HELP! I cannot grow grass!!!
 

My neighbor had gardeners plant an new lawn and it's practically grown
in in 2 weeks.

This was mostly for large spots not the whole lawy.

I used the Scott starter fertilizer with weed killer, new top soil, and
scotts high traffic seed for where's there's full sun and shade seed
for the shadier spots. Nothing.

I re-seeded and re-tillled and covered with peet moss watered alot -
nothing! I cannot figure out what's wrong.

If I ask Home Depot gardening people they can't figure it out. If I ask
my local small gardening center they just try to sell me their brand of
seed and fertilizer.

I really would appreciate some advice besides paving the lawn :-(


Barry

And no marijuana jokes!

the weed killer sounds a little suspect to me for some reason. i dont
use any type of preemergent or weed killer or firtilizer until grass has
germinated and grown to the mowing point. also, you can put the seed on
top of the soil but 1/4" of soil over the seed works better i think.
lucas

the Scotts starter weed killer says that it you can grow grass, it
costs 2x what the other spring fertlizer cost! - all other weed killer
fertilizers you can't for 8 weeks after you use them.

I forgot that I can call scott's! I'll ask them

thanks for the input

Barry


In article ,
wrote:

the weed killer sounds a little suspect to me for some reason. i dont
use any type of preemergent or weed killer or firtilizer until grass has
germinated and grown to the mowing point. also, you can put the seed on
top of the soil but 1/4" of soil over the seed works better i think.
lucas

According to the label, you need to cover the seed with 1/4 inch of
soil before applying the fertilizer/pre-emergent. It also cautions not
to rake after applying. Which leads me to the conclusion that they
clearly don't want the product in direct contact with the seed. Did
you do this? Also, have you kept it constantly moist for a couple
weeks?

No I didn't and that's probably the reason it's not growing. I usually
read the instructions but this time I didn't. If I saw that they had
said that I wouldn't have bought the product and opted for a regular
good spring mixture without week killer. i don't even have many weeds.

I have kept it moist but when the week killer is obviously doing it's
number on the seed there's nothing you can do and this will go on for
about 8 weeks now at least.

yup I'll bet that's the reason!

thanks

Barry


In article .com,
wrote:

According to the label, you need to cover the seed with 1/4 inch of
soil before applying the fertilizer/pre-emergent. It also cautions not
to rake after applying. Which leads me to the conclusion that they
clearly don't want the product in direct contact with the seed. Did
you do this? Also, have you kept it constantly moist for a couple
weeks?

Another question, did you put down the right amount of the product? If
the pre-emergent was too heavy, that could cause a problem.

pre emergent keeps seed from germinating... there is no reason to use
it or weed killer during the starting process.. lucas

"Henny bogan" wrote in message
...

I re-seeded and re-tillled and covered with peet moss watered alot -
nothing! I cannot figure out what's wrong.

Besides the weed killer, which is silly, you don't want to cover with peat
moss. You want to till it into the soil and water, wait a day, then plant.
Peat moss, when dry, will draw water AWAY from the nearest substance, which
is the soil. It should either be moistened in the bag or in a wheelbarrow or
big tarp (all of which is a pain in the ass in large quantities), or mixed
thoroughly with the soil, and then moistened along with the soil.

"Henny bogan" wrote in message
...
No I didn't and that's probably the reason it's not growing. I usually
read the instructions but this time I didn't. If I saw that they had
said that I wouldn't have bought the product and opted for a regular
good spring mixture without week killer. i don't even have many weeds.

I have kept it moist but when the week killer is obviously doing it's
number on the seed there's nothing you can do and this will go on for
about 8 weeks now at least.

yup I'll bet that's the reason!

Yup. Don't use chemicals at all, since none of them are safe. But if you
insist, try and understand them first. Meanwhile, go back to a garden store
and get yourself some burlap and bricks for your next attempt. After
seeding, cover with burlap, hold down the burlap with bricks so the wind
doesn't blow it away, and water (WITH A MIST, NOT A STRONG STREAM OF WATER)
right through the burlap. When the grass sprouts right through the burlap,
you'll be able to lift it right off and store it for the next use, like when
the electric company digs up your lawn for some reason.

I spke to Scotts and they seem to think that I over fertilized and told
me to just water and cool it with the fertilizer.

regarding my neighbors fast lawn this was the second person who told me
that they frequently use pure rye so the lawn grows fast but it's not a
good seed to use by itself.

In article .com,
wrote:

Another question, did you put down the right amount of the product? If
the pre-emergent was too heavy, that could cause a problem.

"Doug Kanter" wrote:
"Henny bogan" wrote in message
...
No I didn't and that's probably the reason it's not growing. I usually
read the instructions but this time I didn't. If I saw that they had
said that I wouldn't have bought the product and opted for a regular
good spring mixture without week killer. i don't even have many weeds.

I have kept it moist but when the week killer is obviously doing it's
number on the seed there's nothing you can do and this will go on for
about 8 weeks now at least.

yup I'll bet that's the reason!

Yup. Don't use chemicals at all

Right! According to you, all we need is seed and mowing.

I'm still waiting for that recipe, Dug.

Henny bogan wrote:
I spke to Scotts and they seem to think that I over fertilized and told
me to just water and cool it with the fertilizer.

regarding my neighbors fast lawn this was the second person who told me
that they frequently use pure rye so the lawn grows fast but it's not a
good seed to use by itself.

In article .com,
wrote:

Another question, did you put down the right amount of the product? If
the pre-emergent was too heavy, that could cause a problem.


Activated charcoal.

In my experience, peat moss is perfectly fine as a light top dress
after seeding. As for peat moss drawing water away from the ground,
that won't happen if you're watering properly. You need to keep the
surface constantly moist. The peat moss will help, because it retains
the water during the periods you aren't watering.

wrote:
In my experience, peat moss is perfectly fine as a light top dress
after seeding. As for peat moss drawing water away from the ground,
that won't happen if you're watering properly. You need to keep the
surface constantly moist. The peat moss will help, because it retains
the water during the periods you aren't watering.

But then it evaporates.

Peat moss adds no nutrients. And simply laying it on top of the soil does
nothing for it's structure.

Save it for your potting soil mixes, and leave it off the lawn. The peat
bogs are disappearing fast enough without wasting it on a lawn where it does
no good.

--
Warren H.

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