To Seed or Not to Seed??

[DeadlyGnat]

HI Guys,


Just got done spreading and leveling 120 yards of topsoil in my front and side yards with my John Deere 445 (w/ JB Sr. and a landscape rake). I also planted two Autumn Blaze Maple tress. I did all this in the last two days by myself... and I'm ready to curl up somewhere and die from exhaustion, lol. Now, the area is pretty much ready for starter fertilizer, seed and straw.

The problem with deciding to seed now or wait is Earl. I've been watching the weather news the last couple of days and it looks like Hurricane Earl is going to head up the eastern seaboard. Depending on the track the eastern part of CT may get hit, either directly or indirectly. It looks like no matter what, on Friday we are in for some wet and winding conditions.... pretty much a nasty weather day.

I'm worried about the amount of rainfall damaging the freshly laid dirt (rivulets) and the seed/straw being washed away. If that does happen, then I would have to go out and redo the area.. hence destroying the freshly laid fertilizer/seed/straw.

Do you think I should wait until Saturday? I mean.. the dirt is not going anywhere (I hope, lol). Also, after Friday it looks like the temps should be more in the 70-80 range, instead of this 90+ heat we have been having the last few days. Wouldn't it be better to wait till after the storm passes to attack this project??

This is the very first time doing anything like this for me. So, I want to make it go as smoothly as possible.

What would you do?

Wasper

 

[sweettractors]

I would wait and just do the job once. Ken Sweet

 

[MMagis]

I'll second that. More rain will come, with less intensity.

 

[dave1949]

I'll second that. More rain will come, with less intensity.

Ditto.
Actually, Earl could settle your dirt quickly giving you a chance to re-smooth before seeding.
Dave.

 

[Carl_NH]

The rain will settle the dirt and compact it so its dense and hard to rake, so my suggestion would be to seed the area now then after the rain go over with a rake, smooth it out, then seed, and cover with straw.

120yds of dirt sounds like about an acre? 50 Pounds of seed at Lesco is about $65 so put down about half of it then the rest after the storm..

The issue with waiting is the ground will get harder as it dries..

It looks like CT will get the edge of the storm given today's tracking anyway and maybe 1/2" or so of rain.

 

[consaka]

HI Guys,
Do you think I should wait until Saturday? I mean.. the dirt is not going anywhere (I hope, lol). Also, after Friday it looks like the temps should be more in the 70-80 range, instead of this 90+ heat we have been having the last few days. Wouldn't it be better to wait till after the storm passes to attack this project??
What would you do?

Wasper

The weather is always a consideration for outdoor work like this. In this case you have advance warning of some particularly bad weather. It wont hurt to wait and you need a break anyway where on the other hand you could have all your seed just float off and then have to do it over again.

Id wait,

 

[BruceWard]

If the dirt is on a slope it is likely to wash.

One morning I woke up to find my side yard full of dirt that had recently bene spread in my uphill neighbors yard.