Check out that green grass! My husband has mastered the technique for planting a thick, luscious lawn that eliminates the expense of purchasing sod.
As I mentioned last week, when we moved into our home, half the yard was covered in lava rock and the other half of the yard was mowed weeds. Getting grass for the kids to play on was a high priority on our list. My husband had planted a lawn in a previous home with great success and felt confident that he could do it again in this home.
The first step in the process took place in early spring when all of the weeds that were beginning to sprout got sprayed with weed killer. He then used the rototiller to to break up the top level of soil and loosen the weed roots. This is much easier to do if the ground is moist. He then raked up the ground and got all of the dead weed remains into piles and removed them from the yard. He used his rake to eyeball a level ground.
Grass planting time. Lots and lots of steer manure was used in this process. We bought the bags of "poop" :) at our local home improvement store for less than $1 per bag. We spread a thin layer of manure all over the yard, about one bag per square yard and raked it to mix it in with the top 1 inch of soil. The manure was topped with our seed. Seed was spread with a broadcast spreader. On top of the seed we again spread a layer of manure... yep, more poop in our yard. We spread the manure again at about a rate of one bag per square yard.
With the big work done, it was time to water and wait. It is important to never allow the ground to dry out. Water, water, water! It can take a couple weeks for the grass to sprout and about a month for it to thicken up.
While, planting a lawn from seed is not a project of instant gratification, it is gratifying to eventually see the beautiful results. This method also costs only a fraction of what we would pay for sod.
