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If you want to have a fresh and full lawn for the upcoming spring, then you will need to start preparing for it now.
How To: Seeding a New Lawn
There are several steps that are essential to seeding a new lawn that you will need to start doing as soon as possible for the best results.
1. Remove The Current Lawn
Before you can start seeding a new lawn, you first need to remove the old one that you currently have in your garden.
If you have a small garden, then you can do this manually using a sod cutter or a flat-blade shovel. If you have a large lawn space, then we would recommend renting a walk-behind gas-powered sod cutter as it will save you time and effort.
These can be hired for around $75 per day.
2. Test Your Soil
In order for your grass seeds to grow strong and full, you need to start from the bottom – literally. The soil that you are using needs to have a good pH balance to encourage the best growth of your grass.
Grass grows best in soils that have a neutral pH balance, which will be between 6.0 and 7.5.
You can test the pH balance of your soil using a DIY soil testing kit that can be purchased from most garden centers. These should be quite easy for you to use and will require you to mix some soil with water in the tester kit.
If your soil is too acidic, which will show a pH balance of below 6.0, then you can add some pulverized lime to raise the pH balance. If your soil is too alkaline, which will be over 7.5, you can balance it by mixing peat moss into it.
Sulfur should be added if your soil has a pH balance of over 8.0.
3. Clear The Lawn
To ensure that the grass seeds will have a level ground to grow on, you need to take some time to remove any rocks and turf from the space. This can be done using a pointed shovel to dig out anything that is visible on the surface.
You should also take some time to level out any high spots and fill in all depressions with topsoil.
Before you can start to plant the grass seeds, the land needs to be level. This can be done using a garden rake.
You can leave behind any small stones and pebbles, but there should be no big rocks or any other intrusive debris.
4. Cover The Lawn
To cover the planting area, you should spread around an inch of sand over the soil and mix it in, This can be done using a rotary tiller.
After the sand has been mixed in, spread around an inch of compost on the planting area. Make sure that everything, the sand, topsoil, and compost, is mixed in well together.
5. Prepare The Soil
Using your pH balance readings that you took earlier, you will need to amend the soil to ensure that it has a neutral balance. You can use a broadcast spreader if you need to add lime or sulfur, whereas peat moss should be spread manually using a shovel.
Before planting the grass seeds, you should use a broadcast spreader to apply fertilizer to the entire area.
It is important that you make sure the fertilizer you are using is suitable for spreading in this manner and that you have the correct levels. Once the fertilizer has been applied, use a rake to push it deep into the soil so it will be more effective.
6. Spread Grass Seeds
Now it is time to start planting the grass seeds that you have chosen. You should make sure to buy grass seeds that are recommended for your location to ensure that they will grow well in your garden.
To make sure the grass seeds are being spread widely yet evenly, you should use a handheld broadcast spreader. If you have a larger garden, you will benefit from hiring a push-behind broadcast spreader instead.
Once the grass seeds have been spread over your lawn, use a large plastic leaf rake to work them into the soil.
Make sure that you turn the rake upside down and use the back of the rake when doing this to prevent redistributing evenly spread grass seeds.
7. Water The Lawn
As soon as you have finished planting the grass seeds, you will need to water the area. This can be done using an oscillating or adjustable fan-spray sprinkler.
The size of your garden will determine how much water your garden needs and how many cycles of the sprinkler are required.
After you have turned the sprinklers on, allow it to water the lawn for a couple of minutes and then check that it is covering all areas. You need to make sure that all of your lawn is being watered as this will affect the growth of your grass.
Grass seeds need constant and regular watering to make sure they grow strong and well. This means that for the first ten days after planting your grass seeds, you will need to water the area three times per day.
