Lawn Genie

is there a secret to get grass started? I have seeded and covered it with hay, water and no luck. Is there a secret?

The seed has to be warm to germinate. Give it a bit more time

Temperature above 55. Must not go dry for 14 days....well...actually a month. It takes most grasses 10 to 14 days to germinate. Once they germinate you enter a critical 2 or three week period, that is, it's the only time in the life of grass that you can kill it. If it goes completely dry within a couple weeks of germination (sprouting) it can DIE. After that 2 or 3 weeks if it goes dry it just goes dormant.

Thanks Freddy for the info it has only been 3 weeks. Thanks

You can rake it in too deep. 1/2 is too deep, shoot for 1/8 - 1/4".

I rent a slice seeder in fall, use three blend fescue from jd-lesco. It takes about 21 days to come in. Fine Fescue is good for Northern climates, good disease and pest resistance, drought tolerance, slow growing = less mowing. It likes a 4" cutting height.
Criss -Cross pattern on the slice seeding creates a nice carpet. I time it with a string of rainy days so it comes in nice.

I fertilize twice in the fall with a 19-19-19 6-8 weeks apart.

Putting down the bayer merit in late april to control grubs.

Dont use hay use straw, hay has seeds that you dont want.

You can also buy fiber mulch and soak it with seed in a drum for a few days it will speed up the process then pump it out.
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