Seeds not sprouting? Grass needs TLC to grow

There were some dead areas in our lawn that we recently seeded, but we do not see any seed germinating after three weeks. What can we do to get grass growing in this very ugly area of the lawn?

There could be any number of reasons for sections of lawn to die out at this time of year. I have been seeing a lot of lawns with dead areas after the recent hot and dry spell of weather. Bent grass, which is used on golf course greens, can move into a lawn and expand over time. This grass is very prone to disease and can die out during periods of hot and humid weather.

Grubs feed on the grass roots and chinch bugs feed on the grass blades, which can cause sections of the lawn to die out and look like drought damage. Chinch bug damage will generally occur in the sunnier parts of the lawn. Pythium blight is a fungal disease that causes the worst damage to turf in persistently hot and humid weather.

You may want to look into what the cause of your lawn dying out is, as it may affect how you proceed with restoration. Most likely, you will need to redo the seeding in your lawn. But without proper site preparation, most lawn repair projects done by seeding will fail.

Step one is to remove most of the dead grass and thatch from the area to be seeded. It is important that the grass seed have contact with the soil. The soil also needs to be loosened with a cultivator or a spade to provide a good seed bed for the grass to root into. Broadcasting grass seed on compacted soil, as is often done, will not work. Once the ground is cultivated, you will likely need to add a small amount of topsoil to level the area out and improve the growing conditions for the grass seed to germinate.

Choose a high-quality grass seed blend that is appropriate for the amount of sun in the lawn. Use a sun-and-shade grass seed mix if you are seeding in sunny and shady areas to keep a more uniform color in the lawn. Gently rake the grass seed in with a leaf rake and lightly top dress with compost or one of the commercial seed accelerators, which are biodegradable pellets designed to expand and hold water. Some of these products also have a starter fertilizer. I prefer not to use peat moss to top dress grass seed, as once it gets dry, it tends to repel water.

Bluegrass takes about two weeks to germinate, so pay careful attention to watering in order to keep the seed moist during this period of time. This generally requires frequent light watering at least once a day, and twice a day when the weather is hot and or windy. Letting the grass seed dry out during the first couple of weeks can greatly reduce the percentage of germination. As the grass begins to grow, you can water less frequently and more deeply to encourage a deeper root system.