Young House Love

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How To Prep Your Lawn For Grass Seed

It’s like I have my own personal Alseed. Yes, that’s a True Blood reference. I totally called John “Alseed” the entire time that he seeded our freshly leveled and ready-for-grass backyard. Why? Because I’m corny like that. He rolled his eyes but secretly I think he liked it. What dude is going to complain about being likened to this guy? Although I tend to like my men tall, dork, and handsome. Which is why John = even better than Alcide for me (yes that’s the correct way to spell his name, I just went with Alseed for the pun). But back to the freshly cleared backyard (you can read about all the phases that led to the “now” in the pic below here, here, and here).

2bef After3

We get lots of questions about how we seed/what we use/how we spread it, so here we go. First we raked the entire area we were seeding to fluff up the soil, get rid of rampant acorns, etc.

Seeding Lawn1

Then we added some top soil in a few not-as-level-as-we’d-like areas where we had dug things out (like liriope, weeds, etc)…

Seeding Lawn2

Then Alseed did his thang. Look at that carefree leg-in-the-air technique.

Seeding Lawn3

John just rolled around the yard, broadcasting the seed with our spreader (from Home Depot a few years back). We like to use Scott’s Tall Fescue Mix, which is a blend that’s formulated to work really well in our area, especially in shaded lots like ours (it’s the same thing we used to seed our first house‘s front and backyard after clearing & readying them).

Seeding Lawn4

Not only did we seed the areas where we dug, we just went over the whole backyard to fill in any bare spots or patchy spots where grass was already growing, but might have been thinned out. This is called overseeding. In an ideal world, overseeding each fall can lead to a super awesome lush yard without pumping it with tons of chemicals since keeping a yard lush helps to crowd out any weeds that might want to grow (a thinned out yard is a lot more susceptible to them popping up everywhere).

Seeding Lawn5

Oh and we swept the seed that got sprayed on the brick paths into the dirt so we wouldn’t have a whole bunch of grass springing up along the bricks. So that’s a tip if your broadcaster gets seeds all over an area that you don’t want to get grassy, like a walkway. Just sweep those babies away (optional: when done, dust your shoulders off a la Jay-Z).

Only about four days later (with quick 15 minute watering sessions each evening, just to give those little seeds a chance to sprout) we saw this:

Seeding Lawn6

Houston, we have liftoff! It usually takes us about a week to notice any green stuff sprouting up, but thanks to some near perfect grass-growing weather (not too cold at night, and not too hot during the day – with a fair amount of rain) we ended up with this surprisingly lush result just a little over a week later:

Grass After1

The funny thing is that I didn’t do a thing to the after pics in photoshop after sizing them down and slapping a “now” on them (didn’t green up the grass or up the saturation). That’s just the amazing neon-green power of fresh baby grass. Hubba hubba. Although the day I snapped the afters also happened to be after some great rain and it was a less blindingly sunny than the day of the before shots, so that might explain why other bushes and trees actually seem greener and less blown out than they do in those before shots.

Every day Clara and I look out the living room window at the backyard and I tell her that when the grass grows in she and Burger will have an awesome place to play. She loves peering out the window to check her “play grass.” See that big square window on the left of the pics below? That’s our watching-the-grass-grow window.

Grass After2

Here’s the view back at the house from the end of that path. Oh and check out the vine on the tree that we cut here. See how it’s dropping leaves/thinning out? Woot!

Grass After3

One more b & a. Just because I can’t help myself. Man grass never looks as green as fresh new baby grass, does it? Me-ow.

Grass After 4

So there it is, four phases of backyard upgrades that added up to one pretty amazing difference. We’ll reseed again in the spring, just to help everything get nice and thick (and to help keep those weeds away naturally). Then it’ll just be maintenance (hand-pulling the occasional weed, mowing, etc), which seemed to work well at our first house. What are you guys up to outside? Is there any last minute hope-it’s-not-too-late grass seeding going on? Or any other multi-phase projects that are finally winding down? It’s nice to tie up this backyard project just as we dive into basement stuff… and after that we have the hall bathroom in our sights!

Comments

  1. Jenny says

    Wow, that looks so amazing!!

    I overseeded/reseeded some little sections of our back yard last weekend and the birds and squirrels had a field day — but you make a good case that the timing is right, right now (we’re in DC), so maybe this weekend we should get to the garden store and pick up compost and way more seed, and try again. I read (in the organic yard book that you guys recommended!!) that putting down compost while seeding will improve the soil and protect it from critters at the same time…win win. Our yard is a serious mess, I’m not sure there’s any actual grass in there at the moment. I personally love the clover sections, because they stay green year-round, but my husband thinks it would be better to have some grass in there too.

    Reply

  2. Kellee says

    Wow, what a huge difference! This totally inspires me to take before and after photos of all my miscellaneous projects. Um, not because I have a blog, just because then maybe I would “get on that, dude” with some of my almost-but-not-quite-finished projects. Great work!

    Reply

  3. Starr @ The Kiefer Cottage says

    The grass looks good–it’s very satisfying how quickly it can fill in.

    We’re harvesting the last of the tomatoes today/tomorrow since we’re expecting a freeze. So we’ll be canning this weekend.

    There’s also leaf chopping for the compost and garden beds, cleaning up the side bed, prepping the beds for spring with compost and newspaper, yaddah yaddah, it’s going to take forever. But it’ll be worth it!

    Reply

  6. Felicity @ ourlittlebeehive says

    That’s some seriously green baby lawn! Overseeding is on the agenda for this weekend here, I think. S has seed sitting on the bench in the shed and needs to get it out of there asap ’cause grass seed attracts rats. Did you know that? I did not and now that I do, I’m scared to death of grass seed.

    A couple years ago we tilled our entire yard, put down 10 yards of leaf mulch by hand and then seeded like crazy in an effort to get rid of our 99% weed lawn. It worked pretty well, but it’s taken 3 years to get even an “ok” lawn. S is obsessed with getting it perfect.

    Reply

  7. Kenz @ Interiors By Kenz says

    When we bought our house, it had been vacant for 2 years. The yard was completely trashed. We spent all spring/summer just getting it cleaned up. It snowed today in Salt Lake, and any hope of re-seeding is now out the window.

    However, we WILL be seeding first thing this upcoming spring. Way less expensive than sod. Thanks for sharing your DIY yard work :)

    Reply

  8. T. Y. Lee says

    I am green with envy!

    My grass seed was planted a couple of weeks ago, and I’m only JUST NOW starting to see maybe a few little patches of grass (wow, my lawn isn’t going to be even *cry*).

    Reply

  9. Amy says

    Looks amazing! Ya’ll are extremely lucky to still be able to plant grass seed (we live in southern BC, and lets just say the growing season ended a month ago & we are currently seeing some very strange white stuff in our front yard!)

    Reply

  11. Heather / It's So Suburban says

    OK, I have some novice questions for you about grass seeding… How do you know if it’s too late (I live in KCMO and it might be freezing sometime in the next few weeks)? If it’s too late, do you just wait until spring I guess? And how long do you plan to keep watering it? And is that the same spreader thing that people use to apply fertilizer, or is it specifically for seeding? Sorry so many questions, this has just been on my mind as our yard looks TERRIBLE! We were even considering re-sodding.

    Reply

  12. Shelley @ Green Eggs and Hamlet says

    I was planning on overseeding but didn’t get my act together quickly enough and now it has snowed. The good news is that snow melts quickly in Denver and we’re supposed to have some warmer temps so I think I may still have a window of time to work with.

    Your tips are great, thank you!

    Reply

  16. Kate says

    J&S,

    I’m a product development manager for Black & Decker Outdoor products (and big YHL fan) which means I spend a good amount of my working time in other people’s yards testing out products and watching them tangle with nature. And I have to tell you it’s so awesome to see the transformation you guys are slowly but surely accomplishing! Beating back an overgrown yard is tough work, and doing it while preserving and transporting your plants is twice as hard. It looks like such a lovely, more open space now.

    For when you get to the “trimmy-trim” part of the job, my specialty is adding power tools to make this part easier (and let’s be honest…more fun). If you ever need any recommendations on outdoor tools (right tool for the job, best power, best size, best price, enough runtime) I’d be glad to help with suggestions and links! (same for anyone else reading).

    Also, we got a sneak peek during John’s basement clean out, but I am itching to see what tools you guys have for outdoors. Any plans for a outdoor tool post like you did for indoors?

    Reply

  17. Amber A says

    Looks great! On a totally not yard related note…I’m just realizing that your bedroom is above the basement section of your house? Does your room get cold? We just moved into a raised ranch style home and the room above the garage gets pretty chilly. I’m not a fan of space heaters but it’s way out of our budget to insulate/drywall the garage right now. Any suggestions?

    Reply

  20. Alicia M says

    Oh MAN that looks good! I wish we were as talented as you guys at growing grass! We’ve been trying to get a couple patches to grow for MONTHS. Summer drought in Iowa (dormant grass) + early snow (first snow today) = not good grass growing conditions :'(

    Reply

  21. theresa says

    we’re reseeding our backyard today! and i am very nervous about it growing in so this post could not have been more perfect timing! we had some pretty major landscaping work done (rebuilt a retaining wall), so the grass (which was really mostly weeds, just bought the house and it came that way) got rather destroyed. we initially considered DIY-ing the wall, but decided it was pretty major for our first home project with no experience under our belts. After seeing all the tools used (think bobcat bulldozer things), i think we made the right choice. painting is going to be our first project which hopefully should be much more up our alley to start with!

    Reply

  24. Kellie Koschmeder says

    We have a very lush yard that grows beautifully even in St. Louis heat (we live in the city-free water! YAY!). Every summer there is one patch that dies right next to the sidewalk leading to our unattached garage. (Our house is a new construction so the path/sidewalk is new) And every summer we talk about how the construction people must have over poured the sidewalk and then didn’t remove it (Thanks Construction people…awesome.) Anyway this fall my boyfriend dug it up and guess what? We were right…good ole cement. So we got out the sledge hammer and some other heavy pointy thing (a bulldog or something??) and he broke it all up and got it out. I swung the hammer a couple times for good measure but then just took a bunch of manly pics of him doing the real work. We are filling the hole back in and re-seeding. No more lawn eczema! Good job boyfriend! :)

    Reply

  26. Laura says

    Wow, a week? Grass growing is much more of science here in Seattle. I had to add lime and fertilizer to our ‘dirt’ and be hyper vigilant with the watering – not too much, not to little. And now 3 weeks later we’re JUST getting a nice even spread of sprouts. But it’s worth it because we too are preparing a space for our kids to play. We chose a local seed mix that is good for tromping on. :)

    Reply

  27. Amber says

    I swear this isn’t spam (and I do not work for this company..) but I found this today (and HAD to place an order!)

    I know you guys love Instagram as much as I do, so I thought I’d ask… have you heard of Prinstagram? They make tiny little photobooks, calendars, posters etc; of your Instagram photos.

    Thought it might be something you/John/Clara would like to have lying around (Instagram probably won’t be around forever!) and I know you guys enjoy photobooks based on your yearly tradition of having a photobook made.

    And Sherry, if you’re like me, anything miniature-sized invokes some serious squealing.

    Here’s their website!

    http://printstagr.am/

    Reply

  29. Lindsay Hutchins says

    Can’t believe u just threw in a video of my favorite show! I love me some Tom Haverford! I thought u guys couldn’t get any cooler, but u just did. This LIT’RALLY made my day :)

    Reply

  30. Lisa in Seattle says

    Love the after pics – now we can see the great lines of your house! Who knew it was so cute under all that?

    The best thing about being a wildlife gardener is no fall yard chores. We leave our plants and flowers standing to provide winter seed for birds and cover and shelter for insects. We have a couple maple trees and just rake all the leaves under the tree belt at the back of the yard. Best mulch ever, and so many tiny critters live under there. The juncos, thrushes and towhees forage in the leaves all season.

    Reply

  31. Ally says

    “Alseed”?

    With that tall, dork and handsome leg kick, I’d say J-Boom’s lookin’ more “Hayseed” :)

    xox

    Reply

  33. Lori says

    I do not have a clue what this post is about. I’m still stuck on the pic and reference of Alcide. :-) Thanks for that today!

    Reply

  35. Crystal @ 29 Rue House says

    Sort of off topic – I forgot all about Alseed! A long time ago I read most of the True Blood books, then watched the first season when it was on but didn’t stick with it (partially because I didn’t want to pay extra for HBO and now we have no cable – I use Hulu Plus to watch TV) but now that I’m listening to the books in my car during my commute (borrowed from the Wilton Library haha) I’m think I might just start watching it again on dvd!

    Reply

  36. Eve says

    Your yard looks fantastic so far – great job! It’s amazing how much bigger it seems without all of the shrubbery and liriope, too. Burger and Clara are going to have a blast racing around out there! :)

    Reply

  37. Allison @ House of Hepworths says

    I seriously just did a double-take on your before and after pictures. I am shocked at how awesome your yard looks now. I would never have thought it would look so great so soon. You guys are doing such a great job on your house! Now Clara needs a little swing set or trampoline. :)

    As for Parks and Recreation, OMG I freaking love that show. I have been watching it on netflix the last few weeks and even posted about my obsession on instagram. Seriously one of the most hilarious shows!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Oh yes, I love that article! We actually have books about that movement and agree that yards that need to be watered all the time and fertilized and all that are hard on everyone (you as the owner since it’s lots of work, the earth thanks to water use and chemical use, etc). We love that we have a push mower (manual, no gas) and we just water them to establish them but then thanks to our climate and the shade and the seed we use they’re completely self sustaining. We don’t use fertilizer or weed killer and we just pull the occasional weed by hand. We also love balance, so a small area of grass with wild “naturalized” areas everywhere else are the sweet spot. So Burger and Clara have a place to play, but we don’t have an entire acre to weed and mow!

      xo
      s

  40. Kelly says

    I am so jealous of your yard’s grass-growing skills! We have some bare patches that we have seeded a few times and still only get the grass to grow in isolated clumps, if any at all! Part of it is probably us (we tend to forget to water it after the first few days), but our seed doesn’t seem to be taking as well!

    Reply

  41. Melinda says

    That looks great! Good job! We had to remove a huge tree from our front yard this past spring becasue it was choking our sewer line (at least we are hoping and praying that was the culprit)and had to plant grass. It has made such a difference! Even our neighbor mentioned how much brigther her living room is because of the tree removal!

    Reply

  42. TONY says

    It looks amazing already! Madonna arms or not, totally worth all of your hard work. It’ll look even more lush and amazing in the Spring.

    Now is mowing the lawn a shared job in your household?

    Any plans to rework the brick pathways? And any environ-friendly strategies to keep the gaps between the bricks weed/grass free?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      I’ve definitely mowed the lawn, but it’s usually John just because he loves putting on his music (earphones) and jamming out while he mows and I’m inside working or with Clara. And as for keeping the brick paths weed free, I’m oldschool so I usually just pull them by hand (we don’t spray with chemicals) but I’ve heard boiling water or vinegar can work too – just dump them on and supposedly the weeds will shrivel up.

      xo
      s

  43. Susan says

    That looks awesome! I know John is the strawberries to your cream (or insert other phrase here), but alot of women could be dissapointed if they google “Alseed” or “Alcide” and stumble upon this site. For me, it would be a two-fer! DIY and “Alseed/Alcide.” HA!

    Reply

  44. Lauren says

    This is amazing! Really gives me hope. We have absolutely no grass around our recently built house, and it’s been 5 months since it was scraped to start building. We will probably lay turf right around the house, the seed the rest. I hope it looks as amazing and lush as yours!

    Reply

  46. Dina says

    This post is so timely, as I’ve been wanting to put down some grass seed in our postage stamp-sized city yard, since our dog ruined our sod. What is the purpose of the spreader, other than speeding things up if you have a really big area to seed? For a tiny yard, could you just throw the seed around by hand?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Yeah, totally. I actually just threw by hand when we were patching some areas in the Spring. The spreader just makes it faster and helps, well, spread things a bit more evenly than you might by hand.

      -John

  48. Angela says

    Your yard is looking great. I thought it would be fun to get periodic updates on that vine and see how long it took it to die! Looks like it’s on the way!

    Reply

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