New house, have seeded the garden but very patchy

[tony w]

Hi All, Hope you can help me here, we have just purchased a new-buil

and as such have taken the onerous task of seeding the garden. It had

4" deep topsoil layer, so we levelled out as best we could, broke th hard topsoil down into a decent surface, rolled it and then added th requisite amount of feed, before laying grass seed down.

2 weeks later, we find that the shoots are not coming through as we ha hoped, with patchy areas all over, and 'pools' of decent clumps here an there. I don't think that more shoots are going to appear, so we ar stuck with large areas with 2" or so between shoots and seed tha hasn't germinated.

I want to give a go at applying extra seed, but do not have a clue a to how to go about this. I am a beginner, so would very much appreciat it if someone could give me a step-by-step 'how to' in adding extr seed.

The weather is fairly warm at the moment (Czech Republic) but I do hav plenty of water, but would need suggestions as to how often to water th areas, what to do to prepare the existing patchy areas, whether to us more feed (and when), etc, etc.

Here's hoping for some creative responses! :-

-- tony w

[trader4]

Did you rake it lightly after applying the seed to get good soil and seed contact? Keep it constantly wet until it germinated? Applying a light covering of weed free straw is also beneficial as it helps keep the seed damp, lessens chance of runoff, etc.

At this point, I would go with what you have for this summer. Not only is it too late to seed effectively, but it's also impossible to do now without damaging what you already have that just sprouted. I'd wait till early Sept, then use a slice seeder to overseed it. Make sure the grass is a high quality seed, appropriate for the conditions.

[trader4]

Forgot to mention, you should also get the soil tested, particularly for PH. If it's fresh topsoil like frequently found at new construction, the PH can be low and needs to be adjusted with lime.

[tony w]

Many thanks, I will look into testing the soil

-- tony w

[tony w]

Well, I re-seeded the lawn yesterday, did it properly, added som

compost as a light overlay, and the heavens opened this evening an washed most of the seed away! I now have nice little 'battle lines' o compost at various stages on the back garden, and am not hopeful tha much of the seed will sprout.

All that hard work for nothing...... and it was looking pretty good kept it all wet, now I don't know when I can start again as storms ar forecast for pretty much the whole of the next week.....

-- tony w

[Mark Jones]

Been there, done that. My sister has been helping me clean up my yard and the last seed that was put down was followed by very heavy rains within about 6 hours. Looks like 75% of the seed was washed away based upon what came up.

One thing that works well to cover new seed is peat moss. It will stay wet for quite awhile, so you do not have to water constantly.

[trader4]

If you had waited until Fall and then used a slice seeder, as I recommended, that would not have happened. The slice seeder cuts grooves that the seed drops into, so it's much harder to wash away. Trying to grow grass from seed now is a losing proposition. The seeding should have been done 2 months ago and even then it's not the best time.

Now you're trying to grow new grass in summer, which is the worst possible time. You have to keep a seeded lawn constantly wet, and with warm temps, that is an invitation for fungus, disease, etc. Plus it takes many times more water, you have intense competition from weeds, and you're trying to make grass grow when higher temps are telling cool season grass to slow down. In early Sept you have everything in your favor.

[z]

yeah, you can't do a good job reseeding in the hot weather. all the grass wants is to go dormant. wait until fall. give it time to get established in the fall for the winter, then it will establish itself some more in the spring before summer comes. also, consider what grass seed you have; most grass seed is a mix of different species; some species, particularly bluegrass, are "spreading", i.e. they will send rhizomes into those bare areas and colonize them, assuming the conditions are otherwise to their liking (sunny, no salt in the winter). which is one reason they're in that grass seed mix.

[tony w]

Thanks, I knew we were pushing it in putting seed down now, but at 500

Koruna (a little over 300 dollars) we had to take the chance, as t turf would have been 60000 Koruna.

We have 2 small kids that we want to 'turf' out onto the lawn, so an grass growing in the backyard will do!

It actually isn't looking that bad now, we have re-seeded the bar areas and the grass that has taken is looking very nice. We have temp of about 24C, and we are keeping the soil moist.

Fingers crossed

-- tony w