My grass seeding project

[Dazza Jones]

Hi everyone, a newbie gardener hoping for some advice.....

My grass seed has now been down for 3 weeks but is coming through very patchy. Is this normal? Some areas are around 1inch but others dont seem to be growing at all.
I tried to attatch a picture but i dont think its possible on this forum.
There are also alot of seeds on the surface still. Will these eventualy grow?

My questions are;

1) am i getting abit in front of myself and need to give the seeds more time?

2) will the 'patchyness' eventuay even out or do i need to go and resow the whole thing again?

3) i havent took on step on the ground in the past 3 weeks. When will i be able to walk on there again?

4) I was limited for choice when i bought my seeds and ended up buying 'luxury' grass seed whihc doesnt contain rye grass. The grass that has come through seems very thin or should i say fine. Have i made a mistake here? Should i get some 'family' grass and resow?

5) Im pleased so far that ive managed to get anyhing to grow at all, so if anyone can give me any other advice that may help, id really apreciate it!

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[Steve]

I would go back and get some family grass. it is more durable and presumably will sprout quicker, and in tougher conditions. We sowed some a few weeks ago, theres a lush blanket of grass now! Watering daily will help too. If all fails, buy some turf

 

[pitbull]

Ask for the grass seed with the daisie's in.

 

[JohnD]

Don't dig up the stuff you've already got! You can scatter additional seed later if you can't stop yourself. It will ticken up after you've started to cut it.

If it is not suited to the ground, other grass seeds will blow in, invade, and crowd out the current stuff within a year or two.

It will get thicker and stronger in another couple of weeks.

Put your foot on the soil and see if you leave a footprint, if you do, don't walk on it yet, give it more time to settle. Rain and time will do that for you. If you can lay your hands on a roller, and the soil is not soft or wet, it can help consolidate the surface.

 

[Nige F]

Try spreading your own seed Like ONAN in The Old Testament

 

[Dazza Jones]

Well managed to do my first cut a few days ago as some areas had shot up whilst others are still only short. For some reason i now have a few brown patches in th elonger areas. I had the lawnmower set on its highest setting.
Anyone have any ideas on why its gone brown?

 

[JamesA]

Its been quite hot lately, probably too hot to plant grass unless you keep watering it.
Saying that, I am patching up a bit at the moment and have been constantly emptying the bowl from the kitchen sink onto it.

I find you have to be careful after you initally put the seed down and raked it not to wash all the seed "downhill" in to one area when you water it.

 

[Diyisfun]

Just cut it with blades set high, pull out all weeds, do not use weed killer. In the autumn re seed bare patches, do the same if necessary next spring, summer 2007 you should have a good lawn as long as there are no kids & dogs playing on it.

 

[Dazza Jones]

when you say ressed the patchy bits do you mean just scatter the seeds over the area or do i need to put top soil over them as well?

 

[Diyisfun]

If you rake the bare area sprinkle seed, if you have good topsoil a sprinkle on the seed would help. The seed needs to be in contact with the soil. I put a new garden path on top of the old one, put topsoil down an angle to raise the old lawn grass seed 18mths ago, you cant see the join now.