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

  2. Jess @ Little House. Big Heart. says

    Holy frijoles! That looks amazingly better with a little green fuzz! We’re thinking of overseeding our yard, too. It’s curretly planted with St. Augustine, a non-reproducing grass you have to lay as sod. Translation: $$$. So to fill in the bare spots (courtesy of our puppies) we’re going to overseed!

    PS. Tall, dork, and handsome is the way to go. Waaaaaay more fun!

    Reply

  7. Brenda says

    1. That pic of John seeding is priceless.
    2. Trimmy-trim is TOTALLY what Tom Haverford would say.
    3. This post is a prime example of why I love YHL so much. You put down grass seed, and it grew. Could be the most boring post ever. But you made it fun and funny and exciting!

    Reply

  9. Sarah | The Accidental Okie says

    It looks so good! Our house was empty for two years before we bought it. Weed trees were so pervasive throughout our flower beds that we had to pull EVERYTHING out. Now the beds are empty because we’re still finding little trees popping up and we’re waiting until spring to plant new bushes. Essentially, right now we’re “those neighbors.”

    Reply

  11. Leigh Anne says

    Oh and completely unrelated and weird that I’m asking, but, do you drive? As in, do you have a license? I’ve been meaning to ask this since the last video interview you and John did. He says at one point “since Sherry doesn’t drive…”

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      OH yes, I have a license but I only drove the last year of high school when I lived in Jersey and then I moved to Manhattan so I sold my car and didn’t drive for 6 years while I lived in NYC. Then we moved to Richmond but since I worked from home and we were on a budget we got one car and John used it to get to work and I just worked from home and didn’t need it. 6.5 years later I have probably driven a handful of times (so I can do it in an emergency) but John’s the primary driver. So weird, right? But it totally works for us!

      xo,
      s

    • Nicole says

      You need to just go for it, Sherry. Just start driving! It’ll be so worth it. You probably aren’t even realizing what you’re missing right now! P.S. See you in Boston on the 7th!

  12. Anele @ Success Along the Weigh says

    I think my jaw hit the floor. What an amazing difference in just a week! I so bow to you guys for your clearing abilities. I think we would look at what needed to be cleared, try to dig/hack the offender out, give up and never look at it again. Oh wait, I don’t think we would…we’ve done it! *blush*

    Nice grass spreading jig John! HA!

    Reply

  15. jennT says

    WOW!! it looks awesome! I love the view looking back at your house–yall have really made a great, big difference by puling those crazy bushes and crazy grasses. :)

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Haha, oh yes, and she’s already gorgeous but they have glasses on her and a wig that’s frizzy and bad clothes and then she’s beee-youuuu-ti-ful when they take off the glasses and ditch the frizz and put her in a little black dress. Haha.

      xo
      s

  19. Jessica says

    Was there any concern about birds eating the seeds? I know around here people feel the need to put straw down over the seed. Did you notice any hungry birdies?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Oddly enough we never have used straw (we see people do it sometimes and have heard from other folks that it doesn’t make much of a difference). We never saw crows out there or anything, so maybe just try a small area and see how it goes before going straw crazy if you’re looking to cut it from the routine? In some places it might be necessary!

      xo
      s

    • Jenny says

      I have found straw to be problematic because when you rake it away later, you often rake away some of the new tender grass. Plus it sometimes leaves its own seeds behind. If you have a bird problem (as I do), covering the grass seed with a light layer of peat moss works better.

  21. Elaine says

    I’ve had seed in my garage forever because I thought I had to rent a tiller to prevent the seed from just being bird food. Why did you decide not to till the soil? I think it was a guy in the garden center at home depot who told me I should.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Oh yeah, that never hurts! We have just seeded yards a bunch by now (first house’s front yard, first house’s back yard, this house’s front yard, and now the backyard) so we have learned that raking it and adding topsoil in the areas that aren’t level seems to work just as well (and saves us from lugging a tiller home and paying to rent it). It definitely doesn’t hurt if you have the time/money, though!

      xo
      s

    • KathyG says

      I seed mine often too – the dog side yard gets beat up regularly. Just a good raking does a much better job than a tiller, IMO. But I have to water, water for the first two weeks, both morning and evening – to me that’s the “hardest” part…ha.

  22. emily @ go haus go says

    Holy cow it’s crazy to see the difference. I can’t believe how HUGE those butterfly bushes were! Now I can sort of reference the size based on the after picture and how much space they took up! From crazy jungle to lush lawn! Looks fabulous!

    Reply

  23. Tracie@MiddleClassMod says

    Wow! Your grass looks so good.

    Also, what a nice door you have leading to the basement! My last house had a similar basement, but the door was scary. That one looks like it could be a front door. (I maybe got a little over-excited about your door.)

    Reply

  25. Nicole says

    Wow, I’m impressed! We are hoping to de-thatch and reseed this weekend, but it’s a little late to be doing that where I live, so I’m not sure how well it is going to go.

    P.S: Can’t wait to see Clara and Burger’s Halloween costumes! My 8 month old isn’t Trick-or-Treating, but I made her a carrot costume just for fun. Her brother (Gus the crazy chocolate lab) is going as a bunny rabbit!

    Reply

  27. Rachel says

    That’s amazing progress! Also, I hate snakes, and love Tom Haverford–reading this post was like a roller coaster. Please tell me you know and love tomhaverfoods.com like I do? You guys are wonderful.

    Reply

  28. Leigh Anne says

    Regarding driving, not weird at all. I don’t drive either! And I don’t have any awesome excuse like living in NYC for 6 years lol It just freaks me out!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Aw, thanks Leigh Anne! I keep saying someday I’ll get back into it because my mom used to take me to the mall one day a year right before school to go clothes shopping and for things like that I want to be cool with driving Clara somewhere without John, so someday I’ll get back into the saddle, haha.

      xo
      s

    • Randa says

      I know what ya mean… I do drive, but only automatic transmission. Hubby gave me a lesson in stick shift driving this past Saturday (in an empty parking lot) and I felt like I was learning everything all over again. Actually, it felt like unlearning what has become second-nature, to learn a whole new way. Let’s just say there was a lot of stalling going on! :) Good thing he’s patient. I’m determined to learn, in case I ever need to drive his car or another manual transmission. Putting this goal in writing is going to help me keep up the lessons, I think. :)

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Aw, that’s so cool Randa! The funny thing is in Jersey I could drive a stick! My car was automatic but my spoiled but very sweet friend had a BMW that was stick and I used to have fun driving it- just around parking lots and stuff. You’ll get the hang of it!

      xo
      s

    • Randa says

      Niiice! Nothing like learning in a swanky car! :) That would give me all kinds of incentive too! :)

      Thanks for the vote of confidence. I’ll have to report back once I’m an old pro.

  29. Beth says

    Lookin’ good – the lawn and the Alcide link! What’s your plans for the brick path that leads to…the middle of the yard? Keeping it or taking it out? Or something else entirely?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      I think we’ll leave it. It’s charming old brick, so it’s sweet. Maybe adding an arch to the end of the path will help it make more sense (we carry stuff down the path and into the back, like old yard waste and stuff like that, so it’s pretty functional since we can roll the wheelbarrow back there without messing up the grass).

      xo
      s

  32. Adrienne says

    Looks great guys! Our yard is mainly weeds as you talked about for the thinned out yard. You sound like you know what you are talking about when it comes to grass so maybe you’ll know the answer to this question: If you overseed a yard that is overcome with weeds will the grass take over or do we need to kill the weeds first? Thanks! (also, I loved how you described John’s response to calling him Alseed, that would totally be my husband. He’s tall (6’6″), dork, and handsome too!)

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Definitely get rid of the weeds first. I know it sounds crazy, but we hand pull them (just use a little trowel to get the stubborn ones out that don’t pop right out along with their roots when you tug on them). Then rake the whole yard to rough things up and overseed! It should be awesome what a difference that one phase of maintenance will make!

      xo
      s

  33. Mary says

    It looks great! One suggestion for the liriope you left along the path near the house–if you cut it back hard in February you’ll get new growth in the spring and it will look a lot less tired and overgrown next year. I have a lot of liriope in my yard and I do that every year–it keeps it looking much greener and prettier.

    Reply

  34. Megan says

    Nice work! John – can you be rented out? While you are in Minneapolis Sherry (and maybe Clara?) can play with my babies, while you work on my lawn?! :) On a side note – can’t wait to meet you at your book signing!

    Reply

  35. Emily says

    The back yard looks great! Clara and the Burgs will love playing out there!

    There’s more liriope next to the path that wraps around your house, right? Do you think you’ll pull all that evenutally, too, or do you use that path infrequently enough that you won’t bother with it?

    Excited for basement and hall bath makeovers!!

    Reply

  38. julie g. says

    The yard looks amazing! Yet another time when sweat equity totally pays off. I bet Clara can’t wait to run around out there…so much more room for dancing!

    Good tips on the grass seed. We just seeded as well after filling in a 1970’s pool and did not realize until my husband told me that a lot of times builders will use “contractors’ seed” which is an annual. Who would ever want to plant grass as an annual!?

    Reply

  39. stephanie says

    This is great. We are working on the same thing on our lawn right now. It’s so nice to see progress! I should have taken before and afters at our house but I didn’t.

    More importantly, though, the Tom Haverford video took this post to a whole new level.

    Reply

  42. Randa says

    Looks fantastic, great effort Alseed (and cheerleader – aka $herdog).

    So that youtube clip you included? That hit a figurative funny bone in my belly (in a good way) – I can’t laugh hard ENOUGH. “Chicky catch” and “food rake” are two of my faves.

    Reply

  43. Chrissy Henry says

    WOW, love the green green baby grass :) Your yard looks huge now!

    I have a real thin patch in the yard that could use some cute green baby grass! But it is way too late in the season to be putting down and grass seed here in MN, considering that it is snowing out right now… pretty sure I missed my grass seeding window.

    Reply

  45. Michelle Kersey says

    Great job!! maybe next year I’ll get on that ;)

    I actually need to trimmy-trim some boxwoods, I’d love a lil video/tute about how you do it! :) Do you just have clippers or a for real power hedge trimmer?

    Reply

  46. Maureen says

    1. Thank you for that picture of Alcide. It does a girl good in the morning to see such a sight (although he’s nothing compared to Eric in my opinion).

    2. I can’t believe how fast that grew! It looks fantastic! Do you plan on keeping the walkways or removing them eventually? I love how they look now with the new grass.

    Reply

  47. smidge girl says

    Holy Smokes! This looks like a completely different yard! Bravo! I love the little fork in the road path. When I was little, I would have spent every day skipping down it singing “We’re off to see the Wizard!” Okay, maybe now too, lol.

    Reply

  48. Bethany A says

    Wow!! What an incredible change! And I totally thought you photoshopped the neon green color until you said you didnt!! HA HA! Looks great!

    Reply

  49. Sarah says

    Wow! What a difference a week makes. It makes me want to go buy some seed to re-seed the not-quite-a-patch of grass just off our apartment’s patio! (Not even my lawn, but who cares right?)
    Sarah
    P.S. I lined a bookshelf in Chevron contact paper and I love it! I’ve been wanting to have a contrasting back on my bookshelf ever since you guys first did it in your old house (in the office I think). It’s live on my blog today if you have a moment to check it out.

    Reply

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