Grass Seed Needs a Little Blanket to Keep Warm.
Article By: Dalton Quigley
Summer 2010.
Grass Seed needs a Little Blanket to Keep Warm.
Grass seed needs a little blanket to keep warm and moist to become a plant. No matter what kind of grass you are going to use preparation is key to having a great lawn. Grass seed needs to stay moist for a certain amount of hours to germinate. Each type of grass seed has a different amount of time and correct temperatures to germinate. Imagine you have thrown a hand full of your favorite grass seed down on the soil and are waiting to see plants. If it does not rain that day do you think the seed will stay moist? Probably not. A grass plant makes seed for the next years seedlings to grow so it puts a barrier around the seed to protect it, if soaked in a moist warm environment the seed will open.
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If you buy grass seed from off of the shelf of a Big Box store it has probably been there a while and a good portion of it is not going to germinate anyway so you need to get the most out of the seed that is alive. The grass seed is kept dry on the shelf so that it does not germinate. Once you have bought your seed and are ready to spread it think about making a warm moist blanket over your seed.
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Some lawn care professionals, landscapers, and gardeners use wheat straw over the grass seed. The straw helps to hide the seed from birds and provide a little bit of a barrier from drier air and night time cold. Straw is a good cost effective choice for most instances. Straw can be bought at most places that sell Mulch.
I like to use soil to make the best barrier. Once the soil is wet and over the seed it will hold moisture for a long time while providing a mild amount of nutrients which the seed craves.To make a soil barrier over your seed you first must spread your seed over the prepared area. Next take a rake and rake the soil over the top of your seed. Once you do this you will have a barrier from birds feasting on your seed as well as trap air, water, and other nutrients. A mild fertilizer right after covering the seed will provide a great boost. You can buy fescue grass seed at local Nurseries.
The last option I am mentioning is to compost seed. Compost seeding is where you cast your seed over the prepared area and then spread a 1 to 2 inch layer of aged compost over the top of the seed. Aged compost won't heat up while on top of the seed. The compost acts as a warm moist blanket and fertilizer which will make your grass seed germinate fast and give it nutrients for a long time to come.
Grass seed needs a warm, and moist area to germinate. Stores carry seed that is very dry and needs moisture over a period of time to germinate. Lawn Care professionals agree that a protective barrier is needed from birds. Straw, Soil, or Compost could be used to cover the seed and provide the needed protection and moisture. Depending on your budget now you have 3 choices to start your new seed.
Lawn Care in Nashville is like no other place in the USA. We live in a valley so our climate has some extremes. We have a yearly drought that makes Lawn Care difficult. We have snow falls on average twice a year which makes warm season grasses die or go dormant. We also live in an ancient sea bed so our soil is limestone ( sea shells ) and clay. So as a consequence we need aeration, fertilization, and seeding each year.
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