lzicc
Platinum Member
I have redone most of my yard landscape and am putting down new grass seed. I'm doing parts of it so I don't have to water everything all at once. I had screened topsoil brought in, 2 - 20 yard loads. What I do is I spread/rake the topsoil, spread the seed, lightly rake it again, roll it then throw a thin layer of mushroom manure over top. I then add straw over that to keep everything moist and protect it if we would get a heavy rain.
For one part of my yard, it was on a hill, so I used multiple straw erosion mats which were quite expensive, but the grass looks fantastic now so it was well worth it. I noticed the straw attached to this mat was shredded. It made me think, what if I get some bales of straw, run over it with the lawnmower to shred it, my bagger would contain it and spread it the shredded straw over the new seed. I did this last night and it worked out very well. I used less straw, it went down so much faster and really covered the area nicely. It also looks like it will absorb the water very well being shredded. I wonder if there is a downside to doing this. Since it is shredded, will it mat the grass easier or since it is shredded, will it erode away faster. Any thoughts?
For one part of my yard, it was on a hill, so I used multiple straw erosion mats which were quite expensive, but the grass looks fantastic now so it was well worth it. I noticed the straw attached to this mat was shredded. It made me think, what if I get some bales of straw, run over it with the lawnmower to shred it, my bagger would contain it and spread it the shredded straw over the new seed. I did this last night and it worked out very well. I used less straw, it went down so much faster and really covered the area nicely. It also looks like it will absorb the water very well being shredded. I wonder if there is a downside to doing this. Since it is shredded, will it mat the grass easier or since it is shredded, will it erode away faster. Any thoughts?