As long as there is a significant amount of dirt showing too, the stones will
probably not be a problem. The grass will grow roots between and around the
stones, and the stones may even encourage deeper root growth. You probably want
to rake the stones back into the soil, then seed it and roll it down to press
the seed/soil into a slightly firmer flat surface. Try to do it when no heavy
rains are predicted to undo the work, and water the seed lightly several times a
day until it sprouts. A timer on the sprinkler helps greatly to keep the soil
just a little wet until the grass has sprouted.


Ben Emms wrote:
Hi all. I want to sow some grass seed on an area of my garden which
has been very bare, covered in*ivy, twigs, stones ect for a long
time, its quite shady for about 2/3rds of it too as its under some
tall trees and at the back of the garden, its about 12 sq metres in a
long rectangular strip, 2m wide x 6m long. I have tried to get rid of
the debris and have forked and raked the soil, raking as much as i
can and treadind down, there were loads of bulbs too which i have dug
up and lots of stones, some big ones as well as lots of small ones. I
have also put some general fertilzer granules on it a couple of weeks
ago and today was my first opportunity to get to work on sowing the
grass since 2 weeks of rain. Anyway I came to start it this morning
and where I had raked there were now hundreds of stones which have
come to the surface I think because of the rain washing the soil
away. I have tried raking some more but I can still see stones under
the soil when I rake and I can only think that the same thing will
happen even if I did rake it again and try to get rid of the stones,
once it rains again. They are mostly small stones 1-2 cm in size, i
think there are bigger ones below the surface. So anyway what I want
to know is what should I do about the stones? Do I need to put a load
of top soil on the top to cover the stones and if so how much? I am
half contemplating just turfing it, but would i need to put a load of
top soil down under that too? i hope you can help me.