Fall is usually the best time to grow grass, after all that is nature. Plants go to seed in the fall and they sprout in the spring.
So you didn’t drop grass seed on the bare spots in your yard last fall? Now is the time to get that seed on the ground once the air gets to be about 60 degrees.
Here are my favorite solutions to growing a strong healthy lawn.
Our area is mostly clay which does not hold much water so grass seed needs a sprinkling every morning until the ground is nice and damp.
With that in mind to use compost whenever I’m seeding to help retain moisture and help breakup the clay. When I’m going ‘all out’ on rebuilding a lawn I have it professionally aerated so the compost can penetrate into the soil better. Do not spare the compost, the more the better and I put that ‘stuff’ on everything! Lawn, flower beds and the garden.
Over a year or two the compost will soften the clay allowing it to absorb more water and retain it longer thus saving water.
Along with the seed I add Milorganite fertilizer, 6-4-0, to provide, among other things, Phosphorous, which has been restricted from almost all of our lawn fertilizers. Phosphorous strengthens the soil for better root growth which makes for a stronger lawn, not just greener which comes from Nitrogen.
In two years of seed, compost and Milorganite, and a little water to get things going, I have saved some horrible lawns and turned them in real things of beauty.
One last spring lawn trick is to try not to trample all over your lawn very early in the season. The soil is a little loose right now giving the grass room to breathe and access to moisture and nutriments. Traffic, lawn rollers and a soccer game will only tighten the soil slowing the ‘startup’ of your lawn.