Planting grass...When?

Depends on TYPE COOL season fecue or WARM season bermuda ECT???
Typical cool season grass seeding is late fall best spring next, warm season grasses late spring early summer. There ar lots of variables new bare ground,over seeding, water avalability ECT!!!
 
Actually, we're about a month away from when it'll be time to reseed the bare spots.
 
Sorry, but why come in a knife forum and ask about planting grass. GOOGLE. It depends on where you live, ground temp, what type of grass, are you planting or reseeding?
 
fire65 said:
Sorry, but why come in a knife forum and ask about planting grass. GOOGLE. It depends on where you live, ground temp, what type of grass, are you planting or reseeding?
Click to expand...

Uh ..yea... been there,did that.......Problem was I did not like the " text book " answer. I was looking to ask some real people who had done this....:jerk it:
 
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I've done it for a living. They're right, it depends on type of seed and local conditions. Grass seed can be planted any time, but it won't germinate until the soil is warm enough for the type of grass. For cool season grasses, that happens around 40°, and for warm season grasses it is around 55°. The problem here is we get some warm weather early most years, which can cause the seed to germinate just in time to get hit with a late freeze before it has hardened off. Result is dead seed and no new grass. We also are very dry here, so irrigation is virtually mandatory to start grass from seed, but we can get away with planting from late April to mid-October. Places with higher humidity will start losing new grass to fungus if they plant after mid-June. Warm season grasses won't germinate until around mid-May here, and after mid-June they may not be mature enough to survive first freeze when it hits.

Of course, you don't live here, you live there, and I have no clue what conditions exist there. In this field, simple answers are mostly wrong answers.
 
This is posted in Community Center, which isn't a bad place for it. This is one of our non-knife forums. :)
 
I'm not far from you (SW VA)...I just planted Winter Rye on a new dam embankment...soil is poor for growing (clay based...but excellent for a dam). Covered with old forage hay from one of my fields. Will broadcast some old fertilizer next week. When rye comes up providing erosion protection and shading, I'll plant orchard grass (mid-March)....just broadcast on top of ground. The freezing of the ground will open cracks and deposit the seed at a good depth (called frost planting around here).
It don't have to be too complicated....nature finds a way.
md
 
Are you in or outside of the transition zone? Are you re-seeding or starting from seed from scratch? You may want to consider sod? What do you have as a foundation?
ETA: It sounds like warm season to me. Make sure you buy good seed. If you are re-doing your lawn eradicate fully. If you are just trying to patch match as closely as possible. Otherwise you'll end up with an eyesore. Again, consider sod.
 
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I am not sure about Tennessee, but consult your local farmer's almanac, or check with a local nursery. Tall Fescue aka Marathon, Medallion is a transitional grass, therefore not cool season nor warm season. I have been a nuseryman in So Cal for 20 yrs. or so. What I would recommend is to prep your soil via rototill and add amendments such as redwood and fir compost. If you have a heavy clay soil, add gypsum as well. Rototill as deep as you can. Add approx 1 cuyd of compost per 500 sq ft. Mix it all together, and then get a water roller (bigger than a beer keg) to compress it all back down and get the air pockets out. If you are not in a great big hurry, start irrigating and grow up all the weed seeds. Once they are all sprouted, shoot them with Round up. I like to deplete the weed seed supply, otherwise it will come right up with your grass. Roundup is very earth friendly and does not toxify the ground at all. Once you get a good kill on the weeds, rake it off, and then apply the seed. I do not want to recommend what type of seed to get for your area, consult a KNOWLEDGEABLE nurseryman in your local area. I love blue grass, but the heat out here takes its toll. It may be perfect for your climate, I do not know. Good luck, and yes you are on the right sub forum. I am sure the guy who was rude will learn to read the stickies eventually.

I almost forgot, cover your seed and keep moist til it is up about a 2". Do not be in a hurry to mow.
 
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+1, on keeping your grass tall for awhile. when i put a lawn in for a client now, I recommend that for the first two months they keep it twice as tall as they would normally would. with the taller grass above the soil it forces the roots to push deeper, quicker, giving you a very strong root system that is more draught resistant during the initial process of the lawn rooting itself as well as later. i've have had to repair alot of turf because it was cut to soon as well as too short.
 
If you are putting in a sprinkler system below ground, do not skimp, use 6" pop ups. 4" are fine til the last 3 days prior to mowing, then the grass blades will be obstructing the sprinkler nozzles. If you are doing kikuyu (satan's weed grass), bermuda, or St. Augustine, then 4" are fine.
 
I'm with resinguy - September so it can sprout and have a start on root structure when spring hits.
for spring planting, mid-march after you stop having morning frosts.
 
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