I just put in a sexy new septic tank & leach bed and need to do some serious seeding. We used the surplus soil to level out irregularities on the surface... so I have much seeding to do. It's all pretty much full sun, and by ISU extension recommendations, looks like there are some good Kentucky Bluegrass cultivars to pick from. We are in S.E. Iowa and under extreme drought conditions. The soil surface is rough and looks like it would be a good time to seed, so that when in rains... the seed will work in and the water would settle the soil around it. Should I: 1) go ahead and put seed out now, 2) wait until there is rain in the forecast, 3) Wait until it actually rains or 4) Other suggestions?
Fall Lawn Seeding
- Thread starter cychhosis
- Start date
Seed it now and find a way to irrigate it a few times a day. If you wait for rains to make it grow you wont have much success. Also straw matting does wonders for keeping it moist and warm, which helps on how much you have to water
Sorry I should have also added and you also mentioned, that the soil will settle. So if you want to speed that process up. You will need to water repeatedly with your hose, as in saturate it. If you pay by the gallon for your water, it will get costly. If you let mother nature do it. It will take a full year.
Careful with the straw, though....unfortunately, the contractor that did our seeding last fall got a little crazy with it, put on so much the grass couldn't break thru it....going to have to re-seed it this fall. Dealt with bare patches and weeds all summer. Sucks to have a brand new house and a lawn that looks like I should have an 80's Camaro up on blocks in the front yard.
With the drought situation, I doubt that my well can keep up irrigation and domestic use. I think I'm gonna wait until I have a favorable forecast, seed it and cover with roll matting from the FSA office. Then irrigate as much as I'm able. There is literally (proper usage) no sub-soil moisture to a depth of at least 5'.
Water water water. Get good seed advice from a reputable place. Cover with something lawn clippings from your own lawn. Use more seed than recommended. Hire it done with a seed drill. Water Water Water. Do it now. (3rd week of August always is best IMO) redid a 30' x 10' patch 3 1/2 weeks ago, it looks beautiful. Hot days and cool nights are coming that is what grass wants. You can fill the settling next year and reseed. Your situation would drive me crazy. But thats just me and my lawn.
I am planning to aerate and overseed my lawn. So sounds like most of you wouldn't wait for the weather to cool off a bit? I have an irrigation system, so watering isn't a problem. I was going to do it this last weekend, but thought I should wait until high temps get back down to around the upper 70's/low 80's.
I assume you have leach bed laterals. I would wait to Spring and level it off and then seed. It's going to settle a lot more than you think, especially once spring rains come. If you seed now you're going to be mowing over a bunch of annoying hills for the rest of your life and live a life of pain and regret.
This is pretty sound advice. We used to have an inground pool that we filled in about 7 years ago. We had it filled in early in the fall and I spent the remainder going over it with my lawn tractor pulling a homemade raking system over it about once a week or so. Looked like total hell for the remainder of the year.
I was going to seed in the spring, but it was one of those crazy warm winters without much moisture, so I decided to bite the bullet and wait for some good rains. Good thing I did. It was crazy how uneven the yard settled over the old pool area. If I had seeded the fall before, it would have been almost worthless as I ended up bringing in a bobcat and another truckoad of dirt to go around and level everything off agan. I
ended up seeding in the fall then. Laid down the seed, threw hay on top of that and watered it every day. until first frost. By spring, it was amazing how good the yard looked. From a distance, it looked like it had always been there.
If you seed in the spring, be prepared to either use a pre-emergent that prevents weeds and allows grass to grow or deal with a TON of weeds.
We are supposed to get some rain his weekend and the weather appears to start cooling down. I'm planning on seeding this coming Sunday.
bluegrass is nice.... but I think a blend would be better. Bluegrass with some fescues and ryegrass will help get some establishment. Unless you are 100% positive that your entire lawn is bluegrass.... get a blend. I blend bluegrass in the shade with some fescue and it really comes in well, but in the sun, the fescue and ryegass are the winners.
Water water water is correct, but it won't do much if its too hot anyway. If you water enough, lightly enough, you can trick it into thinking its cooler, but if you don't keep it up it will burn up.
Water water water is correct, but it won't do much if its too hot anyway. If you water enough, lightly enough, you can trick it into thinking its cooler, but if you don't keep it up it will burn up.
How's everyone's yard looking? I put down a ****-ton of bluegrass and some fertilizer on Sunday. Got that nice rainstorm and a couple days of watering since then, yard is looking really nice. Rain today and then will be several days of 70's. Perfect timing. Now just keeping it wet and waiting for that grass to come in.
