Lawn redo - finishing up
Another unseasonably hot weekend here (I've given up on us having Fall, I just don't think it is in the cards)! I finished redoing the front lawn and am in the process of watering, watering, watering and keeping my fingers crossed.
Saturday morning I went to the Home Depot to buy grass seed and was overwhelmed with the choices. I knew I wanted fescue but good grief, they had red fescue, creeping fescue, tall fescue, as well as blends for shade, semi-shade, you name it. I was fairly certain I wanted tall fescue but seeing the red fescue threw me for a loop since I was not familiar with it. I trotted over to the book section and looked it up in a book on lawns and when I read that it preferred cool summers in higher altitudes I knew it wasn't what I wanted. Why are they even selling that here anyway???
The sunny/shade option presented another dilemma. The area I'm doing is mostly shady but one section of gets more sun than the other. I ended up selecting a bag of each and mixing them.
Back at home, I tilled in more compost, spread pelleted limestone by hand, then used my drop spreader to distribute the fertilizer and seed. I topped it off with a thin layer of pine straw and started watering. According to directions on the Scott's bag, I'm supposed to apply their Turf Builder product in about four weeks. That is, assuming that I have grass by then.
Saturday morning I went to the Home Depot to buy grass seed and was overwhelmed with the choices. I knew I wanted fescue but good grief, they had red fescue, creeping fescue, tall fescue, as well as blends for shade, semi-shade, you name it. I was fairly certain I wanted tall fescue but seeing the red fescue threw me for a loop since I was not familiar with it. I trotted over to the book section and looked it up in a book on lawns and when I read that it preferred cool summers in higher altitudes I knew it wasn't what I wanted. Why are they even selling that here anyway???
The sunny/shade option presented another dilemma. The area I'm doing is mostly shady but one section of gets more sun than the other. I ended up selecting a bag of each and mixing them.
Back at home, I tilled in more compost, spread pelleted limestone by hand, then used my drop spreader to distribute the fertilizer and seed. I topped it off with a thin layer of pine straw and started watering. According to directions on the Scott's bag, I'm supposed to apply their Turf Builder product in about four weeks. That is, assuming that I have grass by then.
Comments
I hope the tall fescue works out for you - you've sure done your best. Our nurseries are also filled with things that will not grow here!
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
I've only ever sown patches in my lawn but you're right that the main ingredient when all is said and done is water, water, water! Good luck with it and be sure to keep us updated.
As far as Home Depot and Lowes goes there are somethings I don't buy there because they don't have a clue. Any plants besides annuals I read the label closely because a perennial to them might be zone 7 to 10 and they are selling it in zone 5 or they don't put a zone on the tag at all just call it perennial. One good thing about Lowes and I don't know what Home Depot policy is but Lowes gives 1 year guarantee and they do honor that.
Good luck with the grass, Cliff