From: trader4@optonline.net
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: Why cant I grow a single blade of grass?
Date: 15 Jun 2006 05:07:40 -0700
   posting-account=vW3O0AwAAABxQqAj-ZYxYAKqrqLQW3tX


Tony wrote:
> I live on Long Island and every house has a lawn. All the surrounding houses have lawns. WHen I
> bought my house a couple of years ago, I had a lawn but it was spotty. Upon closer inspection, I
> noticed a lot of areas where there wasnt grass, but kind of more mulched up leaves sticking to the
> ground. When I scraped them away with a hard rake, and loosened the soil, I put down Scotts Starter
> fertilizer last year. I watered it daily. As the year went by...nothing.

Hmmm, did you put down any seed?   What kind?  What time of year?
When seeding the surface needs to be constantly moist, which can mean
having to water several times briefly during a day, depending on temp,
wind, sun, etc.


>
> This year, I removed 600 sq/ft of rocks that were in the yard where there was a play area (swings,
> slide, etc). After the rocks were gone, I loosened the soil up and this time. I mixed Scotts starter
> fertilizer with a bag of Peat Moss and spread it around. I watered it  daily. This was in April.
> Still, not a single blade of grass.


Again, what kind of seed and how?   Where was the seed relative to the
peat moss?  If you very lightly top dressed it with peat moss, that is
good.  If you buried it, that's a problem.  For small areas, the best
thing to use is hydraulic mulch, which is available at agri supply
distributors like Lesco.   Or, you can buy patch mix at home centers
that are hydraulic mulch, fertilizer, seed mixed together.


>
> I talked to a friend of mine who seemed to have a similar problem until he started from scratch,
> spread the seeds, threw Miracle Grow potting soil over the seeds, and then as the kicker, bought
> Miracle Grow plant food and sprayed it from the hose through the Miracle Grow dispenser. After a
> week, he has tons of mini blades of grass growing all over his yard.  I did the same thing 2 weeks
> ago, not a single blade even beginning to grow. And it poured rain for a full week after I did it.
>
> What am I doing wrong? Is there nuclear wastes in my soil??
>
>

How much soil did you put over the seed?   What rate are you applying
fertilizer at?   Have you had the soil tested to determine if the PH,
etc are OK?   Did you keep the surface constantly moist?  Also, 2 weeks
ago was very poor timing to try to grow grass.  If you kept it watered,
it doesn't explain the lack of germination, but after that, you will
have a tough time in terms of competition from weeds, crabgrass, high
temps, the need to give it a lot of water during summer, etc.



> Tony