On Apr 27, 1:38*pm, "Bob F" wrote:
Oozmiester wrote:
Hi all, I am new to the forum so I'll introduce myself - I'm Scott.

For the past couple of years I have been having problems with my grass
as it is bare and patchy in certain sections.

I have read loads about what to do and even been in touch with a
groundsman at a professional football club who has gave me advice on
what seed to buy and what to mix it with and I am still having no
success.

I was told to mix my grass seed with fine clean sand as he reckoned my
garden did not hold the water all that well.
This Spring, I raked the whole garden (only a small garden) I then put
loads of seed and sand down and raked over so most of the seeds were
mixed with the sand and soil.

That has been 2 weeks went by with me watering every day and still I
can still see no sign of any grass growing.

I have read it can take from 14 to 20 days before it may start to grow
but it is getting really frustrating.

I noticed the birds were eating some of the seeds so I have bought a
net to put down for when I put more down so they can't eat the seeds.

Some of the seeds you can still see sitting on top of the soil.

Can any of you experts tell me what I am doing wrong as I am spending
a lot of money on trying to get a decent lawn and getting absolute
nowhere.

I never used any new soil or anything this time, could this be the
problem ?
And when I say I water it once a day, should I do it in the morning
before I go to work and then when I get back as I have only been doing
it once a day.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

I've had best luck watering new seed a few times a day very lightly. You just
want it moist, never letting it dry out completely, which can kill freshly
sprouted seed. I use a timer set to run a sprinkler for 5 minutes in the
morning, early/mid afternoon, and late afternoon.

You may just need to wait a few more days.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

It would help if you provided information as to the location and
the type of grass. You don't think the best practices for growing
tall fescue in Canada are the same as growing Bermuda grass
in the Carribean, do you?

First thing I'd do is stop listening to the turf expert. If your soil
doesn't hold water well, the last thing you want to add is sand
And adding sand by mixing it with seed? How long do you think
that's going to take to make any significant difference in the soil?
Assuming you're trying to establish a cool season grass,
you're also seeding at the wrong time for best success. Early Fall is
by far the best time. You have less competition from weeds,
declining temps so it's easy to keep it moist, and the grass has
many months to get established before enduring the stress of
summer.

If you have an area of a couple thousand feet and up, the
easiest and best practice is to use an over-seeder which
can be rented. It's a piece of power eqpt that cuts grooves
about 3/8" deep and drops the seed in them. That gives you
good seed/soil contact and a high germination rate. An
alternative is to use a core aerator if the ground is compacted,
then apply the seed. Or you could do both. If the soil needs
ammendments, you can apply those after the core aeration
where some of it will at least drop in the holes and go down
a couple inches. And if the soil isn't holding water well, then
the ammendment should be humus of some sort, not sand.

Did you apply starter fertilizer? Check the PH?

And again, how long grass seed takes to germinate depends
on what kind it is, which we don't know....