When Should I Start My Lawn?
Late summer or fall is the best time for cool-climate-type lawns, the kind most commonly found across the northern parts of the country.
The combination of rain, warm days, and cool nights between August 15 and October 1 speeds germination, and there is little competition then from weeds.
In the South, April or May is a preferred time for sowing or starting Bermuda and other warm climate grasses from sprigs.
If you are planting a zoysia lawn, plugs or sprigs may be set out from early spring to late September.
What Kind of Seed Should I Use?
There are many good seed mixtures available, and a mixture of several kinds of grass is better than one kind.
Common Kentucky bluegrass is the most widely used lawn grass in the United States and is usually combined with hardy, drought-tolerant fescues, bent grasses, and sometimes the so-called nurse grasses which help the permanent grasses get started.
A permanent lawn mixture may contain, for example, at least 50 to 75 % bluegrass of at least 80 to 85 % germination.
The remainder might include a little highland bent and some form of red fescue. Read the label on the package before you buy.
Special mixtures for poor soils and shady places are available. If you are in doubt about what to use in your locality, check with your agricultural experiment station.
Can I Depend on Rain to Water My New Lawn?
Yes and no. It is wise to wait before sowing until after a good rain.
Prepare the soil as outlined previously and then after a long rain has settled the sail and penetrated deep into the ground, loosen the soil surface and sow your seed.
Then sprinkle or roll and sprinkle as outlined, left.
As the moisture in the soil returns to the surface, it will give the seed the moisture it needs for germination, reducing the need for sprinkling yet keeping the soil moist enough for good germination.
Once the grass is established, water deeply once a week. Fall rains may do the trick.
What Should I Do About Weeds Before I Prepare The Soil For My Lawn?
It is a good idea to apply a weedkiller several weeks or more before lawn making gets underway to kill existing broadleaved weeds, whose roots may remain in the soil.
Even after it has been properly prepared, and to kill or retard crabgrass whose heavy growth may make tilling difficult. Living or dead, crabgrass plants may be tilled into the soil.
It is not necessary to remove them. When the lawn is thick and strong next spring, crabgrass seedlings will not have a chance to get started.
You can apply pre-emergence crabgrass killers as a precautionary measure in spring without harming your new grass.
Broadleaved weeds may also be wiped out with selective weedkillers sold at all garden stores. In applying them be sure to follow package directions.
Is There Anything I Can Do at Lawn Making Time to Prevent Insect and Disease Damage in the Future?
A liberal application of one of the lawn insect killers put out by various manufacturers may be applied during the tilling of the soil prior to seeding.
Some will control many underground insects, including grubs which attract moles to the lawn, for many years.
Healthy lawns—the result of careful soil preparation, proper feeding, and care—are less subject to fungus diseases than unhealthy ones.
Several formulations, some for specific diseases, others for the control of several, can be applied when diseases first appear.
The best control, however, is to prepare the soil well before planting, so the grass has a chance to grow strong.
Is It True That Topsoil Is Not Needed To Produce A Good Lawn?
Fine lawns have been built on poor soil that is deeply tilled, limed if needed, and well fertilized.
However, their life depends on following a carefully timed fertilizing and watering program, not always practical in times of drought.
You can improve the texture and moisture- and nutrient-holding capacity of poor soil by tilling in quantities of peat or peat moss before sowing your seed.
They are not too expensive and well worth the effort to apply.
Should I Buy Topsoil?
I’ve been told not to because it contains weed seeds.
If you can afford to put a 3” to 4” inches layer of good topsoil over your existing poor soil, by all means do so. Till it in.
You must also fertilize and bine it if necessary before sowing. A strong stand of grass will not allow weeds to get started next spring.
Less expensive peat moss and peat, as noted previously, will improve poor soils and are weed-free.
Remember, weed seeds are present in all soils, even the poor soil that you improve with peat moss, etc. However, weeds will not get a foothold in a strong, healthy lawn.
What Should I Do About The Places Where Seed washes away?
You can help prevent erosion with the materials noted on left. Heavy rains, however, may puddle seed, leaving some areas bare.
As soon as you discover them, reseed. Don’t wait until spring.
To do this you can walk on a seedling lawn without doing the young grass much harm.
Be careful, though. It’s wise to save an extra pound or two of seed for this purpose.
My neighbor’s lawn is pure crabgrass.
Isn’t It Senseless For Me Even to Attempt to Have a Good Lawn?
A good stand of grass started this fall will not allow crabgrass to germinate on your lawn next spring.
If you don’t want to take a chance, however, a pre-emergence crabgrass killer may be applied in spring without harming your new grass.
Follow with a post-emergence type later to get any crabgrass you might have missed. Be sure to follow package directions to the letter in applying them.
When Should I Start to Fertilize and Lime My Lawn?
If you fertilize when you prepare the soil for seeding, your lawn should not need additional fertilizer until next spring when a light application of slow-acting organic-based lawn fertilizer is in order.
From then on, spring and fall applications are generally enough to maintain a healthy, weed-free lawn.
If your lawn is in poor soil, growing without the benefit of peat-moss or other soil builders, a special fertilizing and watering program must be maintained.
If you limed prior to seeding, it is not necessary to lime again for many years. Lime does not move readily through the soil, and repeated applications on established lawns crust near the soil surface, in many cases do more harm than good.
Get expert advice on future liming. Disregard your neighbor who may like to use lime with a lavish hand.
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