How to grow good lawn grass?

April 28, 2018 4:51 PM

I live in a townhouse complex. The roof and gutters were replaced last year. It took forever, and the building materials were staged on the grassy common area / courtyard, and all of the grass died. The area was reseeded about 8 weeks ago and grass has grown back. However, it's sparse in places, and I can just see the grass being killed off by the kids this summer. What can I do to prevent this?

The property manager is responsive, but has limited time and resources to nurture the grass. I don't mind spending some time and effort, and a little bit of money, taking care of it.

I live in the PNW and it's been sunny and warm for the past ten days, with rain this weekend. The regrown grass receives direct sunlight for about 12 hours a day or more.

Basically I'd like to figure out some way to protect the existing grass, as well as the soil underneath. The dry season here starts basically at the end of May, and I'm afraid the dirt will turn to dust as children play on it, killing the grass. Or, if it rains, it will turn to mud.

Is there any way to prevent this? The only thing I can think of is to a) continue to water the grass in hopes that more grass seed with sprout.

Or, will sprinkling some dry sand over the dirt help bolster/strengthen the soil in some way?

Any suggestions would be welcome

posted by JamesBay to Home & Garden (9 answers total)

My experience is NorthEast Coast climate, but re-seed the sparse patches, and maybe add some straw for protection. I have had decent luck seeding my tiny lawn in fall so that the grass comes up as soon as the weather is warm. If the property manager will give you a big bag of grass seed, you can seed as needed. Or some lawn patch, which is seed mixed with mulch (ground newspaper, usually). Make sure the seed is a sturdy variety.
posted by theora55 at 5:52 PM on April 28, 2018 [1 favorite]

Can the area be blocked off to keep the children off until it is hardier?

Alternatively, can you stand next to it and shake your fist at anyone who dares walk on it?
posted by hydra77 at 6:50 PM on April 28, 2018 [2 favorites]

If you can put some sort of temporary fencing around the sparse areas to keep the kids off, that would help too. At least until the grass is a little fuller and more mature. (My experience is from the Midwest, but baby grass is baby grass no matter where it is.)
posted by DrGail at 6:50 PM on April 28, 2018 [2 favorites]

A perimeter of wooden stakes connected by orange survey tape will at least tell people to please not walk there. Make it high enough to not be easily stepped over, but low enough that kids won't just run under it.
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 7:17 PM on April 28, 2018

Response by poster: Hi all, thanks for your replies. At the moment the area is indeed fenced off, but at some point -- say, around June when school is out -- we're going to want the kids to actually use it.

So I'm trying to figure out how to get more grass there by then, or protect the bare patches of earth.

The area is basically covered with grass, but some areas are really sparse.
posted by JamesBay at 8:31 PM on April 28, 2018

Lightly fertilize what little bit is up with something gentle, like Miracle Grow, then wait a few days and reseed. Keep the water on it. A little mulch in the sparse areas helps. Go over the mulch at the first mowing and chop it up. Do another fertilizing about the beginning of June with lawn fertilizer. You should get a pretty good stand of grass by June.
posted by BlueHorse at 8:55 PM on April 28, 2018 [1 favorite]

My experience is in the US southeast, but in general:

- seed with annual rye now to get it to something to green up quick

- be ready in fall to do a lot of work

- in fall: rake, aerate, gypsum, lime, water, seed with FESCUE, fertilize, and then water a little bit every day (evening is best) to get the grass to take

- take care of it over the winter: rake leaves, start watering if dry for a week, pluck weeds by hand

By spring you'll have a decent carpet of grass. Then the only thing you have to do, besides mowing it, is spend FIVE MINUTES A WEEK pulling weeds out by hand. Yes, only five minutes, but no cheating with poison. Just do it.

Keep this up for a couple more years (especially the fall work and fescue overseeding) and you'll have a gorgeous lawn. Ask me how I know.
posted by intermod at 9:10 PM on April 28, 2018 [9 favorites]

Just to reiterate what intermod said, overseed with annual rye now (look for something like "quick lawn") for fast germination/establishment and then overseed everything with a perennial mix in the fall.
posted by drlith at 5:39 AM on April 29, 2018

When the grass you're going to plant is germinating, its roots are tiny and dry out very easily. Water it every day unless it is raining until it is established.
posted by sciencegeek at 9:48 AM on April 29, 2018