The Grass Doctor

How to get grass to grow in former driveway area.?

Live in Virginia.Driveway is hard and a few rocks are left want to plant grass so children can play there.Do I need to loosen the soil,remove the few gravels or just put down grass seed and what is the best fast growing grass seed.Thanks

Public Comments

1. Yes, you will need to remove the rest of the rock for at least 3 reasons. 1) Your kids knees will appreciate it when they fall. 2) Your windows will appreciate it when the mower doesn't pick up one of the rocks and throw it through your windows. 3) Assuming that it is standard limestone driveway rock, it changes the PH of the soil significantly. Yes, you need to loosen the soil. No proper grass growth will occur in a severely compacted area. Typical Transition Zone Grasses There is a “transition zone” between northern and southern turf grass regions, which follows the lower elevations of Virginia and North Carolina west through West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee and Arkansas and includes parts of southern Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri and Kansas. In this transition zone, neither Warm Season nor Cool Season type grasses are uniformly successful. However, several of the Cool Season type grasses such as Kentucky bluegrass and perennial rye grass and tall fescue, do well across Kentucky, Virginia, West Virginia and Missouri. Tall fescue is the best choice in Tennessee, North Carolina, northern Georgia, northern Alabama and the Texas panhandle. In the lower elevations of these latter states Warm Season grasses do well too. Typical grass types suitable for the Transition Zone include: Bluegrass(KY) Fescue (tall) Ryegrass(per) Thermal Blue Zoysia Best of Luck!
2. who gives a damn?