Best Tips For Grass Planting Success

The best time of year to plant new grass is in the fall and late summer when cooler temperatures and higher rainfall offer optimal growing conditions for new plants. Whether you're planning on planting or laying sod, or overseeding, we put together this list of the best tips for grass growing success. Enjoy the fruits of your labour when a mature lawn greets you in the spring.

To start, we think one of the best investments you can make for your lawn and landscape is an inground irrigation system. Read on to learn more.

Seed vs Sod

Often, cost is one of the major considerations when deciding between seed and sod. Sod provides instant lawn you can walk on. Planting new seed needs two to three weeks for it to sprout and you'll have to stay off it even longer until the roots are stronger. If you are planting grass on a slope or in the shade, sod may be a good investment. Seed tends to wash away on slopes and struggles to sprout in the shade. Sod can be staked down on slopes so it takes root precisely where you've placed it.

Overseeding

It's almost always worth it to buy the best seed at the nurseries. Not all grass seed is created equal and nothing is more frustrating that having seed fail through no fault of yours. Do a bit of research into the best type of grass for your yard. Some grasses prefer full sun, some prefer shade and will tolerate high traffic and acidic soils better than others. Cheap grass seed can sometimes have weed seeds mixed in.

  • Kentucky Bluegrass prefers part or full sun and will stand up well to traffic.
  • Perennial Ryegrass prefers part sun and will stand up to traffic well.
  • Tall Fescue will grow well in sun or shade or part sun, and will stand up well to traffic.
  • Red Fescue and Chewing Fescue will thrive in acidic soil and prefer shady locations.
  • Hard Fescue thrives in areas will full sun all day long.

Planting Grass Seed

There are a few steps that should be followed for grass growing success, but these are easy to follow and certainly not very labour intensive. And the more effort you put in up-front, the better your grass will look for years to come.

Rake out the soil so it's even, no lumps, depressions or bumps. You don't want water to pool or puddle on your lawn and mowing will be easier and more uniform if you take this step now.

Follow the instructions that come with the grass seed when it comes to spreading. It goes further than you think it will, and over-crowding the seed doesn't guarantee success because the seeds will compete for limited nutrients and leave gaps for weeds to germinate.

Rake the seed lightly into the very top layer of soil. Grass seed needs good contact with soil to grow well, so mixing the seed with the one quarter inch of soil will do this. Some may take the additional step of rolling.

Water well. Grass seed needs to stay moist to sprout. This is not a deep watering, but a surface wetting up to four times a day depending on the weather. Once sprouts appear you can reduce that by half.

And watering is made easier if you have an inground sprinkler system. If you are about to plant new seed over your whole yard, now is the time to install an inground sprinkler system. With the ability to program water applications at specific times and lengths, an irrigation system with not only remember to water, it will do the work for you.

Create the lawn you'll love to sink your toes into and a garden that blooms all season long with the help of the Nutri-Lawn Burlington Irrigation experts. Take the guess work out of commercial and residential irrigation. Contact us today for your complimentary quote.