Seeding Solutions for Troubled Lawns : Landscaping : Home & Garden Television

"I'm a little embarrassed to admit it, but my lawn doesn't look so hot right now," says master gardener Paul James. "In fact, in some places, it looks downright awful because there's virtually no grass growing."

There has been a recent drought in his region, as well as excessive heat and humidity. But the main culprit behind his distressed grass has been a lot of truck, tractor and trailer traffic. "Sometimes you have to tear up the lawn in the process of improving the overall landscape. And because I've had so many projects going on around here recently--like new fences, new beds and all kinds of rock projects--I had no choice but to allow the contractors to drive their heavy equipment all over the lawn."

To remedy the situation, James aerated, re-seeded, fertilized and watered the grass routinely to keep the soil moist. Ten days later, he begins to see the fruits of his labors in the form of germination.

To ensure even seed coverage, James used a broadcast spreader. Working in a grid pattern by walking north to south, then east to west, he sowed a seed blend consisting of tall fescue and creeping red fescue, at a rate of about 8 pounds per 1,000 square feet.

Figure A

Despite his best efforts, though, he noticed some areas where the seed coverage isn't even; there are a few bare spots too. That's inevitable, especially where the lawn meets paved areas such as driveways, sidewalks (figure A) or along garden borders. Sometimes, you just happen to miss a spot. Often, hungry birds snack on the newly sown seeds, which is why some seeds are available with a special coating that makes them less tasty to birds. Bare spots may also appear as the result of mole and gopher damage, which is a problem James battles in his lawn all the time.

To deal with these situations, James recommends doing a bit of fine-tuning. "As soon as the seed germinates, I wander around the lawn and identify problem spots," he says. "And since my lawn is so large and my memory so short, I mark those spots with a flag." Once he has identified the problem areas, he corrects them by sowing more seed.

Because bare spots and other problem areas are inevitable, James strongly suggests that you buy more seed than you think you'll actually need. For example, he determined that 500 pounds of seed was necessary to cover his yard, so he purchased an extra 100 pounds to troubleshoot the problem areas.

For large areas, or where coverage is thin for whatever reason, James suggests using a broadcast spreader to distribute the seed as evenly as possible. Apply the seed in the same grid pattern as mentioned earlier. Then spread a thin layer of good-quality topsoil, about 1/8 inch thick, over the area with a shovel. This step ensures good seed-to-soil contact, which will enable the seeds to germinate faster than if they were simply spread on top of bare soil. Covering the seeds also minimizes potential losses to hungry birds.

Figure B

Figure C

Figure D

For smaller bare spots in open areas, such as spots damaged by gophers, rake the soil surface gently to create small crevices for the seeds. Scatter the seeds by hand (figure B). James recommends using two hands in a criss-cross motion horizontally over the planting space for more even coverage (figure C).

Once the seeds have all been dispersed, either cover them with a light layer of topsoil, or rake the soil surface again gently. Then tamp the soil down lightly. In areas where even coverage is especially tricky such as along curbs, driveways, sidewalks or garden borders (figure D), it's nearly impossible to sow seeds with a broadcast spreader without spreading and wasting a large portion of the seed onto the paved surface, or worse yet, directly into a garden bed.

James recommends paying careful attention to how far the seed is thrown. Leave a narrow seed-free strip adjacent to beds and paved areas. Once the seed germinates, you can easily identify your seed-free strip. Then fill in the bare spots by hand and cover the seed with a light layer of topsoil or use a rake and tamp down. Within a week, the newly sown seeds should catch up with the previously sown seeds.

Figure E

In no time at all, your lawn will look great, assuming you take care of its needs along the way. Water the lawn regularly to keep the soil moist but never soggy until the first mowing. Fertilize (figure E) the lawn with a slow-release, low-nitrogen product. Keep the yard free of leaves, which can mat down the young grass blades and restrict their growth. Most importantly, mow when the grass reaches three to four inches tall, but remove no more than 1/2 inch with each mowing. Waiting until it's six inches tall before mowing and then cutting it back to two or three inches places tremendous stress on the grass from which it may not recover.

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