On Apr 8, 6:19*pm, Oren wrote:
On Tue, 8 Apr 2008 12:42:52 -0700 (PDT), DerbyDad03





wrote:
A friend who used to own a landscaping business told me about a trick
I might try next year - too late now.

He calls it snow seeding.

I told him about an area under a tree in my back yard that never gets
any sun, so I can never grow grass there.

He said next year, in late February, early March, I should sow some
annual grass seed on top of the snow. He says the seed will stay
dormant in the cold, but as the snow melts it will settle onto the
dirt and have a chance to to germinate before the tree fills with
leaves and blocks the sun. The melting snow will moisten the ground to
help the seed get started.

Since I can expect it to die off by the end of summer due to lack of
sun, I should stick with inexpensive annual seed (landscapers mix, he
called it) and expect to re-snow-seed every year.

Anybody heard of - or better yet, tried - this process?

I've tilled garden material into the ground, covered with dead leaves
in the fall and in the spring I had so many plants I needed the thin
them - even gave plants to neighbors. Plenty of snow that year.
Perhaps try a light till and seed before the first snow.

What type of trees and soil conditions? You might try to cut a few
cores of your lawn and transplant them to the area you want to grow.
Get them started too see how they grow.

Pick a low light condition grass seed for your area, is another
option.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I've heard of it, but never tried it. The basic idea is the seed
gets sown in late winter where freeze thaw cycles help work it into
better contact with the soil. When the soil warms it germinates.
However, as someone else pointed out, I doubt you will get anywhere
near optimum germination, as compared to using a slice seeder. I'd
also wonder what annual grasses there are that are suitable for dense
shade.

But all this is about is a seeding technique, not a real solution to
your problem. Even if you re-seed that area every year, it takes a
couple months for the grass to really establish itself. So, the
amount of time you have anything decent to look at isn't going to be
long. I think a better strategy would be to either thin out the tree
to allow more light in, or else go with alternative plantings under
the tree.