New Lawn From Seed
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New lawn from seed will give you a great feeling of accomplishment and a lawn to be proud of knowing you grew it from seed. all the time and hard work will show in your new lawn.
New lawn from seed is the least expensive way to start a new lawn. The best time to start a new lawn from seed is just prior to grass seasons vigorous growing time. Determine the type of grass that grows best in your climate, weather you will need cool season or warm season grass seed. Think of the cool and warm grasses as yin and yang of the grass world, or when you think cool season think of pine trees and when you think warm think of palm trees.
Cool season grass grows best in fall, spring and some places in winter, the best time to plant is late summer early fall, at this time the soil is still warm enough for quick germination and the grass has the entire coming cool season to become established.
Early spring is the second best time to start a cool season lawn from seed, this gives the grass time to become established before the heat of summer, and will usually give a satisfactory start if seeding was early enough. Warm season grasses are best started early in spring while the weather is still mild enough for the seed to become established.
After you have your soil ready, the site level, you can now plant your seed. Make sure you use the proper setting for your spreader, spread the first half of the seed walking in one direction and then spread the second half crisscross to the first direction, this pattern ensures even coverage.
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Now use peat spreader or cage roller filled with peat moss or other organic matter, briskly push back and forth over the lawn until you have the entire area covered with a thin layer of mulch.
If you live in a windy area or just want to save the money, you can lightly rake the seed bed instead of mulching. Using a stiff metal rake just lightly push and pull the tines back and forth to make shallow grooves and cover the seed. Don't push to hard or you will move or cover the seed to deeply.
Mulching is the best way to go for just a few cents more. To ensure good contact with with seed and soil use a roller and roll the outer edge then the rest of the area.
Watering is the most important step, when you first water make sure that you put enough on so the soil is wet six to eight inches deep. Water gently not to wash the seed away or leave puddles, you may do the watering in several short intervals until the new seeding is wet enough. Water often so the top inch or two stay moist till the seed germinates, remember your seed gets only one shot at germination don't let the seed dry out or they are dead.
Now protect your new seeded bed from kids and pets, stake and tie off with bright colored string or put chicken wire around the newly seeded area.
Now that your grass is growing you can water less you don't want it to rot. You will need to start mowing when it reaches a three to four inches in height and be sure the ground is dry, you don't want to tear up the new lawn.
A new lawn from seed will need a first application of fertilizer about four to six weeks after germination, do not skip this as it is needed for a strong lawn.
