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. Ashley @ LibertyBelles says

    Wow that looks so amazing. Truth be told, the lawn posts aren’t normally the ones I find the most entertaining (mainly because I live in the heart of downtown Philadelphia and don’t have a lawn), but these before and after pictures are BOMB. You can really see all the hard work you’ve put in! Great job!

    Reply

  3. Stephanie says

    I’m 27 and I want to run around and play on that grass. I don’t have a backyard. Well I do, but it’s the condo associations problem. I do have a small spot where I can plant flowers which my momma is gonna help me do next year.

    On another note. Tall, dork & handsome = exactly what I need. Seriously, I’m 5’10”. I want to be able to wear heels occassionally. I’m thinking I need to just start dating basketball players?

    Reply

  4. Melanie says

    You said a 15-minute watering session once a day – can you clarify? We are filling in several patches and a place where we dug up a bush that had been planted in the front yard. We mist the areas twice a day, but not so much that the seeds get soaked. Are you saying it takes you 15-minutes to water the entire area or that you water the whole lawn for 15 minutes? Seeded Sunday and still don’t have sprouts (we’re in NoVa, so have had similar weather as you), so I’m worried we’re doing it wrong.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We leave each zone on for about 8 minutes so it gets wet but not soaked like you said (our two zones overlap a little, so some parts probably get 15 total and some get just 8 each but it adds up to 15, well 16, mins of watering). Hope it helps!

      xo
      s

  5. Tiffany says

    Looks sooooo great! Excellent job!
    Just wondering, are y’all going to clear out any of that shubbery in the back? The line of stuff in the 4th pic? Looks like there’s some play grass back there, too! Either way, fantastic job!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We actually like that the back is just wild and woodsy (what you think looks like grass back there is a lot of super tall green weeds that look feathery and like grass from far away). We always like to have a patch of grass to maintain and mow, but then to have a lot of wild area that can just do its thing and not have to be something we weed/mow/maintain. Hope it helps!

      xo
      s

  7. Rebecca says

    Wow, I can’t believe how green and gorgeous it looks. Great job you guys! I think it seems even more unbelievable for me living in Calgary, AB, there is about 6 inches of snow on my lawn and it is snowing again. Defenitley no one seeding their yard in October up here!

    Reply

  11. Karen F says

    what a difference! I’m sure all the clearing out was really hard work, but at least there’s a payoff at the end of it!

    Reply

  17. Rosemary says

    This is one of the best before/afters I’ve ever seen! Is that weird? What a huge difference. The grass looks amazing – definitely worth the effort.

    Also, I miss grass. I live in the NY concrete jungle and would absolutely love to put my bare toes on your neon baby grass. Enjoy it!

    Reply

  18. Julia Kent says

    Hi Sherry! Interesting that you guys didn’t lay any top soil over the seed… I normally do a sprinkle and recently flattened it too. I find it stops it blowing away. Also, I planted a bunch of seed at the beginning of October and it took TWO WHOLE WEEKS to sprout! I’m in Ottawa, Canada though and it may be a bit colder. Love the gardening/landscaping posts – keep ’em coming! (I’d also love to see how your plants in the front of the house look in the fall – especially to see hwo much they’ve grown).

    Reply

  20. Lauren says

    And here I was waiting for the Trimmy Trim Trim reference a la The Three Little Pigs. I do love me some Tom Haverford tho. Treat yo self!

    The backyard looks great guys!

    Reply

  21. Amy says

    Our yard is such a mess we’re going to rent a de-thatcher first. The drought we had this summer killed off a lot of grass (and weeds, believe it or not), so we figured this was a good time to do it.

    And my son would not be content watching the baby grass. He’d want to stomp on it, so bye-bye baby grass. :)

    Reply

  23. Desiree C. says

    What a jaw-dropper of a difference! Wow! I’m impressed that the grass grew so fast and looks so bright so close to November, but, then again, I live in Minnesota where the leaves are almost completely fallen, grass is brown (no thanks to the mini-drought we had), and we have a chance for snow today.

    Also, while reading this post, I had a heart-stopping, choking-on-my-latte moment only to realize I misread what you wrote:

    “She loves peering out the window…” I thought it said “…peeing out the window…” Haha! I was relieved to re-read and discover the word was, in fact, “peering”. Whew!

    Reply

  26. anna says

    WOW. I love the before and now photos… sometimes I look at our overgrown yard and I think it’s hopeless, but now I’m beginning to think it isn’t. We just need to follow your example and roll up our sleeves. I love how you can see the cute brick pathways… the grass is filling in so nicely.

    Question: have you ever had a problem with moss? We had a few patches of moss in our yard when we bought our house. It’s a fixer-upper, so we ignored the outside of the house for almost three years. And now the entire front yard is a great big field of moss. We didn’t realize that we needed to fill in those bare spots to keep the moss at bay (thanks for the tip, by the way). And we’re stumped at what to do. Do we have to dig it all up before seeding? If so, I think I might just cry!

    Reply

  27. Sada says

    Nice! And I had to laugh because the hubs and I just watched that episode of Parks and Rec on Netflix last night! (We don’t have cable, we are a little behind obviously!)

    Reply

  28. Chelsea {Whatcha Makin' Now?} says

    Awesome job! You guys did a TON of work and glad you can see the green grass already. And anytime you can work Tom Haverford into a post – I completely approve. Love that guy and the show. I hope you watch Happy Endings – some of the best one-liners ever.

    Reply

  32. Kacee k says

    Wow! Amazing before and afters!! You guys must feel great :-)
    I do have to say I was REALLY hoping to hear that the playroom was coming up on the agenda. I can’t wait to see what you guys do with it, considering all the awesome things you have already done for Clara. I imagine a YHL playroom would just be awesome-sauce :-)
    Love reading you guys!!
    K

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Oh yes, that’s on the agenda too! Just don’t want Clara to move into a new room while we’re touring since it might throw her off and stuff! We want life to go back to normal and then she can have a better transition! But we’re definitely clearing it and thinking about it as we lead up to that project! It’s always a work in progress :)

      xo
      s

  33. Lisa G says

    Looks great! We are also growing new grass in our front yard- and Sophie says “It’s baby grass, I can’t run on it yet.” I’ve also spent a long time staring at our new green grass- makes me happy :)

    Reply

  34. Kim says

    AMAZING job guys! I gotta say that typically when people discuss lawn work, I’m not impressed, but this was really amazing! ALMOST makes me wish I had a yard of my own to tend to. almost. :)

    Reply

  35. Christina @ Homemade Ocean says

    It is unreal how much you all have done with that backyard!

    Question…are quaint brick paths a thing in the east? I know your last house had some secret garden paths and I have a friend that just bought a house in PA that recently uncovered (literally) a bunch of paths. Being from the midwest, I haven’t really seen a whole lot of garden paths.

    Is it a thing? Or just a coincidence?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      I have no idea, but isn’t it funny that both houses had them??? I haven’t seen them anywhere else, so I don’t think they’re a big thing out here, maybe just a big coincidence!

      xo
      s

  36. Loren says

    Looks great! Hurray grass! For your first ‘then’ picture. I genuinely did not understand what part of your yard that was until I saw the ‘Now’ photo. I love a nicely landscaped yard, but the green grass just looks so clean. You guys definitely did the right thing clearing out all that liriope!
    (My mother complains about that plant all the time because it is an invasive plant in our part of the county and will totally take over the yard if you do not keep it in check… much like what was beginning to happen in your back yard)

    Reply

  37. Marie K says

    I just got done planting a huge bed of tulips and a huge bed of daffodils along my front walkway. I used to have some ugly, viny, overgrown bushes the last owners planted.

    Reply

  42. Shannon says

    this is by far my favorite of all your b&a posts. i can’t believe the difference. it’s nice to have something so huge to show for all of that hard work. enjoy it. can’t wait to see it in the spring!

    Reply

  43. Lauren Abernathy says

    Looks great, guys! We just put down some seed on Saturday. We bought it several months ago, but then we had baby #2 and never got around to it. We’re praying and crossing our fingers that it’s not too late for it to work!
    I’m looking forward to watching my 3 year old run around in some lush grass, instead of the dirt, sticks, weeds, and rocks that he had been enjoying. :)

    Reply

  44. Samm Spangler says

    It doesnt matter what I am making for dinner, my husband will come in and yell “Is it Chickie-chickie-parm-parm???!!!!”…. … … no honey, its meat loaf… but I appreciate your Parks and Rec enthusiasm.

    Reply

  45. Nicole says

    Awesome! Way to take back the yard. Those are some pretty dramatic before and afters. It is nice to have as much home pride outside as it is inside. Hooray for play grass!

    Our lawn is pretty beat up (read: brown), but I think it’s too late in the season here in NH to put seed down. We had a snowstorm last year on Halloween! Our multi-phase outdoor work is raking leaves. I keep telling myself the soreness will result in rock hard abs… right?

    Reply

  46. Marcy says

    What is the yellow thing in the last picture – don’t know if I have ever seen that on a post? Looks like a bird bath?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Oh yes, that’s a secret book project. I had been photoshopping it out, but since a few books are out there in the world and it’s so far away, I let him stay. Haha!

      xo
      s

  48. Monika says

    “Tall, dork, and handsome” is the perfect description :o) Love it!
    I’m currently spending lots of quality time with the leaf blower as we work together to fight the battle against the leaves that are trying to blanket our entire property. I made the “Great Barrier Leaf” pile yesterday (I also enjoy punny titles…) and my progress is already being wiped out by the many trees in our wooded lot that insist on dropping all of their leaves at once!
    Excellent grass progress. I imagine watching grass grow is more fun that watching paint dry!

    Reply

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