Getting grass to grow always seems like a hit-or-miss deal. It worked this time, so here’s what happened.
Get your dog to piss on your dirt. That’s the magic.
I had the paver guys leave what they scraped up. The pile had layers. One layer was dirt with some gravel, then gravel with some dirt, then junks of dense sod. I used about a yard of it in the back yard and spread the rest in the woods. This was July 23rd.
After the pile was gone and rough-leveled with the yard panzer, it looked like this on July 30th.
The dirt wasn’t quite hard-pack, but it was pretty close. In June, two loads of top soil had been delivered and spread. The first was 6 yards, and the second was 8 yards. A friend suggested that I use his drag harrow to break up the surface. Yeah, I hadn’t heard of a drag harrow either.
It’s similar to dragging a section of chain-link fence, but the links are quarter-inch steel rods. One side is rough, and the other side has steel spurs sticking out. A spare tire was strapped on top so the spurs dug in. This isn’t me, but it gives you the idea.
Fresh, loose soil wouldn’t need that. It smoothed out the panzer tracks and loosened up the top half-inch.
Get fresh grass seed. It’s worth the cost to get better results. Some people suggest peat moss instead of straw, so I tried it. The peat moss made all the difference. Here’s what I used from Tractor Supply.
I didn’t know what peat moss was like. It feels like a dense brick in the package, but breaks up into dry, fluffy, dirt flakes. I hand-tossed the grass seed. No little piles, but spread generously. After that, I shovel-tossed the peat moss. Toss it high, with a sweeping motion so it gets distributed. I was going for a thin layer on most of the ground. About how you’d spread cheese on a pizza if you aren’t stingy.
The peat moss didn’t look like it would do anything to dissuade birds from eating the seeds, so I tossed straw on top of that. My theory is you don’t want clumps or piles of anything. The peat moss was thin, with dirt visible. Just enough to hold some moisture. The straw was thinner, kind of like a loose web, to frustrate birds. This is August 13th.
Grass grows best between 50 and 70o with some rain and some sun. That’s why we seed in the Spring or Fall. Mid-August was too early, but I wanted to move on this project. The grass seed could sit there until conditions were favorable.
Sparky gets me outside, so I’d noticed that nights were cool and there was dew in the morning. The grass might sprout, but I was still surprised when it did. Once a few little blades start popping up, you have to keep the party going.
In the past week, it’s been sunny and mid-80’s, and mid-60’s at night. Dew in the morning, but until last night, no rain. It was too warm for much to happen during the day, so the sprinkler was turned on for about 15 minutes each day around 6 pm. After a week, it looks pretty good. This is August 20th.
Those patches that are slacking, are of interest. That always happens, and it was going to get addressed in the Spring. Since the grass is growing everywhere else, I will give it a week, then seed those again.
When seeds are spread, they are easy to see. I was pretty liberal, so those areas probably got seeds. After a day or two, it’s not easy to see the seeds. Maybe surface water gets them dirty, and they aren’t so obvious. I haven’t seen any birds coming down to scavenge. I have a theory.
Peat moss is fluffy flakes and dusty stuff. Those bare spots don’t seem to have any peat moss. The dusty stuff may have dissolved into the soil, leaving no flakes to hold moisture. Where the grass is growing, the brown peat moss is visible.
That area has sparse straw, so that could be an issue, but I don’t think so.
This area has good straw coverage, but the left side has peat moss visible, while the right side just has straw.
That’s my theory. Peat moss holds moisture that is available to a seed. Straw gets wet, but is more rigid. Peat moss is like wet sawdust, while straw is like wet wood. Straw may discourage birds and keep moisture from evaporating better than peat moss.
Peat moss costs $17 per bag, and I used two. Straw comes pre-chopped in small bundles for $12, and I still have half of it left. It’s best to use both, but not too much of either. The un-peat mossed areas may just take longer to sprout.
A couple of days ago, I planted more grass in other areas around the yard. Those areas aren’t accessible to a sprinkler. I may wait until mid-September to get more peat moss, and re-seed any bare spots. I will leave it to rain to handle the watering.
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