Can someone help me with my lawn??

Question

I live in Georgia, when should I plant grass seed? How should I go about doing it? My backyard is pretty bare-lots of trees and lots of shade. What is the best type of grass to plant? I have two large dogs that play pretty rough, is there any type of grass that would be durable? Help!!

Answer 1

The ideal time to seed is in the Fall, when the soil is warm. It can bee seeded pretty much anytime as long as the soil is kept moist. Avoid summer or you'll be watering it numerous times a day. If you seed the lawn, expect it to take about a year for it to make a nice thick lawn sod. Laying sod establishes much more quickly, though it costs more to install.

Northern Georgia is in USDA Hardiness Zone 7 and is in a transitional area (can be too cold in winter for warm season grasses, and can be too hot in summer for cool season grasses), Southern Georgia is in zone 8 and good for warm season grasses (Zoysia, St. Augustine, or Bermudagrass are good choices). If you're in the northern part of Georgia, you should be good with a cool season grass because of the shady conditions. A good blend of several different grasses is usually recommended rather than a single-species.

I live in the Rocky Mountain region and my favorite cool season grass is RTF (Rhizomatous Tall Fescue). It's a dwarf Tall Fescue that has rhizomes like a bluegrass so it spreads and fills in holes. I installed RTF sod at my house and only mow once a month verses once a week for many turf grasses. It does well in full sun or heavy shade, uses 1/3 less water and less fertilizer, and I have a thicker greener lawn than my neighbors and their Fescue/Bluegrass blend lawns. Plus mine has very few weeds compared to theirs. You can check out the RTF website and see if there is a local dealer (of either seed or sod) in your area. Where I live they have a good blend of seed that includes the RTF at Home Depot. The brand is called "Water Saver."
http://www.aboutrtf.com/main.html
http://www.usna.usda.gov/Gardens/faqs/turfgrassfaq2.html

Whatever the method of planting a new lawn: seed, hydro-seed or sod, the soil preparation should be the same. This is also true of all soil types – sandy, clay or somewhere in between, the preparation is the same. GOOD SOIL PREPARATION IS VITAL TO A SUCCESSFUL, HEALTHY LAWN.

1. remove any debris or rocks larger than a ping-pong ball.
2. if you have perennial weeds, let them grow to about 8 inches tall and then spray with a non-selective weed killer (like RoundUp)
3. let the weed killer work for a week or so, then mow down the weeds as low as possible. Rake up and remove.
4. bring in organic material like Replenish, NutriMulch, Soil Pep etc. NO plain topsoil. Lay down at least 2” ( 3” even better), over the entire area to be planted.
5. till to a depth of 6-7 inches. If a small area is being planted, use a shovel or spading fork.
6. level and water well. If a sprinkling system is being put down, this is the time to trench and lay pipe. Fill the trenches and tamp lightly. Level and water well again.
7. level a third time and put down sod, hydro-seed or spread seed.

For sod, water daily for about 2 weeks. For seed of any kind, water twice daily or even more often during high temperatures or brisk wind.

Weeds will out grow the grass at first – don’t panic. Pull the largest ones and wait until after you have had to mow the new lawn at least 3 times before you start using a chemical weed killer. For sod, water deeply enough to keep the soil beneath the sod moist until the roots begin to grow into the soil below. My RTF sod had 3.5" deep roots after just 10 days. RTF roots have been know to go down as deep as 4'-6', at a rate of about 12" per year.

Answer 2

I also live in Georgia. I have successfully planted grass seed in the early spring. Once I put out some mixed seed for sunny places and it was too early in the year. Birds came and ate it up. I like to go to Lowe's garden department and get what they are selling. They usually have what is best of our climate. Rye is great for winter, but will die when it gets hot. You don't want any rye during the summer. I have had good luck with the mixed seed. There is also something the old folks call Carpet Grass. You get if from out in the country. It will grow when nothing else will. It's bright green and grown fast. My neighbor got some out of a pasture.

Answer 3

Can't really answer this one without knowing if the engine is a two or four stroke. If four stroke, do not add engine oil to the gas. The cap on the gas tank has one or more little holes in the top. Make sure they are not blocked by dirt. This can cause the mower to stop. There are also other reasons, but without knowing whether the engine a two or four stroke, I can't help you much.

Answer 4

Grass will generally not grow under deep shade. I would suggest going to your local nursery and talk to someone about ground cover ideas other than grass.

Answer 5

Here's a great webisite, it's called: All About Lawns

Answer 6

shoot the dog and dont mow the law for 1yr