesting take, GLAN.

Would you be saying it is advisable to apply pre ems onto a 900 square foot bare spot in the middle of a lawn in early spring, in order to prevent vegetation from emerging? Would this be done with the expectation that turfgrass seeding would not be done for a month or more, and with the concession that the eventual seeding would be less than successful?

That would be a tactic I had not considered. It may have its merits, especially when soil disturbance and seeding for some reason must wait for weeks on end. But my instinctual reaction to massive dead areas of lawn has always been to establish turfgrass ASAP. A good stand of turf is the goal, is it not? The best weed control is thick, uninterrupted, healthy turf, no?

If there's time to apply pre ems, is there not time to instead sow seed?

[GLAN]

Right........

OK.....

You never spot seeded a lawn 4 - 5 weeks after a preemergent application?

Or in as little as 3 weeks after application?

[klaaar]

My questions still stand, as far as I can tell.

We may be drifting away from the initial subject matter, which is fine. My client's lawn had areas that were completely devoid of grass, or any green vegetation whatsoever - just dead thatch, mat, or whatever you would want to call the fibrous plant structures left over after turfgrass dies. One area was 900 square feet (about 30' by 30').

As far as spot seeding goes, I assume you mean spots measuring a few square feet. Only once did I do such spot-seeding. Generally, if I encounter a lawn needing spring seeding, I will seed in early spring, then rely on post-emergence control (of crabgrass and other undesirables). A few times I have applied the pre-emergence in late spring, after the new grass was mowed several times.

[GLAN]

Location determines what we do.


Our SOP is to spot seed early in spring then apply preemergent. I can have seed failure due to lack of water, soil to cold and yes the preemergent. I have to follow up a few weeks later with spot seeding.......for the most part we get satisfactory results with that second spot seeding.

Now is the topic about who is more irresponsible?

IMO........you both are.

First it's inexcusable for a company to apply at the wrong address. Second, to an area that would be in desperate need of renovation. Lastly the one who seeded knowing that preemergent was for the most part recently applied...

It would take about 3 weeks with proper irrigation for the granuals to break down and no longer visible.........so......if the granuals are visible, that application could have been any time within 10 days or so. 14 or so days if no irrigation at all.


However......as you stated in your agreement with said customer.....you are not responsible for the results due to the fact that preemergent was evident.


But you could have waited 1, 2 maybe 3 weeks before doing the seeding. How long to wait?........find out when exactly the application was made. And strongly urged customer to irrigate heavily in the interum till seeding took place.


But this discussion could not be about whether a 900 sqft area should have been seeded first.........Fact is company mistakenly made an application to the wrong address........so that discussion is null and void.

What the discussion of this thread should be about......What to do and what should have been done after the preemergent application........

Don't you agree?

[klaaar]

I more or less do agree. Let us exclude the third party, even though they have stated that they feel responsible, and will help to resolve the problem.

I'd guess there were at least three weeks between the pre-emergence application and the seeding that we did. Upon initial inspection, granules were few and far between, and color was very dull. 2 weeks later, we did the work.

I did not think to ask the client to irrigate while waiting for us to do the lawn repair, but I will in any future similar scenario.

The new grass's success is only fair to moderate; nutsedge and a few other weeds are helping to fill the voids.

As clear as my instructions were to my employee, he may have fallen short of the intensity of aeration and rate of seeding that I would have produced myself. This could be a factor in the results' falling short of satisfactory. Perhaps the homeowner failed to irrigate sufficiently after the seed was down.

If I encounter another of these challenges, I'll be sure to apply the lessons I've learned. I'm lucky to learn from the experienced professionals who've helped - thanks.