What's a good way for seeding 'bald spots' in a lawn?
Question:Ok, first of all, I live in Phoenix, so it gets really hot and it's not the easiest thing to grow grass in a desert. I have a sprinkler system, so making sure the grass stays watered is not an issue.
The ground is often hard because the sun bakes the earth during the day.
I have a dog, so I need to keep her off any area I seed - putting down some top soil will cause her to dig - that stuff just smells too inviting :-)
I had thought about mixing seed with top soil and putting down a thin layer on the bald spots and then masking the area with a piece of netting to keep the dog off and (hopefully) the birds out.
Does anyone have a miracle cure for a balding lawn in a hot, sunny, climate?
Answers:
Garden stores sell a combination mulch & seed mixture specially designed for patching bare spots in a lawn. The mulch (it's usually green like the spray on commercial stuff) helps hold the water. Have you tried adding peat moss to your soil? It might keep the ground from baking so hard and hold moisture for the grass roots when the sprinkler isn't running. I prefer using it to top soil because the top soil will compact and get hard while peat moss stays loose. You can top dress with peat using a garden spreader and as the layers build up, the grass will root in it.
you should get a small amount of hay, fertilizer, and grass seed. Lay fertilizer and grass seed down. then you can put down a little bit of hay. Sod works too.
keep it watered. And o kkep the dog out, use a wire thing like you use for plants.. and stand a 2 foot layer around the dead spot. .. hope this helps!!
Work up the ground as best you can where you have the bald spots.
Add a layer of topsoil.Generously add grass seed (the kind for hot climates) and distibute evenly.
Pat the seeds down lightly just so they stay in place.Don't bury them.
Keep them watered but don't overdo it.Several light sprinkles a day (morning and evening) should do it.
I'd stake off the area if you can because you don't want the seed growing through the netting as when you remove it you'll pull out the tender grass.
I asked a lawn co. and this is what they told me to do.Worked very well for me.
Good Luck.
First of all, everything depends on the kind of grass you're wanting to plant. If you have a hot weather grass (which I am almost certain you would have in Arizona), you want to plant the same kind of grass you have had luck with. I am hoping it is a grass such as Bermuda grass, which is a hot weather grass that will have runners and will spread quickly with fertilizer and water. If you DO have Bermuda, you can loosen up the soil that is bare with a garden "claw" tool and take a "plug: out of another thick area of the Bermuda and put it in the middle of the bare area and water and fertilize the plug and it will spread quickly to cover the bare spot. You could also apply seed to the spot as long as you have broken the soil up to where the seed have a place to actually be worked into the top layer of the soil so you're not sowing seed onto a hardened area of soil.
This will also be useful with any type of grass with "runners" BUT if you don't have a grass that has "runners" you can still do the breaking up of the bare spots and plant your seed and apply lots of water. With your hot sunny weather, the seed will germinate in the minimum time required and as long as you water, there won't be any problem getting the grass to "come up". You might also be experiencing a problem with perhaps rock underneath the bare areas where the grass isn't growing or where the grass tends to die or brown out with the same amount of water the rest of the lawn has. There isn't a whole lot you can do about these areas as the rock underneath will cause the dirt above it to heat up and dry out much faster than soil without rock underneath. We have a lot of rock and sometimes will have these brown areas, but as long as we keep a little more water on these spots, they will stay green. It just takes more water. Hope this helps!!
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