When we moved into the property, the lawn couldn't be salvaged. There was a lot of contrasting information as to how you should freshly plant a lawn form seed but here's what I ended up doing.
Completely turned over existing grass. moss and weeds, removing all. Flattened out the soil, fertilised with pre-lawn pellets and raked these in. Dispersed grass seed and gently raked in. I was advised to only bury around half of the seeds by raking, I now suspect they should all be gently covered with soil. 6 weeks on, here's what we have:
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Should I plant more seed in the spaces and lightly rake in and cover with soil or is there a better way of filling these gaps out?
Saki, can't believe it, this is my lawn exactly. We have re-turfed twice to no avail. We have aerated and raked over the bald patches then dressed with topsoil and reseeded, nothing doing. We have used canada grass seed for shady lawns, no result. We have removed several trees (far too many for a very small back garden), again no luck. Look forward to reading replies.
Ah terrible! Our lawn is shady, and yet the thickest part is in the area that received no sun at all most days. So weird. Hope someone has a good suggestion, I'd hate to destroy it all to lay turf.
I assume you are in Canada, since you used Canada grass seed, whatever that is. Are there any agricultural services available that are affiliated with the govt or university? Here in the states, many places they are and they can give you advice that is specific to your location. Some other points:
You're right that all of the seed should have been about 1/4" beneath the surface, instead of leaving some on top.
Did you keep it constantly wet while it was germinating? It doesn't have to be watered deep or flooded, but the top layer needs to be kept moist to wet. Another problem, especially with seed left on the surface, is that it can float and redistribute in heavy rains.
Have you checked the PH of the soil and it's around 6.5 -7? What kind of topsoil is there?
At this point, you have only 2 choices. Do nothing or overseed. Normally, I'd overseed using a rented slit-seeder. The downside is that it does some damage to the existing turf. And your turf is not really even existing yet, so you'd have to use seed quantity close to what you would for bare soil and expect a lot of what is there to be lost in the process. If you just throw seed on the surface, there is little chance for success. Raking is also going to damage some of what is already trying to grow and a lot depends on how big the area is. If it's even 1000 sq ft, trying to rake it in is more work than I'd want to do.
Another factor is that it apparently is in shade. Since you are in Canada, there still may be time to re-seed. But the problem with trying to grow new grass is that it needs sun and the more the better. If leaves are filling in before the grass gets going, it's less likely you will be successful. Normally, Fall is the best time to seed, but not for heavily shaded areas subject to leaves. I've always done those areas as early in the Spring as possible. In the Fall, you have less sun and leaves starting to cover.
I'd take another look at what kind of grass you used. You want to buy the best quality seed you can and make sure it's suited to the application.
Thanks, I'll try this, was warned about over seeding and yet those parts turned out beautifully. I'm on holiday for a month so I can take the time to do this now.
Trader4 I confused about the Canadian grass comment, where did I say that? I used a mixture containing rye grass seeds that would be hard wearing and suitable for shade. I'm in the UK, I searched specifically for a UK forum and thought this was one.
Sorry, someone else made the comment. Regarding grass spreading, rye grass will not spread via rhizomes to fill in bare spots. It is a clump type grass, which can only grow so large and can't then expand into empty area. That is one reason bluegrass, which does spread, is included in many blends. There are some bluegrass varieties that are somewhat shade tolerant. But the best grasses for dense shade are the creeping fescues.
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