What is a good grass seed to use on a sunny hill with clay soil?

Question

The area has fill dirt. Grass has died out in patches. Want something hardy.

Answer 1

Growing grass on a hill is difficult Sod is obviously the easiest method, but it is more expensive.

One good trick, try planting annual rye first. Annual rye is very fast germinating, will sprout in three days or so. After the rye is about 1 inch tall, plant the tall fescue. The annual rye will hold the soil and the seeds in place, allowing the fescue time to germinate and establish a root system. The rye, being an annual, will die after the first year, and all you'll have left is the fescue.

Answer 2

Wow, all of the answers above a partially right. If you really wanted to do this up right, I'd first have the soil tested.......your Cooperative Extension Service through your state university offers this service. Plus the county agent can help you if your soil has some big time problems.......such as high salt content, extreme pH, etc. Also the agent can counsel you as to the best type grass for your area. There are many different type grass growing regions, one grass does not work everywhere. OK, if you don't want to go that route, first you need to get oxygen into the soil. Clay particles are like wet saucers, stick together and have very little air in there. You rototill and add peat moss or compost to help hold those clay particles apart so water and air can penetrate through the soil. Please note I didn't recommend manure since salts can be a problem. Also the "black dirt" mentioned above really has no real meaning. If they meant top soil, well, that's hard to find (nonexistent in some areas) and the commercial stuff is just manure and sand or some other filler. Once the soil is all fluffy, rake it out to remove stone and establish a grade away from the house. At the same time add starter fertilizer (Scott's makes a good one) and rake it in. Rent a roller and roll the empty roller across the soil to "settle" it--not compact, just settle. Then sow the seed and roll again, this time with a little water, don't fill the roller, use less than 1/4 full. Then start watering. Actually your Cooperative Service agent (aka "county agent") probably has some printed material to help you through this process. It's not hard, just time consuming and the trick is keeping the ground damp, moist, but not sodden until the grass is up and growing well. At my place the winds prevent spring sowing, we seed lawns either in June or late summer depending on the type grass we are using.

Answer 3

First of all, that depends on where you live. The annual rye not a bad idea because it does germinate really fast, but if you live in the South the fescue might struggle in dry weather.

Answer 4

Red Fescue or creeping Fescue

Answer 5

A mixture of fescue. We got Rebel IV at lowe's. Worked wonders!

Answer 6

Tall fescue

Answer 7

Kentucky bluegrass or fescue. Fescue is more hardy than Kentucky bluegrass, but it likes to grow faster too.

Answer 8

wild flower seed mixture keep it moist and fertilize. no mowing and is a beautiful sight.
attract birds ,butterflies is beautiful. and best of all no mowing mulching. you can recline with a glass of ice tea/
make it a wild garden of Eden............
work it smart not hard..........

Answer 9

california poppys

Answer 10

sod