"Paul H. Smith" wrote in news:kpJoe.63106
:

New house, no rear lawn, very little shade, and no green thumb. Tried
generic fescue mid spring, covered with hay, and watered faithfully
with
very little results. Didn't aerate. Should I try some type of
creeping
fescue or centipede or similar? Sounds to me like that would provide
faster and more thorough coverage. Would a "creeping" grass be more
heat/sun tolerant? Bermuda in front doing well. Does fescue or seed
in
general need to be covered with dirt to germinate? Live just north of
Atlanta. Need something that tolerates little shade (for now) and a
lot
of heat and humidity. And some instructions for seeding.

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks,
Paul

Be sure that your seed is of a high quality. I seeded my new
(relatively small) lawn with 75lbs. of Rebel IV turf-type tall Fescue:

http://www.penningtonseed.com/section/lawn_02.asp?
type=products&category=tall+fescues&id=535

I seeded mine from bare soil in mid-October. I had NC clay, which I
amended with 30 bags of organic humus (roughly 1200lbs.), and limestone
pellets (tilled all down to 4-5"). Before the seed, I applied Scott's
Starter Fertilizer per the instructions. I surface seeded and watered
per Pennington's instructions.

The lawn is green and thriving in the 20's overnight now. I did not
straw the seed, in order to prevent wheat/weeds developing from seed-
carrying straw. I'll be putting down pre-emergent and fertilizer in
early spring. The pre-emergent will "lock up" the crabgrass and other
seed that's been on standby, waiting for spring germination.

A new lawn will take a lot of attention to water and seasonal
fertilizers.

I hope this helps.

-Matt