The Grass Doctor

Planting Grass Seed....?

My yard is a mess! There are tons of bare spots with no grass and the ground is so hard and pretty much just dirt. We want to plant Grass seed but I'm not really sure how to go about it. I know we need to till the yard to loosen the soil and then we plan on using a seed spreader. So I have a few questions. After we till do we need to lay down fertilizer? Do we just seed the bare spots and not seed over grass already there? Do we need to put straw down after seeding or something else? if so do you have to remove the straw after a certain time and how? and how often should i water the seeds? Thanks in advance!

Public Comments

1. use straw and make sure seeds are spread over thje right area. water the plants at the right tempature. either the day in the morning.
2. First, don't use a tiller on your lawn unless you want to tear it all out. Rent a CORE AERATOR and go over your lawn left to right and up to down (2xs). Aeration does two things for you 1- it loosens the soil and 2- gives a place for the thatch (brown decaying leaves of grass) to go. Next, if your turf is generally thin, over-seed the entire lawn. You should give the bare spots extra attention. Take a soil rake and score the bare spots to loosen them up a little bit. Apply grass seed. Cover with about a 1/2" of top soil. Don't use anything else. Make sure you maintain the moisture level. Plant material needs about an inch of water a week to grow. That's from rain or sprinkling. Regarding fertilizer, I would use a fertilizer that has a level ratio (10-10-10 or 12-12-12). This way you do not run the risk of burning out the new seedlings. The new seed should start to germinate in 7 to 21 days. You can cut in about 4 to 5 weeks. I wouldn't use a weed and feed on the lawn because you could damage the new seedlings. I would wait until June when the new grass is in. Besides the best defense for weeds is a full, thick lawn. If you have a bad weed problem now, you can spray them.
3. I'd overseed the whole lawn, depending on the condition/area of the "good" turf. It may be easier just to redo the whole lawn. Make sure you use a quality perennial seed mix. (No Annual Ryegrass). It is a good ides to till in some starter fertilizer (10-6-4 or so) and ground limestone. I'd recommend getting a soil pH test (at local university or garden center) for liming requirements. You should rake and roll the area after seeding so the soil is in good cantact with the seed. If crabgrass has been present it the past, you might consider a crabgrass preventer that can be used with new seeding (Most cannot be used with new lawns or they interfere with the grass seed!) Straw is not required but helpful in keep the soil from drying out. The grass will grow right throgh it and it will decompose, so you don't need to remove it. Hay could be used, but contains weed seeds. Just don't let it dry out until the grass is established. That may mean daily sprinkling, depending on the weather. You really only need to wet the surface until the grass is established, since there is no root system developed yet. After that, water less frequently, but deeply.