New Construction Seeding

[fried1765]

Agree. Wait for the roots to get more established. The clippings being long shouldn’t hurt anything since theres no build up of years of thatch. Be patient and youll allow those roots to survive the pounding of the mower tires.
I plant fields for hay, almost always in the fall. By the following spring, they are established and the roots are strong. Last year, I planted a field early spring and attempted to mow it late summer. It caused a lot of crown damage to the plants and I ended up with weeds overtaking the lawn.

Late Spring is the absolute WRONG TIME to plant grass seed (unless you have in ground irrigation).
Mid September is the PERFECT time to seed new lawns,...with or without irrigation.

 

[MGH PA]

Late Spring is the absolute WRONG TIME to plant grass seed (unless you have in ground irrigation).
Mid September is the PERFECT time to seed new lawns,...with or without irrigation.

In a perfect world, maybe. With two young boys tracking mud through a brand new house all spring, it was prudent to get something in the ground.

 

[jmyers8]

Man do I feel your pain we are in the same boat. New house and all of may was a rainy mess finally got the lawn in over memorial day weekend and weve had maybe 2 days of rain? Weve been watering an acre just about every day it takes about 3 hours and our water bill shows it. It's coming in but is slow to respond and a little patchy from a heavy rain that I think washed some off we didnt do any ground cover either. Dealing with the mud was to much with our boys and I'm planning on over seeding in the fall

 

[ovrszd]

My Nephew owns/operates a Sod Farm. He said you need 350lbs of seed per acre of space. I was shocked. I said, it's $2 per pound. He said, you want a pasture or a lawn? I used $700 of variety seed and $300 of fertilizer. 10 months later I have a lawn. People ask us if we sodded it?

 

[jmyers8]

Inwas shocked at the price of grass seed I'm prolly a little light I put down about 250 pounds of seed

 

[ovrszd]

Inwas shocked at the price of grass seed I'm prolly a little light I put down about 250 pounds of seed

Rick's comment was if you can put your thumb on the ground and not cover a seed you didn't put on enough.

 

[jmyers8]

That makes sense it was just all around bad timing for me super wet in may then dried enough to prep and the day I planted we had a strong rain that I believe washed patches of seed away. Overall I think its coming in as good as it could be but overseeing in the fall will definently help it alot. Doesnt help the ground is also hard clay so water runoff is a problem I did spread some pete moss and I wish I would of done the whole yard its growing better in those spots

 

[Hay Dude]

Late Spring is the absolute WRONG TIME to plant grass seed (unless you have in ground irrigation).
Mid September is the PERFECT time to seed new lawns,...with or without irrigation.

Yeah,,,,,I know. Sometimes you have to do things they don’t want to do. We always plant in the fall. The property owner had a situation where it had to be planted in the spring or erosion would have been a problem.

 

[Hay Dude]

That makes sense it was just all around bad timing for me super wet in may then dried enough to prep and the day I planted we had a strong rain that I believe washed patches of seed away. Overall I think its coming in as good as it could be but overseeing in the fall will definently help it alot. Doesnt help the ground is also hard clay so water runoff is a problem I did spread some pete moss and I wish I would of done the whole yard its growing better in those spots

Do you have any mushroom soil or compost available in your area? Usually if there’s a mushroom grower within 20 miles, they will deliver it to you for a small cost. I get it free. They can’t get rid of the stuff fast enough. It’s great for adding a layer of organic material to clay. It also contains a lot of lime.
All depends on where you live. Check around for a mushroom grower.

 

[kenmbz]

I had to seed this year so I picked early spring knowing frost might be an issue. I agree Sept is the best, but needs dictate timing.
Once grass is established I let it go to seed before mowing my side yards, this gets any bald spots pathed. I run an aerator over the yard first. I aerate in the fall too.
I used some lime this year, but try to stay away from fertilizer as it makes a mess of the local waterways. Always shake my head when someone complains about the growth in their pond/lake/creek while dropping tons of fertilizer on the lawn like they are going to eat it or something.