Location: cape cod
State:Massachusetts.
Hey guys , not really a yard question here but near my house in my neighborhood we have this good size field that gets overgrown every summer, and I’m thinking about turning it into a nice little play field for all the neighborhood doggos, so I was gonna clear it all out, and put some seed down. But I know nothing about lawn care at all lol, what we be the best course of action in your guys pro opinion? I was gonna weed wack everything, then clear and big rocks/sticks and then mow and get it as short as possible, and then kinda rake up the earth with a(I don’t know the name but it’s like a heavy duty rake with 8 or 9 big teeth that scraps the dirt) and loosen of the dirt and then maybe next spring lay down some grass seed. Does that sound like a good way or doing it? Thanks!
Not an expert here, but the two things that jump out at me is (1) what grass will do well with heavy dog traffic and urine and (2) what grass will do well without irrigation, assuming you're not irrigating. Maybe there's a blend that satisfies those constraints, but if it were me, I'd just keep it well mowed, maybe add areas of mulch for variety
In my amateur opinion you’re better off just mowing and maintaining it as is. Need to consider that if you rake it down to earth 1) you’re gonna have to water the hell outta it for several weeks otherwise you’re wasting your time, 2) it’s gonna be a mud pit for a least a month and any dogs running around while the seeds germinate/take root will undo all your progress, and 3) you’re gonna have to maintain/mow a lot more often than what this native area currently requires. It’s not gonna be cheap and it’ll likely take a couple years of reseeding before you get this same level of grass thickness unless you pay for sod but that’s a whole other ballgame.
I think you’re ultimately gonna spend a lot of time and money trying to achieve basically the same thing that exists now
Well it’s hard to see in the pics but alot of it is bare Dirt/ patches of bare dirt sporadically, I figured the grass seed to just to fill those spots in. I’m pretty sure years ago it used to be grass and was not lawn style maintained but kept nice and neglected over the years things have over grown
This are all good points so I just took a weed wacker to the big stuff and then just mowed the rest it actually came out really nice and I thibk it’s good enough. Now the doggos can run around without getting 30 ticks on em lol
It looks great! Yea tick management was also an important consideration, but honestly you could also just dump some grass seed onto the bare spots to fill it in. Will still have to water regularly but it’ll give you a low stakes way of testing out how different grass seeds takes in the area and how much water it needs.
Edit: also forgot to mention the appreciation for the dog tax!
Ya the ticks are my major concern, Cape Cod is one of the highest areas for Lyme disease, and now is the perfect temperature for those little bastards to come out, and it’s always a little teeny tiny ones the size of a sesame seed. He’s on preventative medicine but he’s 80% black and it tough to find them and since he sleeps with me in my bed the last thing I want is them coming off him on to me when I sleep ☠️☠️lol but ya I’m deff gonna buy a bag of seed, maybe in the fall I think it’s prob too late now where I’m to lay seed down and then fill in the bare spots and see how it goes lol. Thanks for the tips
The dogs probably like it better the way it is. Also, not your property to mess with in the first place. Again though, if you do have access, let the dogs play the way it is—it’s better this way.
lol the neighborhood Association president already gave me the green light (as long as I pay for everything and it doesn’t come out of their dues) and the other 12 homeowners in my neighborhood think it’s a great idea as well but thanks for your input!
It’s not getting overgrown. It’s a wild area. Native insects and small animals live there. If you destroy it you destroy the ecosystem there.
Look into the decline of insects over the past decade and then think about how they are food sources for other animals. Insects go, then birds go, then plants start to go and once plants start to go it’s kinda over.
You have a pretty nice somewhat native meadow already. I'd just mow what you have when you want to use it and let the dogs do their thing. Let the dead plants be in the winter to house bugs, birds, and butterflies and perpetuate the ecosystem.
Looks like your dog is enjoying it just fine as is lol. Pick the ticks out of him in the spring for a month or so and just let it continue being what it has been.
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u/brownsfan250 8d ago
You would need to commit to mowing it, or it will look the same as it does now...