The Grass Doctor

When and how do i start planting grass seed?

I live in Ohio, and the temps for the rest of the month are 55 - 70. Half and half of sun and showers. Is it still possible to plant grass seed? Also, i need a step by step guide. I just undug a few bricks, about a 15 x 10 zone. And i want to get top soil + some seed and start the fun. I believe my yard is KGB, but i'm going to buy a mix of KGB and Fescue i believe. Thanks

Public Comments

1. grow it when your in the spring and early fall
2. I have seen grass planted in all seasons, but, if you don't want to re-seed come spring, I would wait till spring and put down good soil and seed, mulch and you will have much better success than planting seed in this kind of weather.
3. I live in Ohio too.... you don't need to worry about the high temperatures, you need to worry about the low temperaturs. As long as you don't get a few days of sub freezing temperatures, grass will grow just fine for the next month or so. Assuming KGB is actually KBG (Kentucky Blue Grass)... I would stay away from KBG, its not very drought tolerant, traffic tolerant, and requires good sunlight. Fescue is a much better grass for most purposes. Just put down some topsoil, apply a starter fertalizer, put the seed down, gover with straw and water daily. You should have a light lawn before the grass goes dormant, and then a nice healthy lawn in the spring.
4. just plant it, water it and sow hon
5. just put down the topsoil and some fertilizer and use a rake to make about 1/2" furrows then broadcast the seed on top. You need to seed this week though because bluegrass and tall fescue won't germ with under 55 degree ground temps. **Also, as for the comment above, there are drought tolerant varieties of bluegrass, most aren't kentucky blue. But there are nice bluegrass yards all the way in North Carolina where I'm at and the fine blade texture really thickens up your turf. Try looking at Barenbrug Seed's Baroness blue. And follow the attached link for testing on turf quality, drought, heat, etc.
6. Early spring is a good time. I have in the past put some down right before a snow and it came up thick and green in the spring. Try this site askthegardener.com askthisoldhouse.com
7. I too am in Ohio and fall is definiely the best time of year to seed for a few reasons. There is less competition with weeds, air and soil temps are lower, and the grass will have more time to develop a strong root system before the heat of the next summer. You can seed whenever you want - but fall is most likely to give you the best results. The rule of thumb around here regarding the optimal seeding date is sometime around August 15 (depending on the weather obviously). So you're running out of time this year for a fall seeding. You can still do it but you may have to re-seed some or all of it in the spring depending on how the rest of this fall turns out. In any case, you'd want to start by cultivating the area you are seeding and adding sufficient top soil to level the area (I'm assuming the area needs to be raised since there were bricks in there). Once the area is tilled and the seed is applied at the proper rate (consult the label for this info - it differs between species) you need to insure good seed contact with the soil by lightly raking the seed into the tilled soil or lightly tamping or rolling the seeded area. You may also want to consider using a starter fertilizer which is a fertilizer that is lower in nitrogen and higher in phosphorous than a typical lawn fertilizer. Lastly, you may want to consider some type of mulching material to cover the seed especially considering you may end up over wintering some seedlings and seed - it may protect them over the winter, it may not. This will also serve to protect the seed and seedlings from damage or removal and will also help retain moisture. There are several options ranging from manufactured materials to straw. The seeded area must be kept moist in order for germination to occur. I agree with the guy who suggested the turf type tall fescue. I would suggest using a that or a KBG blend with turf type tall fescue. The fescues are more drought and shade tolerant and are a little lower maintenance than KBG/PRG mixes. The downside to tall fescue is it doesn't recuperate as quickly as KBG/PRG so if your lawn is high traffic and you're really into how it looks you may want to keep that in mind. I would definitely avoid any seed mixes containing annual ryegrass (aka italian ryegrass) because while it germinates quick, it dies even faster.