OT ping Chris Hogg - grass seed

[Mr Pounder Esquire]

10 days ago I removed all the winter bedding plants from my 4 flower beds. The bedding plants were yet another spectacular failure. I've had enough of the flower beds and the wife sneering at me - so: I forked the soil in the flower beds, sprinkled grass seed and covered with top soil. The depth was about 4 inches. I gave it a good walking on. I've kept the soil moist. The packet of the grass seed states that I should see something like grass popping up in 5 days. The weather has not been too bad, plenty of sunshine and a few showers. It's been 10 days, nothing is popping up and the wife is sneering at me. Again. I have chicken fire over the flower beds to keep the birds and the f****ng cats off. Is 5 days optimistic for the grass to start to grow?

[Chris Hogg]

For the third time!

If you put 4 inches of top soil _over_ the seed then you will be in trouble. Normally grass seed is either not covered at all, or very lightly raked in, or has a thin scattering of top soil over it, say half an inch, just to hide it from the birds. OTOH if you're saying that the soil depth _under_ the seed was about 4 inches, then all you need is patience, especially as the weather in the last few days has been cold, regardless of the sunshine. I would give it a couple of weeks before expecting to see much. But if you did put 4 inches of soil over the seed, then go out when SWMBO isn't around and scatter more seed and leave it on the surface. The chicken wire will keep the birds off. Water it only very lightly, otherwise you'll wash the seed around and won't get an even distribution of plantlets and it'll look odd.

and:

The early shoots are best detected looking across the surface, on hands and knees. Looking straight down onto them will miss them until they've got to a decent size.

[Mr Pounder Esquire]

I cocked up my last attempts to post. Well, I can't see them here. Sorry.

The flower beds were about 4 inches deep max. I sprinkled seeds and covered with top soil. Am I really doomed?

Ahhh.

[Chris Hogg]

Not if the depth of soil above the seeds is only half an inch or so. Patience is all you need. OTOH if you buried them deeper, you probably are :-( Scatter more seed and leave it on the surface, and wait a week or two.

[Mr Pounder Esquire]

There is more than half an inch of soil on top of the seeds. I'm sending myself out tomorrow to get another box of grass seed and will do as you have told me. I can't even grow grass!!! :-( Oh. Ignore ARW, he loves me really.

Thanks once again for the help.

[harry]

It's a mistake to bury any seed too deeply. Sprinkle on top and rake in gently. Water to close up the soil round the seed. Needs to be kept watered until it germinates

[Martin Bonner]

Well yes. It's just that what constitutes "too deep" depends on the seed. Broad beans want to go quite a bit deeper than grass.

The rule of thumb is to cover with a thickness of soil equal to the size of the seed.

Yes, but "damp" not "wet".