Lawn Seeding
What You Need to Know about Lawn Seeding
Lawn seeding is a simple process, if you know what type of grass grows the best in your area and climate. Unless you're hiring a landscaper, schedule some hours to be spent in the yard.
The first thing to decide on is what type of grass to seed with. There are two types of turfgrass, for warm and cool seasons. Warm season grasses do well in areas with mild winters and hot summers. They grow in the summer, and they are dormant in the fall and winter. Lawn seeding with a warm season turfgrass is advisable if your summer temperatures are usually above eighty degrees. This grass type needs less water to grow, and thus it is more tolerant of drought. It has coarse, wide blades and is kept mown close to the ground. You can overseed this grass with an annual type and have year round color if your climate is mild in the winter.
The cool season grasses are more suitable for lawn seeding if you live in a cooler climate. They thrive in areas where the winter temperatures fall below the freezing mark. These grasses grow during the spring and the fall, and they go dormant in the months of summer. They do well in temperatures from sixty to seventy-five degrees in the summer, and have finer, longer blades. They are not mowed as short as the warm season grasses, and generally grow in bunches.
You can establish your yard by lawn seeding with sod, plugs or seed. Sodding is almost like having an instant lawn, since it contains soil and grass, with roots intact. Make sure to have the sod laid soon after you buy it, because it will dry out quickly. And water it well as soon as you lay it.
Lawn seeding by plugs is fairly cheap, but requires a good deal of labor. Develop a grid before you start planting, so it will look uniform when you're finished.
Using seed is probably the most common method used to plant turfgrass. You will need to till or dig to a uniform 3” depth, and rake the area to be planted, to break up and remove clods and clumps. After you add compost and fertilizer, and level the surface of the lawn, seeding can begin.
You need to spread the seed evenly, so sow the seeds in one direction and then finish at a right angle. Rake the area and roll it with a weighted roller. Mulch with straw to keep the birds away from the seeds.
Water frequently, so that the seeds stay moist, but do not overwater. Once the grass reaches an inch in height, you can switch to watering once a day. You can start mowing when the grass is about three inches high. Keep on watering on a regular basis, in the absence of rain, to make sure that the grass gets enough nutrients and water to keep growing.