Planting grass seeds?

Question

Over the years our lawn has been overrun by weeds. Now, there is very little grass left and there are some bare patches where the dirt has become hard as a rock. I don't want to buy patches of grass, so I want to know exactly what to do, step by step, to plant grass seeds and regrow a beautiful lawn.

Pretend you're talking to a three year old, for I know nothing about lawns.

Also, what can we do so that the birds don't eat the seeds?

Tell me anything you can think of about anything.

Answer 1

One option is not to plant, but to use a weed & feed fertilizer.

Scotts is pretty safe & easy, be sure to read & follow the instructions on the bag. It will take some time & several applications but you will slowly diminish the weeds & strengthen the grass. This is probaly the least work on your part.

Unfortunetly you can't apply seed & do a weed & feed (the weed killer & strength of fertilizer would damage the seedings)

If you want faster results:

1.Kill the weeds, you can use Roundup, DO NOT get the ground clear or extended control (they leave a residue in the soil to prevent growth). Just plain Roundup, so you are safe to plant when the weeds are dead, give it a week or so. Clean up the dead weeds.

2. Prepare the soil, if there are large areas that are bare & rock hard you may want to rent a rototiller. You don't have to go very deep 4 inches max. If the soil isn't too bad use a hard rake to loosen it. I suggest adding some michigan peat (sphagnum peat mixed with compost) but if that's too expensive at least add the sphagnum peat. You can apply it with a spreader. It helps to soften soils & retain moisture.

3. Apply the seed, follow the guidelines on the package. You don't need the seeds piled on top of eachother, they should be sprinkled so you can still see more soil than seed.

4. Apply a starter fertilizer. There are actual starter fertilizers, or if it is less expensive, you can use 12-12-12 (or a lower number). Follow the application instructions.

5. Lightly cover the seed. Options include, Penn mulch which has the starter fertilizer built in but is more expensive. More peat or just taking a rake flip it over & gently make grooves in the peat you just put down, you still want to see some seed (with any method). Straw is not my choice, it has weed seeds in it, just because of what it is, unavoidable, & I swear it attracts birds because of that. Plus it's messy, blows around & you have to clean it up after. There are plain paper mulches less expensive than the Penn mulch, but are hard to find. I like the paper mulches because they break down when the seed germinates & you don't have to clean it up.

5. Water, use a soft spray or sprinkler. You may want to set up the hose & sprinkler & leave it so you don't keep walking on the lawn. Keep it just moist, on hot days you may need to spray 3 times. Not for long just enough to wet the surface. (the roots aren't developed into the ground yet)

The seed package should tell you how long the seeds will take to sprout.

This is not the best time of year to plant a lawn, it's better when temps are between 70-80 degrees. If you can wait for fall you will get better results.

Good Luck!

Answer 2

First kill off as much of the weeds as you can with Roundup.  This will allow you to re-plant in a few days.  Buy some seed and a bag of lawn patch.  This is the stuff that looks like blue dryer lint.  Rough up the dirt and sprinkle with seed, covered with the dryer lint.  Water daily and you will have a great lawn.  The lawn patch really works good but needs more seed.

Answer 3

If you have more weeds than grass it makes sense just to kill (round-up application) the whole lawn.  If you don't want to do that, you'll have to kill the weeds that you have with a weed n' feed fertlizer.   Weed 'n Feed (if used properly and according to label instructions) will kill your weeds and keep your grass.  

Once your weed are gone, and since you soil is as hard as a rock, rent a lawn aerator (or hire a company) to plug your lawn. This won't cost you much (get estimates beforehand).  Then water the h**l out of it.  A few days later sprinkle seed in the bare spots and cover it lightly with some soil (bagged potting soil will do just fine).