Lawn Seeding Techniques

If your lawn was showing signs of distress this spring and you decided to give it a chance to rally this summer, you should know by now whether or not it worked. Brown patches larger than a foot and a half or so in diameter are a fair indication that at least of part of the lawn needs to be reseeded. Likewise, is you have been building on a site; it’s pretty obvious what needs to be done. This said, there are several things to keep in mind that will insure that your efforts will yield that lush lawn you desire. The area of August 15th is a good time to get started so you will have an established new lawn by mid-October.

If you are starting form scratch, I recommend adding about four inches of good quality topsoil with organics in it and blending it into the top six or eight inches of soil on your site. Whether you are reseeding all or a part of your lawn, the size of the area will determine how to prepare it. With a relatively small area, simply pull up the sod debris and put it in your compost pile. With an area about the size of a typical room in your house, use “Roundup” or similar to kill all weed growth. Wait 7-10 days, then rake or skim off the dead turf and rototill to a depth of about three to four inches. For larger areas, a tractor can e used. Add 2-3 inches of organics and turn it into the soil to a depth of at least four inches.

After choosing an appropriate seed mix, as per the article on “Ideal Blends”, it’s time to plant. If you’re dealing with a small patch, it’s quite all right to scatter the grass seed by hand. With larger areas, use either a drop-type spreader or a broadcast spreader. The drop type spreader, when you overlap the wheel marks on each pass, insures a precise application, but the broadcast spreaders are much quicker. You must be sure to adjust your stride to meter the rate of application, though. Uniformity is the ultimate goal here. One other option: for those lawns that have less than half an inch of thatch, a slice seeder may work quite well. This implement works by actually cutting grooves in the sod and upper soil and dropping grass seed into them.

This is also the time to apply a fertilizer. A starter fertilizer, which is lower in nitrogen and higher in phosphorous and potassium, is a good choice. Standard slow release fertilizer can be used best. Apply only at the recommended rates, and above all, don’t use a fertilizer with a weed killer at this stage of the game because this can kill young seedlings or stop germination.

Immediately after the seed and fertilizer has been applied, rake very lightly to distribute the seed through the top 1/8 to ¼ inch of soil. Then, spread straw over the area; about three to five straws deep. You just want to provide some barrier to the wind, direct burning rays of the sun, and heat without blocking necessary light and water. A good rule to follow is that when you look out across the seeded areas at an angle, they seem completely covered, but if you look down at your toes, you can still see open soil. The straws will biodegrade, so there is no need to remove them. Be sure to keep it evenly distributed while you’re waiting for the seed to germinate.

Almost as soon as the seeds are put in the soil, you need to start watering. Prior to germination, you should water frequently, but in very small quantities. A mist-like consistency is much better than pounding water droplets and you only need to keep the top one-half inch of soil moist. Ideally, you should water at 10:00 a.m., noon and 2:00 p.m. every day until the seed sprout. Since this often isn’t feasible, water before work and immediately after for a longer period of time. When the seeds sprout, increase the quantity of time spent watering in each phase, but reduce the frequency. Be sure to water for more than 21 consecutive days so all of the bluegrass has time to germinate.
After the seed has been put down, you have only to wait until your lawn begins growing. Then, begin mowing when the grass it tall enough to be cut, taking care to use a sharp blade and keep the height at about three inches tall. To keep the lawn healthy, continue with regular mowing.

There will be weeds germinating also, but leave them alone until you have mowed all of the germinated seedlings at least 6 times. By then the young grasses will be more tolerant of weed killers. Be sure to mix the weed killers at no more than the recommended strength. Repeating as needed is better than taking a chance of burning or killing the new seedlings.

If you have questions about your specific lawn problems, check with your local lawn experts for advice.

By following these steps, you should soon have a healthy lawn, which is the perfect basis of any landscape setting.