The Grass Doctor

how do i plant grass seeds the easiest way?

my garden seems to be 90%moss and weeds, not much grass at all, can i put grass seed down or will i have to dig the whole garden up and replant grass seeds?

Public Comments

1. spray the lawn with moss killer then rake it out then aerate the lawn then just spread grass seed over the bare patches
2. Hi. If it's that bad then it's best to dig it up. Otherwise what happens is the weeds and moss will strangle any new grass that you plant and it won't grow. It sounds like alot of work but it's worth it because it's all about the preperation. If you can afford to I would suggest weedkilling the whole area to kill the moss and weeds, then once they are dead bring in some topsoil spead evenly and then re-seed. once seeded keep it watered in the summer months. Or, you could just buy turf. larger B&Q stores have it on offer and is cheaper than garden centres who charge the earth.Good luck and be patient, a good lawn takes time, even with turf.
3. what i recommend is renting a rotor tiller from home depot and rotor till your yard. After just throw away the weed ect. Then buy the type of grass ur going to buy like bermuda, fescule, ect. Water heavily, but dont flood it since it could result in the seed being all moved to one spot. When ur grass has grown wait till they are very tall and developed so when u mow it the dont get tore out.
4. I realise that there's not much grass there, but if you add seeds on top of the moss the moss is already dominant and will weaken the grass, or even prevent it from germinating. Grass seed is the cheapest method to grow a lawn, and you can choose a variety that is suited to your garden and area. There are mixes for heavily used/shady areas, as well as types for cool, intermediate and hot parts of the world - I don't know your location. If there's an underlying problem causing the poor grass growth, other than just an infestation of weeds and moss then it's better to get this sorted too, otherwise the same problems are likely to occur. If the lawns just been neglected - it happens to all of us - and conditions are good otherwise, then you could treat the symptoms: ie. patchy grass growth with undesirable weeds and moss and recover your lawn's vitality. To repair what you have you'll need to remove the moss and weeds - if the weeds are surface rooted, rather than having deeper tap roots, this will be easier. Ideally you'd kill the moss first, normally done in autumn/fall or spring time, as well as remove the weeds. The smaller the lawn the easier it is to repair easily, due to the effort level. If you're sowing grass in summer time then you'll need to water it everyday for a few weeks, then resume a deep watering schedule every couple of days, allowing the roots to penetrate deeper into the soil. It's worth knowing the commitment before you start, so that you can decide whether you'll be able to manage this. So, the weeds and moss could be removed manually without using any treatment to kill them - normally moss is killed first, so that it doesn't spread its spores as it's raked out. You'd need to prepare the bare soil before sowing too, a small hand fork would accomplish this. The seed would need to be lightly covered, to prevent it drying out, which would kill it as the roots sprout. You could consider doing this in small patches, to make it manageable, possibly focusing on those parts that are more prominent. Sometimes the scale of a project is off-putting, but you could improve some areas now, and the rest later in the year. (The moss and weeds would continue to flourish and send seeds, runners and spores etc around though, if you didn't attack this on the other parts), If you have the time and are able to do so I'd go ahead now and do some of this, as it builds your skill level and you'll have some improvements. Choose the grass seed wisely too. I wouldn't do this if I suspected that there were major underlying causes for the poor condition the lawn is in now, as you may just be wasting time and money, and getting negative results isn't good for any of us, as it's typically off-putting for future efforts. If you'd like any more advice on your lawn improvements and care please feel free to message me. Hope this helps. Good luck! Rob
5. Spring and Autumn are the times to replace/sow grass...not now !