New Yard Pics

   / New Yard Pics #1  
D

dooleysm

Platinum Member
Joined
Mar 22, 2005
Messages
926
Location
Southern Indiana
My cousin came up with his power rake and straw blower on Saturday and helped me put in a yard. It's been about 2 years since we finished building and moved into the house, and the wife has been getting on me every day since to put in a yard.

Two weeks ago I borrowed a tractor and disk and disked the yard several times. I had it looking pretty good, to me, on Friday night. Then my cousin showed up with his Bobcat and rake and made the thing look beautiful! It picked out alot of rocks, leveled everything out nicely, and made a nice seed bed.

We spread 450 pounds of Kentucky 31 fescue and blew 37 bales of straw on top. Here are the results:

http://bigd.trachbang.com/shawn/yard/IMG_0168.JPG
http://bigd.trachbang.com/shawn/yard/IMG_0169.JPG
http://bigd.trachbang.com/shawn/yard/IMG_0170.JPG
http://bigd.trachbang.com/shawn/yard/IMG_0171.JPG
http://bigd.trachbang.com/shawn/yard/IMG_0172.JPG
http://bigd.trachbang.com/shawn/yard/IMG_0173.JPG
http://bigd.trachbang.com/shawn/yard/IMG_0174.JPG
 
   / New Yard Pics #2  
That's what I've been working on - except I've not quite got the seed on it yet. Spent the weekend getting the sprinklers in (just have to set the heads this week), and will hydroseed next weekend.

Looks good.
 
   / New Yard Pics #3  
dooleysm said:
My cousin came up with his power rake and straw blower on Saturday and helped me put in a yard. It's been about 2 years since we finished building and moved into the house, and the wife has been getting on me every day since to put in a yard.

Two weeks ago I borrowed a tractor and disk and disked the yard several times. I had it looking pretty good, to me, on Friday night. Then my cousin showed up with his Bobcat and rake and made the thing look beautiful! It picked out alot of rocks, leveled everything out nicely, and made a nice seed bed.

We spread 450 pounds of Kentucky 31 fescue and blew 37 bales of straw on top. Here are the results:

http://bigd.trachbang.com/shawn/yard/IMG_0168.JPG
http://bigd.trachbang.com/shawn/yard/IMG_0169.JPG
http://bigd.trachbang.com/shawn/yard/IMG_0170.JPG
http://bigd.trachbang.com/shawn/yard/IMG_0171.JPG
http://bigd.trachbang.com/shawn/yard/IMG_0172.JPG
http://bigd.trachbang.com/shawn/yard/IMG_0173.JPG
http://bigd.trachbang.com/shawn/yard/IMG_0174.JPG
Click to expand...


FOUR HUNDRED FIFTY POUNDS?????

here we put 25 pounds to the acre!
 
   / New Yard Pics #4  
That's what I was thinkning, 450 lbs. can cover several acres!
 
   / New Yard Pics #5  
Birdhunter1 said:
That's what I was thinkning, 450 lbs. can cover several acres!
Click to expand...

The amount per acre depends on the particular grass seed being used. I use a Fescue Plus mix that is applied at 8#/1,000 sf. That is about 350# per acre. I question my supplier the first time, but after I got poor results speading it thin I spread it as specified. The Fescue Plus seed is a larger seed and looks like way too much when applied at the right rate.
 
   / New Yard Pics
  • Thread Starter
#6  
I had originally bought 150 pounds and my cousin said we'd need more. He regularly puts in lawns, so I trust his judgement. I think the area we did was about an acre. I had another bag of fescue mix and that seed was noticably smaller than the kentucky 31. Half the size per seed, if not smaller.

We had a perfect rain last night, light sprinkle for about 2 hours. My cousin thought we'd have grass coming up by next Monday. I'll try to get some pictures once it's noticable and we can all learn whether I put out way too much seed.
 
   / New Yard Pics #7  
My draw jopped too since I will be seeding about 5 acres here once we get some rain. This spring I used one 45# bag of Kentucky31 fescue for about an acre and it is green now. Not like an instant lawn though, so maybe that's the reason for the high seed rate, hoping the sprouts will be dense enough to look like lawn. More of an instant gratification.

Turns out fescue is a wetland plant. Need to plant perennial ryegrass.

The straw thing still amazes me. We do not use straw in the northwest just seed and maybe a dusting of peat moss to keep the birds away and some moisture in. Do you just wait for the straw to rot? do you have to pick it up? Doesn't the straw contain weed seeds? I have applied straw for erosion control so I know of that benefit.
 
   / New Yard Pics #8  
Highbeam said:
Do you just wait for the straw to rot? do you have to pick it up?
Click to expand...

Its been my experience it is left to rot, isnt picked up, and also provides cover for the seads from birds.
 
   / New Yard Pics
  • Thread Starter
#9  
I read the bag out of curiosity last night. It recommended 11-14 pounds per 1000 sf for a lawn. I don't recall the size of an acre off the top of my head, so I don't know how we compared to the recommended application.

As I understand it, the straw is for erosion control until the grass roots are established to hold the soil. It also helps keep the top layer of soil damp as the seeds are germinating.

5 days in and no signs of new grass.
 
   / New Yard Pics #10  
Morning dooleysm.
Nice looking job...looks like a lot of seat time on the riding mower next year.
 
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