Fastest way to beautiful thick grass?

[JimmyWeb]

I'm moving to a nice piece of land soon, (hopefully) and I've noticed some bare spots in the front yard. This is very unacceptable as far as I'm concerned. I refuse to have a shabby looking lawn, any tips on how to grow nice, thick, green grass quickly?

 

[danny57]

First I would plug aeriotate my entire yard with special concentration on the bare spots. Then I would overseed the yard while adding alittle more to the bare spots. Then apply a good application of fertilizer with a high concentration of nitrogen. Apply a covering of straw to the bare spots covering the seed and fertilizer and then water, water, water these spots all summer. By Sept or Oct these spots should have a good stand of grass. In fall apply fertilizer to entire yard and then in Dec or Jan apply a good covering of potassiem. By next spring your yard should look good. There is no rushing mother nature unless you wish to go to the expense of sodding these spots. Another idea for immediate results is to apply a coating of only nitrogen to your yard. If you do, depending on rain recieved, be ready to mow your yard 2 or 3 times per week. Also, depending on weed situation, you might fertilize with a weed and feed type fertilizer.

Its easier to maintain an established yard than to create one.

 

[JimmyWeb]

Wow, that's going to be a lot of work. Thanks for the advice Danny57. I might just see about sodding the bare spots in the front yard, because I want a beautiful lawn immediately. In fact I might just hire someone to do it, then I can just maintenance the yard as needed.:smile:

 

[mystreba]

Beware that in our zone (mid-atlantic) it's too late to plant grass with much chance of success, unless you can water the heck out of it. If you really want to seed, I'd either a) wait until fall, or b) hire a landscape contractor to hydro-see and thatch it (straw or rolled covering). This way you won't have to water as often, and it's a good bet that it'll take.

If the bare spots are small (~2 feet diameter), you might try those newfangled seed mixtures that are guaranteed to grow. The seed comes mixed with fertilizer and, more importantly, a moisture retention material. I've used this with great success. I think I used the Rebel brand. Expensive, but it works even this time of year. Make sure you match the seed type - using a different type of seed will be noticable when the grass grows in.

 

[BlueGrass]

Someone told me that if I put the grass seed in the fridge or freezer that it would trick the seeds into thinking it's winter. I was told to keep the seeds in the fridge or freezer for about 2 weeks then seed my lawn and the grass would grow faster. Is that true?

 

[JimmyWeb]

I checked up on that and the only reason I can find that someone would put grass seeds in the freezer is to store them long term. It's important that if you do this you make sure they are dry before you freeze them.

Someone told me that if I put the grass seed in the fridge or freezer that it would trick the seeds into thinking it's winter. I was told to keep the seeds in the fridge or freezer for about 2 weeks then seed my lawn and the grass would grow faster. Is that true?