Soil Preparation and Planting Grass Seed

| Monday, September 5, 2011
By Sergio Anthony


Soil quality and preparation are very important measures in planting grass seed for a new lawn. Begin by taking off the existing vegetation. Use a non-selective herbicide like gylphosphate (Round-Up) to kill the weeds which are growing. The weeds should not be moisture stressed should they be sprayed because surprisingly, a green, healthy, growing weed will die faster after a herbicide application compared to a dry and stressed weed. Let herbicide dry to the weeds leaves for around twelve hours.

After existing vegetation is taken away, dig within the soil and obtain a feel for the texture of your soil and it's particles. Is it mostly sandy, loamy, or very fine, as well as clay like? Sandy soils drain quickly and get good root growth. Clay soils tend to drain poorly and become compacted. Soils that contain 50-60% sand and smaller particles are fantastic for a lawn. It's less of a challenge to add fine soils to coarse sandy soils than to add large volumes of sand to dense clay soils.

Most soils tend to be easily modified by adding organic matter which include plant parts, shredded bark, compost, horse or cattle manure. To properly add organic matter, do the following:

1. Wet soil and let drain for two days.

2. Roto-till soil as deep as you can.

3. Wet soil again and let drain for two days.

4. Roto-till again.

5. Add organic matter and grass fertilizer on top of tilled soil.

6. Roto-till again as deep as you can.

During this process be sure to continuously pull any new weeds that emerge and grab any big rocks or debris which come up.

Then you need to level the soil the best as you can. The new soil really should settle naturally, otherwise you can quicken this process by adding more water. Then rake the soil so that it has small groves within it. You are now are ready to plant grass seed, but there are various grass seed types and make certain you choose the one that fits your region. Apply 1/2 of grass seed in one direction on the soil employing a spreader. Then put the other 1/2 of your seed in the other direction. Lightly rake the seed in and roll the soil lightly with a roller.

If sod is installed, repeat exactly the same steps previously mentioned and ensure the soil is firm enough that the grass sod isn't going to sink in after it is walked on. After sod is installed, roll it with a roller in two directions and water it twice a day until it roots. When grass sod can no longer be grabbed by grasping it together with your hand, it truly is rooted.




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