Lawn Lectures

I'm sure our whole neighborhood is ecstatic that the little house on the corner has people who actually care enough to keep up their lawn. We care but oh man is it hard work! Especially regrading a good portion of it.

Thanks to our awesome neighbors, Mike and what's-her-name (its almost getting past the time where its acceptable to ask what her name is again, I might have to peek in their mailbox like a creeper one day), we borrowed a concrete lawn roller similar to this to flatten out the last of the dirt and it was time to start moving on.

"Everyday I'm roll, in in in..."

The next big step was seeding and not just the dirt but all the crazy patchiness you see here.

After a long discussion with a Home Depot associate of our lawn needs, he recommended we try a newer product from Scott's called EZ Seed. It is a seed, mulch and fertilizer source all-in-one. Which with the amount of work we were putting in already seemed like a breath of fresh air when it finally said "EZ"!

He recommended that the ground temperature (about 1" below the surface) was at least a constant 50°F before we applied.  This is to prevent the seed from freezing and to also let it take as soon as possible. Another great reason to choose this product, it grows pretty much anywhere with minimal watering (you still need to water it, it just makes the most of what you do); sun, shade, fill in areas and even straight concrete! Another reason is the warmer it is, the faster the seeds germinate, preventing birds from eating the seeds before the get a chance to start. We were sold. He also recommend we buy the two pound easy application shaker (seen above) and then a 40lb. bag for our needs and just refill the application shaker to save on a lawn seeder. Thanks Home Depot guy! Great idea!

Here is a helpful video from Scott's themselves.

Here is a close up of the seeds and the mulch/fertilizer combination. The long skinny light things are the seeds themselves.

So after applying the massive bag of seed. And giving it a good watering. We waited. And watered and waited. And it rained and we waited. After a week, still no grass.

 We then applied a thin layer of straw over the majority of the areas to help protect and warm the seeds (we do live in Wisconsin after all).

After only a couple days and more rain, we got a few sprouts of grass! Unfortunately it's only growing where we put down the straw but its definitely a start! We have to actually mow the rest of the lawn and are going to place the lawn clippings over as an extra blanket for the seedlings. We might need to apply some more in some spots if its too patchy. We are on our way to a lovely normal lawn! I couldn't be happier! It such a relief coming home at night an knowing that we won't have the "ugly" house anymore. It can only go up from here!

What are your biggest lawn challenges?