I hear that fall is the best time to plant, but fall for some locations is
like winter for others. My lawn is a mess and I need to replant. Is early
October too late to plant new grass seed in New Jersey?

From: "Billy"
Newsgroups: rec.gardens

Is early
October too late to plant new grass seed in New Jersey?

No ,get busy and get the seed planted

I hear that fall is the best time to plant, but fall for some locations is
like winter for others. My lawn is a mess and I need to replant. Is early
October too late to plant new grass seed in New Jersey?

I live in Northern New Jersey near New York City area. I planted grass
seeds in early September. The fine fescue has germinated after just
one week. The Kentucky blue grass hasn't germinated yet, and I am
hoping that they will start germinating in one week -- or else...

In other words, I have planned for having grass seeds to germinate to
as late as early October (because Kentucky blue grass germinates from
2 weeks to a month). I am not saying that my plan is right; I am
saying that this is my plan and I am sticking to it for now. Let's
assume that the last possible germination period is from early October
to mid-October, you will have to act fast and use the correct grass
seeds. If my assumption is correct, you will have to use fine fescue
or something similar that can germinate in one week. And you probably
should not use Kentucky blue grass because they may germinate in early
November if you plant the seeds now, and that sounds like too late to
me.

If I were you, I will plant the grass seeds next spring just to give
myself a better chance of success. Afterall, putting top soil/compost
over grass seeds is a major effort (and I am under the impression that
doing this is the best method). I surely want this to be a success
instead of a failure.

If spring is the time that you will plant grass seeds, you may need to
use crab-grass prevention chemical that will not hurt grass seeds
germination (haven't tried that myself, I am not sure how good that
chemical will work).

Good luck whichever way you decide to do.

Jay Chan

Most New Jersey suburbanites opt for sodomy instead. HeHe!

Seeding the lawn now is particularly important for helping hungry birds
survive the long cold winter.


Billy wrote in message
...
I hear that fall is the best time to plant, but fall for some locations is
like winter for others. My lawn is a mess and I need to replant. Is early
October too late to plant new grass seed in New Jersey?

"Billy" wrote in message ...
I hear that fall is the best time to plant, but fall for some locations is
like winter for others. My lawn is a mess and I need to replant. Is early
October too late to plant new grass seed in New Jersey?

The soil is warm now germination will be fast , get the seed down and keep it moist.

Seeding the lawn now is particularly important for helping hungry birds
survive the long cold winter.

I think you are right. Last year, I put grass seeds on the surface of
my lawn in fall without covering them with anything. Sure enough, I
got a large group of black birds in my lawn eating stuff (most likely
the grass seeds); no need to say, I had a poor germination rate. This
year, I have covered the grass seeds with a thin layer of top soil,
and the black birds have not come yet, and the germination rate is
quite good (at least for fine fescue).

Jay Chan