Planting Grass Seed

Sowing grass seed for a nice verdant lawn to be proud of can give you a strong sense of accomplishment. If you live in an area where your neighbors take much pride in the appearance of their property you probably would like to follow suit and have your yard looking its best. So let us get started. The list accompanying this article shows what will be needed for the task. You will notice that only about one piece on the list is heavy machinery (the tiller). The first thing you should do is make sure the time you plant the seed is when that particular grass seed grows best. (generally; summer in the south and spring in the north) Now what you will want to do is evaluate the yard. If you live where your yard is wind swept constantly (20 mph or more) plant sod or wind tolerant plants. Take note of the slope of the yard and how much light exposure it gets. If the slope is steep (30 degrees or more) you should lay sod in stead and if it gets very little sun (less than 6 hours a day) you may want to plant shade dwelling woodland perennials or groundcovers. But if such conditions are not present, go ahead and prepare to sow your seed.

Grasp your tape measure and measure the square footage of the yard that is to be seeded. You can now happily determine how much seed, fertilizer and compost you need to buy. Buy enough compost to add a three inch deep layer to the soil. Before you sow your seed it would be wise of you to prepare the soil. Soil is the foundation of the success of almost all plants. Remove all existing plant material including the old lawn. Now till the soil from 6-12 inches deep. Use a close-tined pitchfork or a peat spreader to spread the 3 inch thick layer of compost over the surface of the ground and till it in to a depth of 3-6 inches. If you want you could spread the compost directly out of the bag and evenly spread it over the surface of the soil afterwards. Rake the surface as level as possible moving the soil around to eliminate depressions and elevations in the bare ground. Walking on the soil should only leave at most one half inch impressions. The final soil level should be no more than one half inch above the adjacent sidewalk or other hard surfaces. Stake the corners of your planting bed and stake in between the corners if the yard is long.