New Lawn - Help Needed (1 Viewer)

[Patrick Larkin]

I have a new house with no grass. Let me give some background.

We closed on Nov 21, 2003. We live in PA. Right before closing, they hydroseeded the lawn and then covered it with hay. Of course, it snowed like a week later and was pretty much below freezing all winter. At the same time, we had severe winds and I'm sure some of the covering blew away (and who knows how much seed.)

So, I'm just getting patchy growth at this point. I'm a watering fool and I reseeded the front lawn so far with a drop spreader. I have a couple of questions - since the ground is pretty hard and is still covered in hay, it reseeding fruitless? Second, and most important, is it possible to put too much seed down? I'm thinking of going over the front again but don't want to do more harm than good. And last, I want to put Starter Fertilizer down but I don't know if I should since the hydroseed from last Nov surely had fertilizer in it. Again, I don't want to do more harm than good.

Any other tips are appreciated.

 

[Curt_Dennis]

Here's my $0.02, take it for what it's worth.

1. Although Nov wasn't as cold as it could have been, it was too late to be seeding a yard. Have you called the builder and asked about this? I would push back hard on them, because they should have waited until spring.

2. You said the ground is pretty hard, which is bad to get grass to grow...you need to have that gone over to break it up and smoothed out. I would think if the ground is hardened over, the seeds would have a hard time germinating.

3. Over watering can be bad too. You should only water in the morning (especially during the spring). Watering at night causes rotting, fungus, and other lawn diseases to start coming about. Make sure not to leave puddles.

4. Putting more seed down with the straw there isn't going to do anything. I'd still refer back to #1 and make the builder fix it.

 

[Patrick Larkin]

Hmm.

Yes, the builder has agreed to reseed the yard but what that means, I don't know.

I've been watering before work and after work. The problem is that I have a half acre to water and I can on;y do a small part before work. I figured it was better to get some water our there, even if it is at 5-6:00. Should I stop?

There are puddles but usually just where the sprinklers are....

 

[MikeAlletto]

Also go to www.scotts.com for information on exactly what and when to do it. There is no need to guess. The info is very easy to find and easy to follow.

 

[Bob Graz]

If the builder is just going to drop more seed on an unprepared lawn, it probably won't be too successful. A slit seeder would be the way to go. That actually creates slits in the ground to deposit the seed into. Another option would be to run a plugger over the lawn and then seed. I plugged my lawn last Fall and over seeded and had pretty good results.