Hey everyone! I had a lot on my to-do list this week, including some tasks for the garden thrown at me by the wife. I’ve spent the past few weeks digging up clumps of fescue, which resulted in some bare spots in my lawn. These clumps were pretty bad, it was impeding the growth of my turf and they just looked horrible, so I decided to launch an all out war against the fescue and dig it up. With the new bare spots in the lawn it was time to put down some new seed, you know, to avoid those letters from the HOA!
My front lawn is a mix of Zoysia and Bermuda, so I was debating between the two. I personally love Zoysia grass, but its hard to grow from seed and more expensive than Bermuda. Zoysia also takes longer to germinate and requires much more attention because it needs to be watered 4-5 times day. I ultimately chose to go with Bermuda because of the price and ease. I also plan on seeding an area in the backyard with Zoysia, so I didn’t want to deal with the difficulty of germinating Zoysia in multiple areas.
Planting from seed can be intimidating, but if you follow these steps its pretty simple:
- Prep the ground – Get a metal rake and rake up the dirt on the surface. This promotes good seed to soil contact. If you’re like me and have dug up some of your yard, you may need to get some topsoil and throw it down.
- Put down the seed – Read the directions on the bag to determine what setting you need your spreader on and put it down.
- Top dressing – I recommend peat moss. Its cheap and effective. Peat moss will not only protect your seed, but help protect it from heavy winds and rain. It also holds water really well, so you can visually tell if your seeds need water (when its dark its good, when its lighter it needs water!) Just grab it by the handful and sprinkle it over the seeds. You want to lightly cover them, but don’t put down too much over them.
- Starter Fert – Find a good starter fertilizer, I recommend Scotts starter fertilizer, and put it down over the seeds. This is essential so that the new seeds get the nutrients required for growth.
- Water, water, water! – Water your seeds immediately when you’re done. Your seeds will need water daily, sometimes more than once a day depending on your seed type. Keep water your seeds daily until your second mowing, and remember you don’t want to mow your new grass until it hits at least 3″.
Well, that’s all for now. I’ll be sure to keep everyone updated on the progress of my new seedlings!