This is for all the over dummies like me out there....

I searched all over about how to do this, and got tons of long, involved procedures, with strict quantities, testing soil, etc etc etc. Is it shade, sun, north, south facing, etc....?

I wasted days trying to figure it out. Took practically no time and effort, and within 2 weeks the new grass is thin and dark green, looks like it's been there forever.

You experts will laugh at this, but the first time it's always a guessing game whether to read the packages or who to listen to....

For the other dummies, this is what worked for me...

1. Get some of that sun & shade grass seed that is coated with something to help retain moisture. Also birds don't seem to eat the coated type.

2. Get some plain old garden soil containing mulch. Don't need fertilizer, additives or anything fancy for this.

3. If you don't know what the soil needs, just get some general purpose fertilizer 10-10-10. If the yard is not dark green, use high nitrogen like 24, with some sulfur and iron.

4. Rake up the dead grass and thatch in the bare spots and dump it.

5. Sprinkle the seed so that the seeds are about 1/4- to 3/4-inch apart. Just guess, it's not that important.some.

6. Sprinkle the garden soil over the seed by hand if you just a few spots. Just enough to cover the seeds. I used 4 cu ft and save a bunch of money by just covering the seed and not the whole yards.

7. Water it until soaked, but not enough to run off. Use fine spray to keep from splashing the seed around.

8. Water it several times a day to keep the top damp. Don't need to soak it again. For me in So Calif I had to water 2-3 times a day at first due to dry windy days. Don't let it dry out if you can help it. But if does, just go back to watering and it will be fine.

9. 3-5 days later, grass started to poke up. After a week it was an inch. 3 inches after 10 days and started to fill in between the blades. After 2 weeks it looked great.

On Thu, 13 Jul 2017 19:19:06 -0700, "Newgene McMensa"
wrote:

This is for all the over dummies like me out there....

I searched all over about how to do this, and got tons of long, involved procedures, with strict quantities, testing soil, etc etc etc. Is it shade, sun, north, south facing, etc....?

I wasted days trying to figure it out. Took practically no time and effort, and within 2 weeks the new grass is thin and dark green, looks like it's been there forever.

You experts will laugh at this, but the first time it's always a guessing game whether to read the packages or who to listen to....

For the other dummies, this is what worked for me...

1. Get some of that sun & shade grass seed that is coated with something to help retain moisture. Also birds don't seem to eat the coated type.

2. Get some plain old garden soil containing mulch. Don't need fertilizer, additives or anything fancy for this.

3. If you don't know what the soil needs, just get some general purpose fertilizer 10-10-10. If the yard is not dark green, use high nitrogen like 24, with some sulfur and iron.

4. Rake up the dead grass and thatch in the bare spots and dump it.

5. Sprinkle the seed so that the seeds are about 1/4- to 3/4-inch apart. Just guess, it's not that important.some.

6. Sprinkle the garden soil over the seed by hand if you just a few spots. Just enough to cover the seeds. I used 4 cu ft and save a bunch of money by just covering the seed and not the whole yards.

7. Water it until soaked, but not enough to run off. Use fine spray to keep from splashing the seed around.

8. Water it several times a day to keep the top damp. Don't need to soak it again. For me in So Calif I had to water 2-3 times a day at first due to dry windy days. Don't let it dry out if you can help it. But if does, just go back to watering and it will be fine.

9. 3-5 days later, grass started to poke up. After a week it was an inch. 3 inches after 10 days and started to fill in between the blades. After 2 weeks it looked great.




What about the other kind of grass ..
how about a post to grow-your-own - marijuana -
all of Canada will be freely growing it next year !
John T.

On Thursday, July 13, 2017 at 10:20:56 PM UTC-4, Newgene McMensa wrote:
5. Sprinkle the seed so that the seeds are about 1/4- to 3/4-inch apart.

For bare spots I just grab seed by the handful and toss down. Most seeds are touching each other or at least very close. Only water too. No fancy fert.

Newgene McMensa wrote:
This is for all the over dummies like me out there....

....

if you are concerned enough about bare spots then
you should also be concerned enough to match the
existing grasses.

that means knowing what you have planted and/or
letting some of the existing grasses to go to seed
and harvesting them.

buying random seed at the hardware you could end
up with a pretty rotten looking result.

in our case, we don't care what the grassy spots
look like, so if there is a bare spot we just keep
mowing with the mulching mower until it fills in.


songbird

On 07/14/2017 01:52 PM, songbird wrote:
buying random seed at the hardware you could end
up with a pretty rotten looking result.

As long as the result is green... My lawn is a textbook model of
diversity including species that are not grasses in any way shape or form.

On 7/14/17 9:34 PM, rbowman wrote:
On 07/14/2017 01:52 PM, songbird wrote:
buying random seed at the hardware you could end
up with a pretty rotten looking result.

As long as the result is green... My lawn is a textbook model of
diversity including species that are not grasses in any way shape or form.

Same here. Whatever grows is fine unless the name includes the
words puncture or thistle.

On Fri, 14 Jul 2017 21:47:30 -0500, Dean Hoffman wrote:

Whatever grows is fine unless the name includes

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heracleum_mantegazzianum

I.m not sure where you are, but this plant seems to be sprouting all over
the place.

On 07/14/2017 08:47 PM, Dean Hoffman wrote:


Same here. Whatever grows is fine unless the name includes the
words puncture or thistle.

Puncture as in goat-head thorns? I was first exposed to that crap in
Utah. I wound up cutting bicycle tire patches in quarters to try to hold
enough air to make it back a mile of so to my truck.

I'm not in love with thistles but at least they're pretty and don't turn
into caltrops.

On 07/14/2017 10:33 PM, Mike_Duffy wrote:
On Fri, 14 Jul 2017 21:47:30 -0500, Dean Hoffman wrote:

Whatever grows is fine unless the name includes

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heracleum_mantegazzianum

I.m not sure where you are, but this plant seems to be sprouting all over
the place.


Thanks the Gods it doesn't favor semi-arid climates. A pox on all
gardeners who drag ornamentals home with them. Yeah, I'm looking at you
buddy, whoever thought Japanese knotweed, Oriental bittersweet, and
tamarisk were a good idea.

"songbird" wrote in message news
Newgene McMensa wrote:
This is for all the over dummies like me out there....

...

if you are concerned enough about bare spots then
you should also be concerned enough to match the
existing grasses.

that means knowing what you have planted and/or
letting some of the existing grasses to go to seed
and harvesting them.

buying random seed at the hardware you could end
up with a pretty rotten looking result.

in our case, we don't care what the grassy spots
look like, so if there is a bare spot we just keep
mowing with the mulching mower until it fills in.

For my yard, it can be poison oak - as long as it's green.

"Dean Hoffman" wrote in message news
On 7/14/17 9:34 PM, rbowman wrote:
On 07/14/2017 01:52 PM, songbird wrote:
buying random seed at the hardware you could end
up with a pretty rotten looking result.

As long as the result is green... My lawn is a textbook model of
diversity including species that are not grasses in any way shape or form.

Same here. Whatever grows is fine unless the name includes the
words puncture or thistle.

My yard has some kind of spurge vine. Never noticed it before (it's green). Now it stands out with the new grass and easy to pull out. Amazing that the simple throw and water method now looks better than the neighbors on either side, both of whom put down sod last year. Poor sods. Nyuk nyuk nyuk....

rbowman wrote:
On 07/14/2017 01:52 PM, songbird wrote:
....important context removed?...
buying random seed at the hardware you could end
up with a pretty rotten looking result.

As long as the result is green... My lawn is a textbook model of
diversity including species that are not grasses in any way shape or form.

why would you edit out my previous words when
they are important to the context of the remark?

i'd previously said that "if you cared about
the looks..." which is pretty clear that my
comment doesn't much apply to you.

doesn't apply to us either. the rabbits do
most of the weeding for us when it comes down
to the grassy areas (very little left that isn't
gardens).

plenty of mints, worts, clovers, thymes,
daisies, plantains, dandelions, chickory,
yarrows, etc.

we also never bother with fertilizer just keep
mowing with the mulching mower - 20yrs it's done
just fine.


songbird

On Saturday, July 15, 2017 at 7:12:46 AM UTC-4, songbird wrote:
rbowman wrote:
On 07/14/2017 01:52 PM, songbird wrote:
...important context removed?...
buying random seed at the hardware you could end
up with a pretty rotten looking result.

As long as the result is green... My lawn is a textbook model of
diversity including species that are not grasses in any way shape or form.

why would you edit out my previous words when
they are important to the context of the remark?

i'd previously said that "if you cared about
the looks..." which is pretty clear that my
comment doesn't much apply to you.


Even if they care about the looks, unless they are real lawn
fanatics and know what specific grass was originally planted,
expecting the typical homeowner to be able to match the grass,
buy the correct one to match, when fixing a spot is asking a lot.
Even among the same species of grass, there can be a big
difference in appearance and typical homeowner isn't going
to be able to determine much of anything, unless they already know.
It would be a good idea to keep a note of what was used, if you even
know, but IDK anyone that does that. And most of the seed sold is
a mix of varieties anyway, further complicating what you can do.

trader_4 wrote:
....
Even if they care about the looks, unless they are real lawn
fanatics and know what specific grass was originally planted,
expecting the typical homeowner to be able to match the grass,
buy the correct one to match, when fixing a spot is asking a lot.
Even among the same species of grass, there can be a big
difference in appearance and typical homeowner isn't going
to be able to determine much of anything, unless they already know.
It would be a good idea to keep a note of what was used, if you even
know, but IDK anyone that does that. And most of the seed sold is
a mix of varieties anyway, further complicating what you can do.

*nods*

just keep mowing it regularly and prevent any
stray weeds from moving into the bare spots and
they'll fill in from the surrounding grasses
eventually. if you want to speed it up you
can rough it up a little and add organic matter
which will make it easier for plant roots/stolons
to invade or seeds to start.

we just mow whatever grows once in a while.
don't care much what it is. if it can't survive
being mowed regularly then that's ok too...

i think we're down to about 2% of the area being
lawn now. would like to get rid of the rest of
it too.


songbird

On 7/14/17 11:52 PM, rbowman wrote:
On 07/14/2017 08:47 PM, Dean Hoffman wrote:


Same here. Whatever grows is fine unless the name includes the
words puncture or thistle.

Puncture as in goat-head thorns? I was first exposed to that crap in
Utah. I wound up cutting bicycle tire patches in quarters to try to hold
enough air to make it back a mile of so to my truck.

I'm not in love with thistles but at least they're pretty and don't turn
into caltrops.

Yeah, this stuff:
http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn74128.html

Another article says this:
Chemicals. A mixture of one pound of sodium chlorate in four
gallons of water or the same amount of ammonium sulfamate used as a
drenching spray will kill puncture vine plants, but will not kill the
seed. If such a spray is to be used, the application should be made when
the first plants are in bloom.
Plants with mature burs and viable seed may be sprayed with 1 to 1Yz
gallons per square rod of Diesel oil, any light fuel or crude oil, waste
cylinder oil, or crank case drainings that can be sprayed satisfactorily
as a mist. Such oils will kill both plants and seeds of puncture vine

replying to Newgene McMensa, Iggy wrote:
Yep, you grew grass seed. That ain't anything complicated nor difficult, I do
it without the soil top-dressing. But, it doesn't do anything for weeds that
either dropped years and years of seeds or that have deep and vast root
structures to always return until the root is removed or killed. Your entire
accomplishment may be wiped out next season by re-emerging weeds...like it
always is around me.

--
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