Help with preparation of soil before growing grass?

Question

I am going to grow grass in a small 8x8 patch. I was breaking up the dirt today, and uncovered thousands of small rocks. At first I thought they were just mud rocks, but when I picked them up, I saw that they were solid rock. How do I remove these puppies, I really do not want to pick them up one by one, and also do not want to remove the soil. Any suggestions?

Answer 1

Rocks won't affect your ability to grow and maintain turf.  Unless you plan on aerating it annually .    Surely there is a "weed seed bank" built up in the soil you wish to plant in.  Unless you cover these seeds with at least 3-4inches of good soil, they are sure to germinate and grow along with your new seed- disaster/failure.etc.  

I like to advise that people pre-germinate their soil with regular irrigation (a weeks worth) in order to germinate the weed seeds BEFORE you throw down your grass seed. This isn't as important if you're using sod (which is the way you should go!!!)

Home Depot: You're talking about 10 rolls of sod (fits in your trunk) for $40.  Don't mess around with seeding it in the middle of summer.

Answer 2

as a semi lazy, not highly experienced, yet pretty darn lucky gardner i's say put a few inches of soil on top of the area, put the seeds down and hay on top and keep it nice and moist. and i'm sure you'll have luck with grass... in my past i've just thrown seeds out there and watered and things have grown and i'll say my garden is quite amazing :) so just have fun with it.

Answer 3

Have a landscaper rockhound the dirt, this will take out any rocks that will hinder the ability of the grass to grow.  If the rocks are large and are at the surface, they WILL effect the growth of the grass.  Grass will not grow above the rock because it has nothing to take root in.