I need to over-seed my yard and I don't want to wait until fall. However I have a birthday party scheduled at my house in 4 weeks. There will be kids, and adults chasing kids, all over my yard.

My question is, how long does new grass take to get established and be resistant to traffic? Should I wait until after the party to seed?

Also, when is a good time to drop fertilizer on the lawn? Before or after seeding? If after, how long after?

 

I would definitely wait till after the party. Hey, here's an idea, give all the guests a set of these and have them aerate your yard.

 

I would wait. You'll have time to get the seed in before the weather gets really hot. Late April is prime growing season and the seed should take pretty quickly.

There is starter fertilizer available, and I would recommend that initially. Seedlings can burn and the low nitrogen starter fertilizer will help get things going. Scotts makes a good one. You can resume normal fertilizing 6 weeks or so after.

 

def. wait until AFTER the party. Same thing for fertilizer - otherwise you will burn the seed. What I did last year - it was fall, but you can do spring as well - rented an aerator from Home depot - thing was awesome - in fact I think they have one there that you can put seed into, but the one I rented was just the aerator. Tear up the whole yard like you just played 4 qtrs of football on it, then go around and seed it - water and in a few weeks - it will be gorgeous. I did this last fall after a real bad summer in NJ - all the neighbors lawns are not coming back this year - ours looks great. In fact it was my lawn service (fairway green) - like a lawn doctor - that recommended I do it myself - cheaper he said and I can do as many passes as I want where they will just go around yard once. I did and it worked. Anyway - too much info. I recommend wait till after party - 4 weeks not enough time for it to get established enough for high traffic.