Once the area is cleared, consider using a core aerator to loosen up the soil before seeding. Core aerators create holes in the ground which allow air, water, and nutrients to penetrate deeper into the soil. This helps promote healthy root growth and creates a better environment for your grass seeds to thrive.
Break up the soil with an aeration tool such as a rototiller; a depth of 3 to 6 inches is adequate for growing grass. A rear tine rototiller works best on clay soils and allows you to add amendments at the same time you prepare the seed bed.
If you simply toss the grass seed onto the soil, you will end up with poor germination. If the seeds are not properly protected by existing grass or a thin layer of topsoil, they may dry before germination or be washed away by rain.
We have all those answers and more. . . Let us start with the simple question, will the seed grow if it is just thrown on the ground? The simple answer is, yes.
Use a "mist – lightly water – deeply water" process like this: After seeding and fertilizing, you'll want to keep the top inch of soil moist until the seeds start to germinate (aka sprout). This means misting the area once a day, maybe twice if it's unusually hot out there—but don't let the area get soggy.
Ensure your lawn thrives from the start by relying on professional services to prepare and maintain it. Experts will correctly water the soil before planting grass seed, ensuring the ideal moisture level—6 to 8 inches of water several days ahead is optimal.
If you have bare spots that need a reseeding, you can do it at a low cost as follows: First, scratch up the top 1-inch of soil with a metal rake, second, spread seed at the package rate, third, lightly rake again to just barely cover the seed, and fourth, water in the seed.
After tilling and incorporating nutrients, allow soil to settle for a couple of days.
Step 5: Break up the surface crust (optional—choose step 4 or 5) Another way to loosen the hard soil is to dig up the top few inches with a rototiller. This step is best if you are putting in a new lawn and the area is open, accessible, and reasonably large.
With a digging fork, you can loosen large areas deeply relatively quickly and with little effort. A sow's tooth hoe is also relatively easy to pull through the soil and loosens it relatively deeply. These two tools are usually only used once a year, for example in the springtime before planting the beds.
Core aeration is considered the best and most effective way of loosening your compact soil. Other methods of aeration, such as spiking, don't remove any soil from your lawn, so they can actually make your compaction issue worse. During core aeration, tiny plugs or cores are pulled up throughout your yard.
Garden Forks and Rakes
Digging forks or garden forks are the best digging tools for breaking up rocky or hard soil. With their long, sharp-edged tines, these gardening tools are also good for aerating soil and digging up potatoes or other root vegetables. Ground rakes or garden rakes have several short, metal tines.
Compacted clay lawns benefit from annual aeration. Core aeration cuts into clay and removes a small core of thatch and soil that gradually disintegrates on the surface. Openings left by the cores allow water, air and nutrients into the clay, so those essentials stay available and grass can grow healthy and strong.
Aerate the soil before overseeding.
We recommend aerating before applying seed, not after. Aeration removes thatch and pulls soil cores out of the lawn, making a good seed bed for your newly planted seeds to reach into the soil. Without aeration, your new grass seeds may not be able to reach the soil and germinate.
To plant grass seed on hard dirt, follow these six simple steps: choose the right grass seed, spread it evenly, cover with a light layer of soil, water regularly, apply fertilizer, and cover with mulch.
When you just sprinkle grass seed on an existing lawn, it ends up just sitting atop of the soil and a lot of it may never germinate. Then homeowners end up asking the question, why can't I get my grass to grow? In reality, the best practice is to have lawn aeration performed followed by overseeding the lawn.
Don't overdo or cut corners. Too much grass seed causes undue competition for resources such as light, water and nutrients, and grass seedlings struggle as a result. Too little seed leaves lawns thin or bare.
Very Small Patchy Areas: For tiny bare spots (think a few inches in diameter), throwing a small amount of seed and keeping the area moist might suffice. However, even in these cases, lightly raking the soil to create some seed-to-soil contact can significantly improve results.
While you don't want to bury the seeds deeply, they do need good soil contact. Use the back of a plastic leaf rake to gently work the seeds into the top 1/8 inch of soil. Make short, light strokes to avoid redistributing the seeds unevenly.
Overseeding can help you get back to the thick, lush, green lawn you're looking to achieve. By spreading grass seed over your existing lawn, you can thicken up the thin areas and get your lawn looking terrific again. (This is different from reseeding, which is when you start over and plant a completely new lawn.)
For best results, lawn seed should be sown in spring (from March to May) or early autumn (September to mid October), when the soil is moist and warm. Before laying a new lawn, take some time to think about the part it will play in your overall garden layout.
But what it usually comes down to is the fact that it's either too warm outside, your grass seed isn't getting enough water, or you've either sown it too deep or too close to the surface. We have also included a few guides below for further reading: How to sow new grass seed. Overseed your lawn.
Covering your precious newly planted grass seed with polythene sheeting is not only effective protection from birds but also drying winds and torrential downpours. It is very cheap, easy to lay, and speeds germination. Covering freshly sown grass seed with polythene sheeting to protect it from birds is a great idea.