Someone was telling me that they can use a shredder-blower to shred peat moss and spray a think layer of it all over your lawn after putting down grass seed, then you water and it helps keep the moisture in and start the seed so it doesn't dry out.
What do they call the blower that can do that and what do they usually cost?
Wouldn't you rather know if it works before you start spending money?
I've been told it can work. But go ahead. What is it, and can it work?
peat moss can be expensive, it certainly is for the stuff you buy for hanging baskets anyway, and may not be environmentally sustainable if large amounts are harvested.
As an alternative, I used frost cloth. I prepared the soil, rakes it, threw on the seed, raked it in to the top soil, watered and staked down some frost cloth across the top. The cloth kept the direct sun off and moisture in and reduced the amount of watering I needed to do. I checked it a few times a day and put the sprinkler on when the soil was starting to dry out. After a few days the grass started to come through and I pulled the cloth back to let the sun in. If not frost cloth maybe light sail cloth or old hessian sacking. It should not be too heavy and cumbersome but not too porous either.
rob
Peat moss also dries out very quickly when exposed to air. Then, two things happen: First, it acts like a sponge and sucks moisture out of adjacent materials, like your soil. This assumes it remains in place, which is probably won't if it's been pulverized and there's any wind. The only correct way to use peat moss on a lawn is to work it into the soil, not just put it on top.
I'm thinking of the big bales of it that they sell for planting. It's about $4 something for a big square of it.
I don't know what frost cloth is, but suspect it would be too expensive to cover an 8000 sq ft lot with it.
Can someone please answer my original question, without going off on tangents like this? Thanks.
Why do you think anyone knows where you can get a blower shredder that will do that? If none of us thinks it's a good idea, why would we have ever shopped for one? You're not getting a straight answer because your original message implied that you weren't interested in whether the idea worked, but just on how to carry-out the idea even if it is a dumb idea. You came here with your mind made up.
As Doug noted, the shredded peat moss is going to very quickly dry-out. It's either going to just blow away, or it's going to wick-away water that otherwise could be going to good use. Think about it. Just how would loose peat moss help do anything useful? It's a horrible waste of a natural resource that's being depleted fast enough. As gardeners, even armature gardeners, we should be stewards of the Earth. Wasting peat moss on some scheme that has no benefit is not a good idea. And using a power tool of some sort -- possibly even a gas-powered tool -- is even worse.
In an earlier message you said, "I've been told it can work." Well, now you've been told that it doesn't work more than once. I guess if you're prone to go off and do things -- along with spending money to buy stuff to do those things -- without any research just because you've "been told it can work", this should be more than enough to change your mind.
It's a dumb idea. But if you really still want to go ahead and do it, then you'll just have to do your own shopping. I know I've got better things to do than shop for you.
go and check out a waste exchange programme is one exists in your area. Here is a local example of polypropylene to cover 900 square metres.
the answers you have got thus far is that it is a daft idea and will not work. More than that using enough peat moss to cover an 8000ft lot is a shit load of peat moss and will cost a shit load of money for the moss itself. Even more than that, peat moss takes time to develop and using it as a grass starter is a waste of a resource in my opinion. The only possible way you could use peat moss I can see is to lay long rolls, like laying carpet, of it across the earth. It will be a hassle to continually lift to check the growth of your grass however and roll off when the grass starts to come up. You will not be able to leave the peat moss down as it will simply starve your grass of light. Result, dead grass. No, forget the peat moss, its a bad idea because it most likely won't work as you envisage it, will be a hassle spread any other effective way, will cost too much money that way and is a waste of a natural resource. Find a free, or cheap, source of material that you can stake down over your new seedlings. Leave it down until germination and then lift up to allow the sun in. Its around if you look for it.
rob
Not only that, but if the lawn were mowed correctly (leaving clippings in place, mowing as high as possible except for the last cutting before winter), there will be plenty of organic matter deposited on the lawn. Peat moss should be saved for garden areas, and used only if the soil is utterly hideous.
You obviously didn't have a question. You had a bad idea and you wanted other people to agree with it. That's not happening, so maybe you're one of those people who only recognizes certain sources of knowledge. You know - a badge, a college degree, but certainly not answers from people who may have
30+ years of gardening experience.So, I have an idea. Go to Google and do a web search. Copy & paste the exact line you see below: "cooperative extension" new york
But, substitute your state for "new york". In the search results, you should see links to sites that probably will end in .edu. Poke around in those results, find a phone number, and call your CE service for some advice. They will most certainly tell you to have soil tests done from various locations in your yard. And, I'll bet you a year's salary that they will NOT go along with your massive peat moss debacle.
When I mow my yard I collect the cutting and put the clippings in my garden, down the isles and around all plants. My garden looks like it has a green carpet in it. I do this each time I cut grass. It keeps the ground moist and warm in the early Spring and through out the season. After everything is harvested at the end of the season I still put clippings on and in the Spring I deep till it all in. I have had good luck doing this for years and the soil is a black humus. However, I DO NOT put the clippings on the garden if I had recently sprayed for weeds, dandelions, etc. I wait a week or so and after a rain or heavy watering to continue spreading the clippings. I think it is a waste to always mulch or bag the clippings for the waste hauler. For one thing it is doesn't cost anything and why waste money on peat moss? I would only use it for planting trees and shrubs. I live in Illinois. My 2 cents worth.
Hopefully, you don't use your clippings around edible crops.
Yes I do. I've been doing it for years and I'm still living.
Don't do it to your kids.
Sounds like you're talking about some variant of hydroseeding/hydromulching. The smallest, lightest duty unit I've ever seen was about $3-4K, if I recall correctly. Big ones, self-propelled, I believe are in the $100K+ range. And chopped straw, sometimes with a tackifier, is typically used. Sphagnum's a pretty primo product for such a use.
If you really want to go this route, I'd look for a big landscaping company of the type hired to seed golf courses or estates or highway cuts.
Personally, I've started a lot of lawns over the years with nothing more than scattering seed by hand over worked up soil, raking and treading it in, and adding a topping of compost or mulch if I've got it handy. Watering is the big key to the project, which is why I tend to renovate lawn in the fall, just before the rains start.
Kay
With new construction and no grass at all, some landscapers have a truck that blows a green slurry over the intended lawn area. I don't know what all is in the slurry, but I believe it includes a starter fertilizer, some fast growing ryegrass seed, a slower growing better grass seed, and plenty of green dye. The idea is you get an instant lawn, first consisting of the green dye, replaced by the rye grass, which in turn is replaced by the better grass. The sprayer they use is quite large, and I have never looked for nor seen one for sale, and I would think it would be wasteful for a homeowner to purchase such a large machine for a single use. If you want this done, contact a landscaper, but I would think a good landscaper would use the more traditional method of checking, smoothing, and rolling the soil, sowing the seed, raking it in, putting some kind of protective covering over it, and watering frequently until the lawn is established. Incidentally, installing a sprinkler system before doing this is an excellent idea, as you can set it to keep the soil moist during germination.
The protective cover> Someone was telling me that they can use a shredder-blower to shred
Chop them up and spread the clippings around the edible crops?
The clippings are good, except that he said he uses a few lawn chemicals on his grass, and at some point afterward, the clippings end up spread around his vegetables. Since none of the chemicals sold for lawn care have been, or ever will be proven safe, this is risky.
Your original question was: "Someone was telling me that they can use a shredder-blower to shred peat moss and spray a think layer of it all over your lawn after putting down grass seed, then you water and it helps keep the moisture in and start the seed so it doesn't dry out."
"What do they call the blower that can do that and what do they usually cost?"
No one seem sable to tell you what the blower is called, nor what they cost, as no one has actually heard of this process being used to mulch grass seed. Moreover, no one actually seems to think it will work and/or is worth trying, myself included. Why do you not go back to the person who told you this information and quiz them further?
rob
It was a bad attempt at a joke...chop up the kids, use them as mulch...nevermind. The joke failed so badly, cpr won't save it. Might as well print it out, chop it and spread it among the plants.
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