"The Filers" wrote in message
...
Recently we levelled the earth in an area of our backyard that has a lot
of
direct exposure to sunlight. In the process, most of the existing grass
was
lost. The next day I spread grass seed on the ground which was very wet
because of rain the previous night. Then each morning I have watered the
area well. Some people tell me that I need to cover the grass seed with
topsoil otherwise they say the seeds won't grow...other people tell me
that
this is the wrong approach and that the best thing to is to keep the seeds
exposed, but well watered each morning...I live in southern Ontario and
the
temperature is around 16 C / 65 F daily, with close to 15 hours of
daylight.

I'd appreciate advice from other people who have successfully reseeded
large
patches of their lawns...should I spread topsoil or not?...if so, what
kind
and how deep?...should I be watering the area every morning?

Thanks,
M.



You don't want to cover the seed as it needs sunlight to germinate. It does
need good contact w/ the soil though or else it will germinate and then die
off right away. Watering should be light. Wet it but don't soak it and don't
let it dry out completely.

Hopefully you purchased your seed from a reputable garden center and not a
hardware store as the latter have a reputation for lots of weed seeds in the
mix.

Be patient.

Your success rate would probably have been better had you put down a bit of
tripple mix before seeding, but as long as the soil isn't too firm for the
young seedlings to penetrate you should be ok.

Good Luck

Peter H