Fall Lawn Prep

Now that I own a home with a good 2.5 acres of lawn I want to do the same but I am finding it very challneging and very expensive.

I can handle the core aeration, fertilizing, soil tests but I am struggling with fall topdressing and seeding.

For topdressing in the past I would simply call one of these companies that would use a blower to place about a 1/4 inch of topdressing on my lawn in the fall and I usually paid around $900 for a 1/2 acre. It was great because it was already spread out. I did nothing except write them the check.

I called the same outfit this year and they want $4K to blow on 2.5 acres of lawn. Whew... I will not be doing that this year!! The problem is my lawn desperately needs topdressing. Since there must be a lot of people on here that have large lawns I would like to get a better understanding of how you guys go about doing this?

I also use a verticutter for overseeding but now the yard is sooo big it would take me a week straight to do that. any receommendations on best way to seed after topdressing is down? 3 pt spreader?? I would prefer to use something that gets the seed down in the soil. Otherwise 50% of the seed is wasted.

How has others with large lawns handled this? thanks.

Phil

My secret?

God waters it, I cut (mulch) it. Beyond that, I don't spend one dime or one minute on it. Ever.

Good soil prep and the right seed is all it takes. Well, that and I let it re-seed itself once a year in the spring.

God waters mine as well and I am not worried about that! It is natural for lawn to go dormant during times of drought and I do not believe in the use of irrigation anyways.

My soil smaple shows low organic materials and low PH. I need to get some organics in there as it is mostly clay. I usually do this with topdressing. Just am looking for advice on best way to apply and seed large area.

Thanks

Phil