A healthy lawn is the centerpiece of your landscaping and does a lot more than increase the value and beauty of your home. Your lawn helps clean the air and encourages cooler temperatures around the house.
Although there are many who enjoy the benefits of instant grass (sod), planting will also yield a lush and healthy lawn. Here are a few tips to help you get started, but we are always available to offer help and advice if you’d like to personally talk to one of our experienced gardeners:
- Area: The seed package will identify how many square feet a pound will cover. To determine square feet, multiply the length by the width. For triangular areas, multiply the base times the height and divide by two. For circular areas use the radius and times by 3.14. If the area you want to plant is irregular, break it down into rectangles, triangles, and circles and add them all together to get square feet. One pound will typically cover 300 square feet.
- Preparation: Make sure you have 6-8″ of well-drained, fertile soil for healthy root growth. You may need to add topsoil. If so, till 2″ into the existing soil, rake away rocks and other debris, then cover with the remaining soil. You will need to apply an All-Purpose fertilizer by raking it into the soil. Once you’ve shaped where the grass will grow, roll the area with a half-full roller until the seed bed is firm and smooth. Your final preparation for seed is to gently rake the surface to create small furrows for the seed to lodge into.
- Sowing: Using a spreader, spread half of the seed evenly over the entire seed-bed, walking in one direction. Spread the second half, walking at a right angle to your first sowing. (Don’t attempt to do this in the wind.)
- Covering: Your grass seed will germinate best if lightly covered with a top dressing of peat moss—1/8″ to 1/4″, but no more. Roll the seed and peat moss with an empty roller to ensure that the seed is in contact with moist soil to germinate evenly.
- Water: It’s important to keep the top layer of soil moist until the new grass is well established. If it’s cool and not windy you might get away with once a day, but as the temperatures rise, or if there is a light wind, you might need four to five light waterings a day. Spray a light misting for the first two weeks, coarser nozzles can be used after that. Don’t allow the seed-bed to dry out during the first few weeks.
Follow these five steps and it won’t be long before you’re beautiful new lawn is growing strong and healthy. If you have any questions, or need help picking the right seed or fertilizer, stop by Western Gardens and one of our gardeners will answer all your questions.
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