A beautiful and healthy lawn is good for our environment. It can resist damage from weeds, disease and insect pests and reduces the environmental impact from storm water runoff.
Before seeding a new lawn from scratch, here are some tips to prepare your soil for grass seeding:
- Develop healthy soil. Make sure your soil has the right pH balance, key nutrients, and good texture. You can buy easy-to-use soil analysis kits at hardware stores, or your local township or county may be able to provide a soil analysis service.
- Choose the right grass seed type for your climate. If your area gets very little rain, don't plant a type of grass that needs a lot of water. Select grass seed that is well suited to your climate and other growing conditions, such as the amount of sunlight and rain you lawn receives.
- Do the first tilling of your lawn area. Change any areas that may help provide a more level, properly sloped lawn area. An ideal lawn slope allows water to gently run off of the site, usually at a slope of 1-2 foot drop per 100 feet (1-2% slope).
- Apply any organic amendments and/or topsoils to change the soil composition and texture.
- Install any lawn sprinkler systems you wish to have in your lawn. A lawn sprinkler system uses water more efficiently than doing it manually, and can save you money on your water bill.
- Rake the lawn area smooth prior to seeding grass, ideally with the top 1-2 inches of the soil being very fine composition.
You are now ready to seed your lawn. The best time to sow grass seed is during Fall (for cool-season grass types) or early Spring (for warm-season grasses).
- How to seed: Don’t sow grass seed by hand - use a hand-operated or wheel-mounted seeder.
- Calculate the amount of grass seed you will need, according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
- Consider sowing half of the grass seed in one direction, then sow the other half at a 90-degree angle to the first. This will give you a more even coverage and minimize lines.
- Lightly rake the seeded area so that as many of the grass seeds as possible are lightly covered (1/4 inch is an ideal covering for grasses).
- Water once or twice a day until the grass becomes established.
Over-seed your lawn each Fall by spreading additional grass seed on top of the lawn. A thicker lawn helps to crowd out weeds.
