Growing grass

Willow
Willow Posts: 10,994
edited August 2007 in The Clubhouse
Not that kind, our new place has some dead grass patches.
We bought some seed and some earth. We have had luck in some areas but others look like crap. Just looking for tips on growing/starting grass seed.
Overall our lawns look much better but it could look that much better due to some of those dead patches.

thanks
Post edited by Willow on
«1

Comments

  • Mike682
    Mike682 Posts: 2,074
    edited August 2007
    To fill in dead spots, rake the dead grass out and plant new seed about 1/4 inch deep in the loose soil. Make sure you keep area moist after

    check out this link: http://www.vigoro.com/BrandNav/HelpfulHints/LawnCareBasics.htm
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  • Willow
    Willow Posts: 10,994
    edited August 2007
    We have done this and this one spot started to grow and then just died. I'm thinking we may have to go out and buy a piece of sod, cut out the dead spot and insert the new sod.
  • Mike682
    Mike682 Posts: 2,074
    edited August 2007
    Willow wrote: »
    We have done this and this one spot started to grow and then just died. I'm thinking we may have to go out and buy a piece of sod, cut out the dead spot and insert the new sod.

    Try mixing some fresh soil with the seed. If that doesn't work then maybe the sod should take.
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  • Demiurge
    Demiurge Posts: 10,874
    edited August 2007
    It's illegal here stateside.
  • Face
    Face Posts: 14,340
    edited August 2007
    Are you using starter fertilizer?
    "He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you." Friedrich Nietzsche
  • Willow
    Willow Posts: 10,994
    edited August 2007
    Face wrote: »
    Are you using starter fertilizer?

    No, should we ?
  • Willow
    Willow Posts: 10,994
    edited August 2007
    Mike682 wrote: »
    Try mixing some fresh soil with the seed. If that doesn't work then maybe the sod should take.

    I will try this, this weekend, I'll put it in a bucket and mix it together. then spread it and water it.
  • m00npie
    m00npie Posts: 697
    edited August 2007
    Scott's bagged top soil – contains starter fertilizer
    Scott's Premium Sun\Shade Grass seed

    I have to patch at least 3 dog pee spots a week in my back yard and this stuff does the trick. Work the seed into the soil as mentioned above and within 4 days I have new grass coming up and stays healthy until the dog pees on it again. If your grass is dying after it comes up, it sounds as if it's not getting enough water.
  • POLKOHOLIC
    POLKOHOLIC Posts: 407
    edited August 2007
    ill tell you but you are gonna have to karma some grass to me...
  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 33,685
    edited August 2007
    Grass needs lots of water no matter what. Germinating grass seed and seedlings need to be kept moist. I think the general recommendation is two light waterings per day. An impulse sprinkler with a spike to stick it in the ground is your ally here -- if you don't have an irrigation system.

    This is a tough time of year to start grass seed... fall's better.

    EDIT: The back yard at Casa Hardy during that two-week period in the spring when it looks good :-)
    In the doldrums of August, it looks like bat barf out there.

    P1020477.jpg
  • PolkThug
    PolkThug Posts: 7,532
    edited August 2007
  • MikeC78
    MikeC78 Posts: 2,315
    edited August 2007
    PolkThug wrote: »
    grub worms maybe?

    I had the same problem. I thought I only needed grass seed until I consulted with my lawn freak of a neighbor.

    Dropped a bag of Scott's Grubex; and viola, patches and spots of dead grass were gone! Started using Scott's fertilizer afterwards, and now I probably have one of the greenest lawns in my subdivision.:)
  • Girl_Addicted
    Girl_Addicted Posts: 195
    edited August 2007
    My only recommendation:

    Don't use chemicals on your lawn. Only the natural stuff.
    Trey (5:22:24 AM): my Taylos have copper phase plugs
    Trey (5:22:26 AM): they shiney
    Destiney (5:22:39 AM): ahaha
    Destiney (5:22:57 AM): that gives wrong pictures of you lovingly caressing your taylos copper phase plugs
    Trey (5:23:25 AM): >_>
    Trey (5:23:27 AM): Mayyybe
    Trey (5:23:31 AM): I do dust them, does this count?
    Destiney (5:23:22 AM): do you linger?
    Trey (5:23:49 AM): not normally
    Destiney (5:23:35 AM): then its okaaaaay
  • MikeC78
    MikeC78 Posts: 2,315
    edited August 2007
    My only recommendation:

    Don't use chemicals on your lawn. Only the natural stuff.

    Really??:confused: You in the lawncare business??
  • m00npie
    m00npie Posts: 697
    edited August 2007
    My only recommendation:
    Don't use chemicals on your lawn. Only the natural stuff.

    I failed this recommendation miserably
  • Willow
    Willow Posts: 10,994
    edited August 2007
    My only recommendation:

    Don't use chemicals on your lawn. Only the natural stuff.

    We don't cause our little dog is outside all the time eating the stuff and we walk around barefoot in the backyard.
  • MikeC78
    MikeC78 Posts: 2,315
    edited August 2007
    My only recommendation:

    Don't use chemicals on your lawn. Only the natural stuff.

    Dog ****?:D :o
  • Girl_Addicted
    Girl_Addicted Posts: 195
    edited August 2007
    MikeC78 wrote: »
    Dog ****?:D :o

    Or cow and compost. Either way. The chemical stuff is bad for the water system and for the Earth. Plus, if you give it to your lawn, it's going to depend on it and you'll end up wasting a lot of money. It's easier to use the natural stuff once.
    Trey (5:22:24 AM): my Taylos have copper phase plugs
    Trey (5:22:26 AM): they shiney
    Destiney (5:22:39 AM): ahaha
    Destiney (5:22:57 AM): that gives wrong pictures of you lovingly caressing your taylos copper phase plugs
    Trey (5:23:25 AM): >_>
    Trey (5:23:27 AM): Mayyybe
    Trey (5:23:31 AM): I do dust them, does this count?
    Destiney (5:23:22 AM): do you linger?
    Trey (5:23:49 AM): not normally
    Destiney (5:23:35 AM): then its okaaaaay
  • Willow
    Willow Posts: 10,994
    edited August 2007
    mhardy6647 wrote: »
    This is a tough time of year to start grass seed... fall's better.P1020477.jpg

    Maybe I'll wait till then. The previous owners had a dog which is what made all the patches. Our dog has never killed grass before. She doesn't pee often in the yard, usually other people's as we take her for 3 walks a day.
  • Demiurge
    Demiurge Posts: 10,874
    edited August 2007
  • jflail2
    jflail2 Posts: 2,868
    edited August 2007
    Wow, great looking yard MHardy!
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  • Girl_Addicted
    Girl_Addicted Posts: 195
    edited August 2007
    MikeC78 wrote: »
    Really??:confused: You in the lawncare business??

    Actually, I've had a lot of experience working in the yard. And I've taken Chemistry and Environmental Science, which gave me enough common sense to know that chemicals are bad for a natural setting.

    Plus, if he were looking for advice from a person in the lawn care business, he would have went to someone who claimed to be in the lawn care business, not the Club Polk forum. ;)
    Trey (5:22:24 AM): my Taylos have copper phase plugs
    Trey (5:22:26 AM): they shiney
    Destiney (5:22:39 AM): ahaha
    Destiney (5:22:57 AM): that gives wrong pictures of you lovingly caressing your taylos copper phase plugs
    Trey (5:23:25 AM): >_>
    Trey (5:23:27 AM): Mayyybe
    Trey (5:23:31 AM): I do dust them, does this count?
    Destiney (5:23:22 AM): do you linger?
    Trey (5:23:49 AM): not normally
    Destiney (5:23:35 AM): then its okaaaaay
  • Demiurge
    Demiurge Posts: 10,874
    edited August 2007
    I have a tree you can hug on.
  • Girl_Addicted
    Girl_Addicted Posts: 195
    edited August 2007
    Demiurge wrote: »
    I have a tree you can hug on.

    Thank you. :D

    I know that was meant to be insulting, but it's not really.
    Trey (5:22:24 AM): my Taylos have copper phase plugs
    Trey (5:22:26 AM): they shiney
    Destiney (5:22:39 AM): ahaha
    Destiney (5:22:57 AM): that gives wrong pictures of you lovingly caressing your taylos copper phase plugs
    Trey (5:23:25 AM): >_>
    Trey (5:23:27 AM): Mayyybe
    Trey (5:23:31 AM): I do dust them, does this count?
    Destiney (5:23:22 AM): do you linger?
    Trey (5:23:49 AM): not normally
    Destiney (5:23:35 AM): then its okaaaaay
  • phuz
    phuz Posts: 2,372
    edited August 2007
    I think Demiurge has a crush.

    Willow, for better info we need to know what kind of grass... temps... symptoms... soil type.. .etc. Pics would help.
  • Girl_Addicted
    Girl_Addicted Posts: 195
    edited August 2007
    I'm really hoping that tree thing wasn't a reference to something else...


    Ewww.
    Trey (5:22:24 AM): my Taylos have copper phase plugs
    Trey (5:22:26 AM): they shiney
    Destiney (5:22:39 AM): ahaha
    Destiney (5:22:57 AM): that gives wrong pictures of you lovingly caressing your taylos copper phase plugs
    Trey (5:23:25 AM): >_>
    Trey (5:23:27 AM): Mayyybe
    Trey (5:23:31 AM): I do dust them, does this count?
    Destiney (5:23:22 AM): do you linger?
    Trey (5:23:49 AM): not normally
    Destiney (5:23:35 AM): then its okaaaaay
  • Demiurge
    Demiurge Posts: 10,874
    edited August 2007
    phuz wrote: »
    I think Demiurge has a crush.

    Willow, for better info we need to know what kind of grass... temps... symptoms... soil type.. .etc. Pics would help.

    How'd you guess? :eek: I prefer the Orange over the Purple, though.
  • Willow
    Willow Posts: 10,994
    edited August 2007
    phuz wrote: »
    I think Demiurge has a crush.

    Willow, for better info we need to know what kind of grass... temps... symptoms... soil type.. .etc. Pics would help.


    Umm the green kind in my backyard? I don't know the kind it was put in by the builder late last fall.
    I'll take a look tonight.
  • phuz
    phuz Posts: 2,372
    edited August 2007
    Search the internet, it should help you identify the type of grass you have. There are tons of different types of grasses for different regions, so knowing what you have is a start. Then you have to learn it's traits and how to care for it.

    Check out this forum:

    http://forums.lawncare.com/forum/index.cfm?forumid=1
  • Willow
    Willow Posts: 10,994
    edited August 2007